All batteries begin to lose their effectiveness over time. It applies particularly to laptop batteries that are often more sensitive to heating and variable charging/discharging cycles. If you are in trouble and want to know how to recondition laptop battery, follow me in this guide.
Sometimes reconditioning laptop batteries requires a deep recharge cycle to correct or recalibrate the laptop battery. However, retrofitting a laptop battery can also replace the cell if one or two cells are defective.
All laptop batteries are packed with battery cells and wired in a series circuit usually. These battery packs are typically lithium-ion batteries. However, earlier laptops are also used with NiCad batteries.
Hopefully, without the necessity for cell replacement, you can recondition your laptop batteries. At first, you will try to recondition your laptop battery with battery software and execute a complete charge cycle on your battery.
If your battery problems aren’t solved, then you’ll probably have to replace the dead cells in the laptop battery pack.
Laptop Battery Types
There are different types of laptop batteries available, some of which are already attached to the laptop’s building. In the past, you can remove the older versions of laptop power packs from the unit and plug your device into the wall.
Before starting the reconditioning process on the three main types of laptop batteries, NiCad, NiMH, and Lithium-ion, I will give some thoughts.
NiCad (Nickel Cadmium)
- They have an average life cycle of 1,500 before they die.
- This type has the “memory effect,” where the battery can revert to a charge level when refilled and plugged without achieving a maximum capacity of 100 percent.
- They require a regular complete discharge and maintenance charge cycle. If not maintained, the useful life of the battery will decline three times.
- This sort of battery loses 20% of its capacity every month at room temperature.
- Whenever you plug its charger off, it loses 10% of its power in 24 hours.
- Compared to the other two batteries, this one provides excellent medium-range life. However, it can survive longer than the two different battery types with proper maintenance.
NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride)
- It loses an average of 30% each month. Perhaps the shortest useful life of this battery is compared to other varieties.
- It can only last for about 500 charging and discharge cycles.
- Similar to NiCad, this type of battery must have a complete discharge and charge maintenance cycle. You can have 175 cycles instead of 500 if not correctly maintained.
- In contrast to NiCad, this kind needs to be drained entirely with a charge. Unplugging it for a while can enhance the battery life cycle reasonably.
Lithium-ion
- In contrast to the two stated batteries, this one has no “memory effect.”
- It contains 150 watt-hours of energy density for every kilogram of this battery. Best power density compared to the above two batteries.
- This battery has the lowest rate of discharge (10%) each month.
- It is susceptible to overload and exceptionally high inflows.
How to Recondition Laptop Battery Step by Step Guide
Method 1: The first method of reconditioning laptop batteries that I will teach you does not involve tools or technical knowledge. We will execute a full battery charging cycle. And check sure the laptop battery is calibrated correctly.
If not, it can lead to problems. For example, decreased operating time and improper charging behaviors. For instance, after 1 hour, your battery stops charging because it thinks it is charged, but it doesn’t.
This problem can be caused by erratic charging cycles that are sometimes inevitable on laptops.
Step 1 – Laptop power settings configuration
The first step is also to set up your laptop to allow complete draining of the laptop battery. So all the power-saving options you run must be disabled.
This is done by navigating to the control panel > System and Security > Power choices. You will now want to select the pre-set high performance to ensure that all drop boxes have chosen to “NO.”
There are various “Change Advanced Power Settings” choices that you can use comfortably. I’d propose you set a critical battery level to 1% then hibernate with necessary battery action. You merely need to ensure that the laptop does not go to sleep or winter before the battery expires.
Step 2 – Full Charge the Laptop Battery
Now you wish to charge the laptop battery to 100 percent battery life. I would suggest you do so while the laptop is off and the battery can be charged faster.
After a few hours, the laptop was switched on, and the battery was plugged in. You will want to verify that the battery meter reads 100 percent.
It is also an excellent opportunity to double-check your power settings to ensure that they correspond to those I indicated in the last step. After the battery, the meter is read 100%, and the power settings can all be adjusted optimally to step three.
Step 3 – Full Charge Cycle The Laptop Battery
So all of you have a fully charged battery. Now is the moment to disconnect the power cable and let the laptop deplete the battery. Put your laptop on its side and wait until the battery is discharged.
It would help if you had a gross notion of how long it takes to complete it. Depending on the type of battery you have, the length and condition of the laptop battery.
If the laptop has drained the battery completely, it will disable. By trying to switch the laptop back on, you can be confident of this. If the battery is discharged, it should not start. Now that the battery is drained, it is time to recharge it fully. To connect to the laptop and leave it to load again.
Start the laptop and return to your initial power settings after it is fully charged. Suppose you observe that your battery life is tiny but not significantly improved. Then repeat this step.
Method 2: Cool Your Laptop
You may increase your life when you have a lithium ion-based battery by making sure your laptop is cold. If a laptop gets too hot, it might damage the battery and cause battery life shortages.
I have an old Sony VAIO laptop and have seen the laptop battery life rise significantly after I purchased a laptop cooling pad from Amazon. You can get one for $20 like that.
You might believe your battery’s on the last leg, but it can only get too warm and lose charging more quickly.
Method 3: Remove Battery When Plugged In
If you have a laptop with a removable battery, you can remove the battery when plugged into the wall.
It can be tested because some laptops are not working correctly with the removed battery. But if the laptop runs smoothly and is connected to a power source all the time, it can help remove the battery.
The chemical reactions will continue to occur in the battery, whether on the laptop or not, but they may increase the battery life. Since the battery is fantastic and not heat when plugged in, the battery will provide you an extra life.
Of course, you will need to make sure that you don’t live in a region out of electricity because your laptop would die quickly and lose any information.
This procedure is both time-consuming and irritating and will not be done by most individuals. The last method mentioned is the finest one.
Method 4: Unplug at Full Battery
The last method you can attempt is to let 100% of the battery charge and then unplug the computer. If it is near to die, i.e., less than 5%, go on and plugin and load it.
However, it could limit the battery life on new lithium-ion batteries, so you only let the battery level get down to 35% to 45% and then recharge it down to 75% to 85%.
It sounds insane, but this gives you the best battery life, as it does not need as many charging and charging cycles.
Again, this method also needs a little work, but it is worth increasing the battery life if you want to. Did you utilize any other strategies not mentioned here to increase the battery life of your laptop?
Benefits: How to Recondition a Dead Laptop Battery
The significant advantage of learning how to recondition laptop battery is to save enormous costs by obtaining a new power pack.
A new laptop battery might cost from $100 to $150. You can save about 25 to 50 percent of the retail cost for the new battery by repairing your low-performance power pack.
If you have business abilities, the second advantage you gain from this notion is to sell your laptop battery retrofit service at a competitive price. If done right, it seems to be a reputable and profitable business.
The third benefit is to aid our environment by lowering the generation of battery waste. Why trash it if you can use it for a few months or a year? It’s an excellent method to aid mother nature.
Laptop Battery Reconditioning Tips And Tricks.
A few tips to extend the lifetime of the laptop battery:
- A complete discharge/load cycle is performed once every 3 months—lithium-Ion laptop battery packs in particular.
- Remove the battery pack and plug it into the wall if you want to use your laptop for a long time.
- Consider buying a laptop cooler of good quality. Fans are preferable to others.
- Don’t run the battery every cycle down to 0%.
- If your NiCad or NiMH battery is, attempt to discharge it as low as possible before charging to minimize any memory effect.
FAQs ― How to Recondition Laptop Battery?
How do you recondition a lithium laptop battery?
Some chargers automatically move from recovery to charging so that the battery can be left in place on these devices.
Is it OK to leave a dead battery in a laptop?
Is it bad to leave your laptop plugged in all the time?
It is not bad for your battery to have your laptop continually plugged in, but you need to be careful about other elements such as heat to prevent harm to your battery.
Conclusion
After this reconditioning procedure, you should experience an improvement in your laptop battery life. It recalibrates the battery of the laptop. And it can also cure memory difficulties that your battery cells can develop.
The laptop battery controller sometimes loses track of the batteries’ capacity. It can lead to computer performance and uptime concerns. It would help if you observed an improvement now that you have reset this.
Suppose you haven’t seen any improvements and need to retrofit your laptop battery. It means you have to either consider a new battery or replace the defective cells in your battery pack.
There is a nominal cost here, and you will have to test which cells are dead and buy substitutions. You’ll probably also have to conduct some soldering.
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