# Do I need to "break in" my new laptop battery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-break-in-my-new-laptop-battery/609848 "2012-01-18T01:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-break-in-my-new-laptop-battery/609848/1 "2012-01-18T01:20:46Z")
My laptop (Dell Vostro 1000) is three-ish years old and the battery that came with it no longer holds a charge long, as completely expected given it’s three years old. I bought it a replacement battery from Amazon, which got delivered today. A lot of websites say you should: a. charge the new battery for 5-15 hours regardless of how much charge it says it has then b. run the battery down all the way 2 (or 4) times, fully charging it after each deep discharge Doing this is supposed to “break in” the battery, making it so that it’ll hold a charge as long as it’s capable of doing so. Is this good advice? The battery was cheap, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter, but I’m curious if this common wisdom reflects reality. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-break-in-my-new-laptop-battery/609848/2 "2012-01-18T01:26:47Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > My laptop (Dell Vostro 1000) is three-ish years old and the battery that came with it no longer holds a charge long, as completely expected given it’s three years old. I bought it a replacement battery from Amazon, which got delivered today. > > A lot of websites say you should: > a. charge the new battery for 5-15 hours regardless of how much charge it says it has > > then > > b. run the battery down all the way 2 (or 4) times, fully charging it after each deep discharge > > Doing this is supposed to “break in” the battery, making it so that it’ll hold a charge as long as it’s capable of doing so. Is this good advice? The battery was cheap, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter, but I’m curious if this common wisdom reflects reality. That was more for the older Nimh batteries then Li-ion, and deeply discharging Li-ion is harmful to them. But I think that advice helps the computer know the battery capacity more then breaking in the battery itself. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-break-in-my-new-laptop-battery/609848/3 "2012-01-18T04:31:21Z")
If it was just delivered, let it sit by itself on the table for 24-48 hours before inserting it into your laptop so it acclimatizes to any temperature difference while it was being shipped and where it is now. Then read this —\> [BatteryCare - Proper laptop battery usage guide](http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html) > [@](#): > > First of all it’s necessary to unfold a myth that persists in many peoples head.The battery memory effect.In **lithium-based** batteries this is in fact a **myth** , it only applies to older Nickle-based batteries. So fully discharging and charging the battery is completely useless and even harmful as we will see below. > > ``` > The modern lithium battery can be charged regardless of its current percentage, given that it has absolutely no negative effect in its performance. > > ``` > > – snip – > > **Full battery discharges (until laptop power shutdown, 0%) should be avoided, because this stresses the battery a lot and can even damage it.** It’s recommended to perform partial discharges to capacity levels of 20~30% and frequent charges, instead of performing a full discharging followed by a full charging. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-need-to-break-in-my-new-laptop-battery/609848/4 "2012-01-18T18:18:44Z")
Well, the point is moot at the moment because Amazon sent the wrong battery (fortunately they’re nice about it and even paying for return shipping), but when I do get the correct one, I should charge it first, right?