How Do You Condition a Powerbook Battery?

I'm new to the world of Powerbooks, and I would like to know how to condition a Powerbook battery to get the most life out of it.
Rick Blythin wrote on :

"MRB" mrb712@redacted.invalid wrote in message news:MPG.19998aaec123e306989680@redacted.invalid

Hi,

I'm new to the world of Powerbooks, and I would like to know how to condition a Powerbook battery to get the most life out of it. I have heard about this, but I'm not sure what it means and how to go about doing it.

I would appreciate any guidance.

Cheers, Michael

Michael,

The normal method is to fully charge the battery to 100% & then use it without recharging until the PB shuts off by itself. I believe Apple says to do the cycle once. I know people who do it 3-4 times. It really comes down to personally preference. After the charge/discharge cycle you can plug it in to AC power when ever you like without fully discharging. Although once and a while about once monthly I'd probably do a full discharge/charge cycle. With old types of batteries they used to create a 'memory' where if you didn't discharge fully then it would reduce the life of the battery after doing it so many times. These days it's not as much of an issue with today's batteries.

Rick

John Johnson replied on :

In article bvWXa.2397$_a4.447757@redacted.invalid, "Rick Blythin" mosguy@redacted.invalid wrote:

"MRB" mrb712@redacted.invalid wrote in message news:MPG.19998aaec123e306989680@redacted.invalid

Hi,

I'm new to the world of Powerbooks, and I would like to know how to condition a Powerbook battery to get the most life out of it. I have heard about this, but I'm not sure what it means and how to go about doing it.

I would appreciate any guidance.

Cheers, Michael

Michael,

The normal method is to fully charge the battery to 100% & then use it without recharging until the PB shuts off by itself. I believe Apple says to do the cycle once.

Correct. I did this with each of my batteries. The first one lasted me 2.5 years, and I hope that the new one does as well.

I know people who do it 3-4 times. It really comes down to personally preference. After the charge/discharge cycle you can plug it in to AC power when ever you like without fully discharging. Although once and a while about once monthly I'd probably do a full discharge/charge cycle. With old types of batteries they used to create a 'memory' where if you didn't discharge fully then it would reduce the life of the battery after doing it so many times. These days it's not as much of an issue with today's batteries.

It's not an issue at all with modern batteries. The "memory" effect is a property of Ni-chemistry batteries (with similar behavior in certain types of Pb-acid batteries), and these battery types are no longer used in portable computers (not that I'm aware of, at any rate).

This subject comes up regularly. If you search the archives of the group, you will find more advice, discussion, and references than you care to read.

Obfus Kataa replied on :

On Tue, 5 Aug 2003 about 23:15 -0000 UTC John Johnson wrote:

johajohn AT indianahoosiers DOT edu

Remove the adjective to reply. Indiana is a noun. -----------^^^^^^^^^----------------------^^^^^^ | | You misspelled 'noun.' You misspelled 'an adjective.'

Functionally, the word "Indiana" is an adjective in the phrase "Indiana Hoosier." Just as "ant" is an adjective in "ant farm."

Michael Barnotes replied on :

Thank you for your help. That's what I was looking for.

M

In article MPG.19998aaec123e306989680@redacted.invalid, MRB mrb712@redacted.invalid wrote:

Hi,

I'm new to the world of Powerbooks, and I would like to know how to condition a Powerbook battery to get the most life out of it. I have heard about this, but I'm not sure what it means and how to go about doing it.

I would appreciate any guidance.

Cheers, Michael