Laptop Battery Conditioning and Recycling Laptop Batteries
It is very important that you fully cycle and 'condition'
you battery before you use it. All new batteries need to be
fully conditioned in the early stages for at least 8-20
cycles (cycle = one full charge, one full discharge)
otherwise you will not get the optimum runtime in hours from
your battery.
It is very common for customers to believe that there is a
fault with the battery when actually they have a perfectly
good battery, which simply requires correct conditioning.
When you receive your new laptop battery it will be fully
discharged and unconditioned. Please do not turn on your
laptop computer as the battery will not work straight away.
Your battery will normally take 8 - 10 charges and
discharges to reach its full capacity. However, your battery
will not reach full potential until it has been conditioned
at least fifty times. Until then you may experience lower
performance.
Another common situation you may experience is the LED's and
charge indicator on your laptop will not give accurate
information until the battery is fully conditioned - it is
very common for consumers to believe that their battery is
faulty. Please do not blame the battery! Just follow the
cycle instructions below.
During the first charge, your laptop may indicate that
charging is complete after a short period (of approximately
15 minutes). This is to be expected and considered normal;
if this occurs, remove the battery from your laptop and
repeat the charging procedure. You should then use your
laptop as normal (without the mains power adaptor plugged
in), until the battery completely runs down.
Repeat the above procedure for a minimum of eight times over
the course of the next few days. Always ensure you allow
your battery sufficient time to get a full overnight charge.
What these terms mean
Cycle - One full overnight charge and one full discharge
without the AC adaptor plugged in.
Charge - Overnight charge with AC adaptor plugged in the
mains.
Discharge - Fully exhausting your battery's power (operating
the computer with your fully charged battery in the laptop
and the AC adaptor unplugged).
Condition - This is the charge/discharge process you must
complete. This will increase both the runtime and the
lifetime of your battery.
Runtime - The period of time your battery will last for.
Approximately 577 million household primary batteries
(non-rechargeable) were sold in the UK in 1998. These are
used in a wide range of everyday appliances such as torches,
radios and electric toys.
Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) rechargeable batteries are also common
in the household, found in equipment such as power tools,
camcorders, laptop computers and mobile phones (there is a
separate information sheet about mobile phones).
A dry cell battery requires fifty times more energy to make
than it gives out.
There have traditionally been difficulties with recycling
technology for general purpose (non-rechargeable) batteries,
as efficient separation and collection of the many different
kinds of battery is difficult. The battery industry in the
UK has now eliminated mercury from their own products,
although small numbers of batteries containing mercury are
still imported from abroad.
Check with the manufacturer of your batteries to see if they
are operating a recycling or take-back scheme. This is
particularly necessary for NiCd batteries as they are the
most hazardous type of battery found in the home.
By Victor Epand
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