How to get the most out of your IBM ThinkPad laptop battery

This will instruct you on how to use the battery effectively and how to extend battery life on a IBM ThinkPad laptop.

New laptop batteries

When purchasing a new laptop battery, you may find that the battery is at or near 0% capacity. This will be due to the length of time the battery has been in stock and does not affect the quality of the IBM 002k6928 battery. If the battery is at 0%, it may take up to 12 hours of continuous charging or, cycling the battery three times (see the Battery conditioning section below) to wake up the Thinkpad t42 battery. If the new battery still does not have a charge after having been charged for 12 hours or cycled three times, it should be replaced. Standard warranty on all ThinkPad batteries is no more than one year as stated in the Statement of Limited Warranty that comes with the machine or battery.

Battery conditioning

In general, rechargeable batteries store electrical energy through chemical reaction — therefore, capacity will change by temperature, unused storage period, load condition, and number of cycles used.

The following instructions provides tips on how to obtain the best battery condition to extend battery rundown time:

Once you have started charging the Lenovo laptop battery pack, do not use it until it is fully charged.
If your battery is brand new and you are charging it for the first time, your battery may not be charged to full capacity due to characteristics of chemicals in the cell. To obtain maximum performance, all chemical materials in the battery must be fully activated. In order to achieve this:
- Cycle the battery (fully charge, then fully discharge) three times.
- Cycling the Thinkpad r60 battery three times is also recommended if you have stored the Thinkpad x61 battery for a few months.
- Do not charge the laptop battery pack until all of its power is used. Partial charge or discharge causes a lack of uniformity of activated chemicals in the cell, and may cause performance degradation.

It is recommended that you deep-discharge your Ni-MH* battery every few months for optimum performance. Deep-discharge occurs when your ThinkPad system is used on battery power until the charge is at 0% (the system will automatically go into hibernation). At this point, attach the AC adapter and charge to 100%.

Note:
Do not deep-discharge Lithium Ion batteries. Batteries can degrade when they are left unused for long periods of time. For some rechargeable batteries (particularly Lithium Ion batteries), leaving a battery unused in a discharged state could increase the risk of a battery short circuit, which could shorten the life of the battery and can also pose a safety hazard. Do not let rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries completely discharge or store these batteries in a discharged state.

Click the Battery MaxiMiser Gauge Icon on the taskbar and then click Battery Information. The Battery Information window will appear.
Click the Battery Health button to view the condition of the battery. You will need version 1.30B or later of the ThinkPad Battery MaxiMiser Utility in order for the Battery Tips button to appear.

Notes:

Status of the notebook battery:
- Green means good condition
- Red means the battery needs to be replaced, if in warranty. All ThinkPad system batteries have a one year warranty.
More information is available in the battery information help guide, which can be accessed by clicking the Laptop Battery Care Tips button.
Remaining time is calculated based on the current remaining capacity divided by the average current battery consumption (wattage). Depending on the current battery wattage consumption, remaining time calculated can change. For example, with the system running at the Maximum Performance setting for the processor, the system consumes more battery power, so the remaining time is shorter. A good analogy would be driving a car. When you drive faster, you use more gasoline; slower uses less. If you speed up and slow down frequently, it is more difficult to estimate how much driving time you have left.

Extending the battery life

When you need to use your ThinkPad computer away from electrical outlets, you depend on battery power to keep your computer running. Different computer components consume power at different rates. The more you use the power-intensive components, the faster you consume battery power.

How to extend your laptop battery life

* The Nickel Metal Hydride battery pack will become warm when charging. This is normal operation and is a result of the chemistry of the battery. The battery pack has a circuit inside of it that will discontinue charging if the battery pack exceeds its normal thermal range. So, if the battery pack is charging to completion which is indicated by 100 percent capacity on the Thinkpad x61 battery meter, the battery should not be replaced for temperature concerns.