pc-level.com

The batteries are fundamental part of most of the portable digital devices, whether it’s cell phone, laptop or a  portable music player. However, most of the common users doesn’t pay much attention to their device’s battery, except in the cases when they need to be recharged or replaced. Thanks to the fast growing digital industry, the technical parameters of the batteries  are getting better and better, therefore they can last longer within a single recharging cycle.

However, if you want to take all the advantages of your batteries, there is some technical stuff you need to know about their tech specifications, the various types of batteries and the appropriate use and preservation methods. If you own a mobile computer, mp3 player, digital camera or any other battery supplied device then you should take a look of  the following advices.

According to some claims, if you are using a rechargeable battery and in some moment you decide to recharge it again before it is completely discharged (let’s say it is still half full) then sooner or later it’s capacity will be drastically reduced. Well, that sounds reasonable, but only if the battery is the older NiCd type. With the modern type of batteries like Li-Ion this charging method couldn’t harm the battery life, furthermore those newer batteries have greater power density and much better capacity than their NiCd analogs.

It is frequent occurrence, the battery life to be shortened due to constant and prolonged recharging, i.e. you should not leave your batteries connected to the recharger longer than  required.For example, let’s say  you have bought a brand new digital camera with brand new battery, that could ensure you taking 100 pictures using the flash.An year after inappropriate use (i.e. leaving the battery connected to the electrical charger after being completely charged) the life of this battery would be reduced to taking just 80 pictures for a charging cycle. The same battery could probably take 90 pictures (ten more) if used more carefully. Of course this is just an hypothetical example.Note that no matter how carefully you use your batteries, they could hardly last more than five years. During this period you could take their full advantages for maybe 2 or 3 years, depending on the frequency of use and recharging.

Power supply in notebooks.

As you may have noticed, a laptop needs far more energy, compared to some other smaller devices such  as cameras and smartphones. In the same time, the laptop battery could not be too big or heavy, because in that case this would reflect negatively on the main advantages of the laptop, that are their small size and mobility.

The batteries used in the mobile computers could vary, depending on their sizes and models.Their capacity is measured using the measurement unit Ampere-hour (Ah) or milliampere – hour (mAh), but when you are choosing your laptop this shouldn’t be the only criteria for judging. The different models of mobile computers are requiring different voltage (7.2 V, 10.8 V, 14.4 V or 18 V). As you can see the voltage value is always divisible by 3.6. The most important thing  you should consider talking about the battery, is the cumulative amount of energy the battery could supply for a single charging cycle, measured in Watt-hours (Wh). In order to calculate that amount of energy you need to multiply the ampere-hour rating by the operating voltage.

Let’s say a middle class  laptop battery have 4.4 Ah (4400 mAh)  capacity and 10.8V voltage, i.e. 47.5 Wh active energy,while a battery with 4 Ah working capacity and electrical potential of 14.8 V, would give you a capacity of 59 Wh! Or in other words – despite that the first battery have greater ampere-hour rating than the second one, in the final analysis the second one provides about 30 % more  active energy, which is additional time you could use to work with your laptop, within a single recharging cycle. The batteries in ultra light mobile computers usually provide about 20 Wh of energy, while in the heavy weight category mobile computers this number often is more than 80 Wh.

So, if you want to avoid pointless money-drains and problems, first thing you need to do is to make sure your model have the  standard 6 cell battery, instead of the less effective 4 cell variant.Commonly, the retailers  are offering the ultra light laptops with an option for buying the light 4 cell version of the battery. Of course there are also special 8 or 9 cell batteries, which could provide far more energy without recharging, but respectively they are much more expensive and larger.

One more thing – some models have an additional extra battery slot. Most commonly this is the CD/DVD ROM slot, and the additional battery capacity is smaller than the main one’s, which is normal.The tricky part is that you could have your main battery untouched, unless you discharge the additional one completely ( i.e. if you have to take a long flight).This could give you the advantage of having a brand new main battery after an year of using, of course with having your second battery capacity partially wasted.

Longer battery life tips.

If you are planing to buy a rechargeable batteries, you should have the proper recharging device for them, because the higher the capacity of the battery- the higher the power requirements for the recharger. Otherwise – you will need much more time for charging. Moreover, the NiMH batteries are more  overheating and overcharging sensible and that’s why it is very important for your charger to be specially designed for NiMH batteries.So, remember-using older NiCd designed charger could seriously harm your NiMH batteries! The latest  charger models, optimized for NiMH and Li-Io batteries have built-in voltage and temperature sensors.So they can actually “feel” if the battery is fully charged and stop sending electrical impulses to it.

The so called fast chargers are giving you the opportunity to have your batteries charged in just about 20 minutes,but they also have their own advantages and disadvantages. It’s good to know that when using the fast charging mode and the charger indicator marks that the charging is over, you actually have your battery about 80% charged and you’ll need to wait at least an hour more if you want a fully charged battery. It’s also good to know that those fast charging chargers are causing a bit of “stress” to your batteries,but actually it’s much more important to have your battery charged when you need it most, than having to follow some strict charging schedule.That’s my opinion, anyway. After you finish recharging your batteries,if you don’t need them, it’s not a problem to leave them aside. It’s preferably to keep them in a room temperature away from direct sunlight. The batteries won’t discharge themselves during the next few months.