I seldom use my laptop (Dell 1501) as a portable. Should I leave the battery in the computer or take it out? Perhaps put it in the refrigerator? (I hear that’s supposed to make batteries last longer).
You should discharge & recharge the battery periodically, rather than leave it fully charged up all the time (which is what happens if you use it plugged in all the time).
Best procedure I have heard of is to pick one day of the week, like Monday, and unplug it and run it off the battery that day. When it starts to indicate a low battery charge, plug it back in again until the next week.
For Li-ion longest life (about 10 yr old info), discharge to about 40% remaining and store in the fridge.
0% remaining will kill the battery the fastest, 100% will kill sort of quick also, 40% is the sweet spot.
What is the reason for this? Does it damage the internal structure of the battery?
Some kind of a memory effect makes it lose much of the ability to be recharged, I guess.
This was worse with the older NiCad rechargeables; the newer Lithium ones less likely to be affected by this.
Thanks for the reply. Every laptop I’ve owned has had the battery die after a couple of years, and they are nearly always plugged in.