I recently bought a new battery for an old dell laptop from ebay. I was going to put the new battery in and take the old one out… old one doesn’t hold a charge for more than 1 minute… i read it says
**Charge battery for 10 hours to your notebook computer before using
**
I’m a bit confused at this. Does this mean what it actually means? Because i have never heard of anything like this. I figure with the new battery, once you put it in and charging it… you would be able to use it but this note basically says don’t use your computer for 10 hours?
Does that make any sense? First off, even if the battery has no charge and it takes say 2 hours to charge it… isn’t charging 8 more hours horrible? I know its never a good idea to leave a battery charged 100 percent and continue charging it. So why does this battery have this message?
I was going to just put the battery in and have it charging then use it. Then after few hours just shut down the laptop and obviously take the charger off.
Are you sure “before using” is referring to the pc rather than the battery? English is annoyingly ambiguous in sentences like that.
Based on my knowledge of laptops I can see either interpretation being valid (even when plugged in your laptop runs off the battery, which is being recharged faster than its drained).
the computer’s battery charging circuits would prevent overcharging.
You don’t need to worry about that, because the charging circuit in your laptop (or in the battery) reduces and then cuts off the charging current automatically. You can leave the battery connected to a charger indefinitely without any risk to the battery.
I don’t think it’s really necessary to charge for 12 hours before first use. But it definitely won’t hurt. And charging it fully may help by calibrating the charging circuit (giving you a more accurate indication of battery level from then on).
Thats exactly what it says on the package…
Also i never heard of this ever. When i get a new battery for laptop or buy new laptop, i would obviously be charging it first. But once its 100 percent the battery, i would unplug it. So thats wrong then?
That just doesnt make sense b/c if its 100 percent the battery why keep charging it for 6 plus more hours at least?
I think it might have to do with a first-time charge. I just got a new portable drill and the instructions say to charge the battery for 8 hours before first use.
There’s a lot of generalizations, misinformation, half-truths, and just general mistaken notions when it comes to battery usage and management, partly because of the type of batteries that have been released into the market but, more so because of the continuing advances in battery technology.
I agree that it does not make sense to charge a new battery for 10 hours before it can be used. Latest Li-ion batteries can be used and charged anytime you like. However, if the manufacturer’s advice it to charge it for that long, there’s nothing wrong with following that direction. I’ve heard of people charging and discharging their new Li-ion batteries a few times before use to “prime” it, with the notion that this is supposed to somehow optimize battery capacity, but there is no evidence that this does anything except waste charging cycles, (which are limited). But if users feel better by performing some antiquated ritual in the hopes of getting the most out of their battery, there’s no harm in that either.
You’re right, it doesn’t make sense, but on the other hand, there’s no harm in it either. If there’s an outlet you can use, it’s good habit it to keep it plugged in. People used to worry about battery stress caused by plugging in a fully charged battery, but new batteries have safeguards that prevent this.
One thing you should do is to fully discharge then recharge your battery once every month or so. This does nothing for the battery but it will recalibrate your battery meter so that it accurately reflects wattage use to show you how much time you have on battery.
It seems like everything that comes with rechargeable batteries says to first charge them for 8 or 10 hours before using. I give them half an hour. Maybe. This sounds like something that either never mattered, or if it did, it was for some old style battery from decades ago.
my new toothbrush took the day they said it would. that’s the tooth.
They just mean that you should not charge to 80% and say “well its at 80% so that should be enough”.
Don’t do that because it may incorrectly say 80%… the voltages may be misleading at that first charge.
So anyway, do what it says… many rechargeable products do have that instruction.
I think it’s an old-time bit of CYA boilerplate from years and years ago that might maybe have made sense in the days of Ni-Cads. Everyone continues to use it because firstly they see no real reason to change it and secondly they know that if they tried to come up with a new 21st-century version their lawyers would bill them for thousands of hours to create an incomprehensible 50-page document.
As far as I can recall all the batteries I have bought lately have been already charged when unpackaged, and most will fully charge from flat in less than 30 minutes.