Battery Charging Information
Battery Types, Performance, and Charging Tips

If you need battery care information or cell phone battery tips, or want to learn how to improve battery performance, see below:

» New battery pack must be fully charged before use.
» New battery pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.
» Rechargeable batteries undergo self-discharging when left unused. Always store a battery pack in a fully charged staged for storage.
» Fully drain and fully recharged your battery pack every few months.
» Turn down the LCD brightness of your portable device.
» Use built-in power management on your portable device.
» Turn off LCD or other unnecessary accessories when not in used.
» Set screen saver blank to 1 to 2 minutes of your notebook
» Add more RAM if you have extra RAM expansion slot, it will reduce the usage of hard drive and it is power exhaustive.
» Close unused software in your notebook.
» Remove unused PC Cards or USB devices from your notebook.
» Don't watch DVD or play graphics intensive video games.
» Don't short circuit terminal or store your battery pack with metal parts.
» Don't drop or mutilate the battery pack.
» Don't expose to moisture or water.
» It is normal to get warm when charging or normal use. If it is getting too hot, there may be a problem with the device and qualified personnel should check it.

Laptop Battery Maintenance

How to charge your new replacement laptop battery?
Your new acer laptop battery comes in a discharged condition and must be charged before use (refer to your computer manual for charging instructions). Upon initial use (or after a prolonged storage period) the battery may require three to four charge/discharge cycles before achieving maximum capacity.

When charging the battery for the first time your computer may indicate that charging is complete after just 10 or 15 minutes. This is a normal phenomenon with rechargeable batteries. Simply remove the battery from the computer and repeat the charging procedure.

It is important to condition (fully discharge and then fully charge) the battery every two to three weeks. Failure to do so may significantly shorten the battery's life (this does not apply to Li-Ion batteries, which do not require conditioning). To discharge, simply run your device under the battery's power until it shuts down or until you get a low battery warning. Then recharge the battery as instructed in your user's manual.

If the battery will not be in use for a month or longer, it is recommended that it be removed from the device and stored in a cool, dry, clean place.

It is normal for a battery to become warm during charging and discharging.

A charged battery will eventually lose its charge if unused. It may therefore be necessary to recharge the battery after a storage period.

The milliamp-hour (mAH) rating of the laptop battery dot org batteries will often be higher than the one on your original battery. A higher mAH rating is indicative of a longer lasting (higher capacity) battery and will not cause any incompatibilities. A laptop battery dot org battery will, in most cases, outperform the original by 30% to 50%.

Actual battery run-time depends upon the power demands made by the equipment. In the case of notebook computers, the use of the monitor, the hard drive and other peripherals results in an additional drain upon the battery, effectively reducing the battery's run-time. The total run-time of the battery is also heavily dependent upon the design of the equipment. To ensure maximum performance of the battery, optimize your computer's power management features. Refer to your computer manual for further instructions

 

 

Nowadays phones have a tonne of functions and all of them drain battery power, so if you don't need something, switch it off. Some phones provide ways of saving energy by putting the phone in standby mode or turning off non-essential features when idle. You can usually make any changes to your phone's features via the 'Settings' or 'Tools' section in the menu. Almost every modern feature on a mobile phone puts a strain on the battery and while batteries are improving, they're still not good enough to support all the features available on modern mobile phones for long periods of time.

 

Turn off your Bluetooth when you're not using it
One of the most infamous battery-draining culprits is Bluetooth, which can be left on unintentionally. Bluetooth is a radio standard that can receive and transmit information, but to do this it consumes battery power. Unless you're using a Bluetooth headset, transferring files or sending information to someone, then you should turn it off and only use it when you need to.
 

 

Lower your screen's brightness
Another feature that you should keep an eye on is your screen's brightness. Some phones adjust the display's brightness automatically according to the ambient light, but most don't. The majority of mobile phone displays will be set to full brightness when you first switch them on and, unless you change it manually, they will stay on that setting.

 

You don't usually need full brightness to view the screen properly and setting it as low as possible will save plenty of energy. Some phones also have an option letting you adjust how long the backlight stays on for. It's best to keep the backlight on for as short an amount of time as possible, so turn it down to around 15 seconds, or less if possible.
 

 

Keep it plain and keep it quiet
Screensavers and moving wallpapers may look pretty but they use up battery power, so turn them off. A loud ring and the vibrate mode also use up a lot of power, so turn down the volume and turn off the vibrate mode if you don't need it.

 

Watch out for GPRS, 3G and Wi-Fi
Other features that drain power but aren't featured on every phone are 3G connectivity and Wi-Fi adaptors. You should be able to turn off a Wi-Fi adaptor and switch from 3G to GSM in the 'Connectivity' section of your mobile's menu. If you enjoy browsing the Web on a GPRS connection, make sure you set the GPRS connection to 'only when needed' so that it turns itself off when you stop using it.

 

Use your phone sparingly and turn it off when you don't need it
If you restrict your phone usage to text messaging or phone calls and turn it off when you don't need it, your battery will last much longer. It may be fun playing games or browsing the Web at the bus stop, but your battery will have run out by the time you get to work.

 

Tip 2: Signal strength

 

If your phone is constantly straining to find a network signal it will use more power than if it's not. When your phone is in an area with poor network coverage it will use more power to force a connection with the nearest mobile mast base station. Because of this, it's best not to leave your phone in areas of the office or house where the signal is poor. Also, when you make a call, try to make sure that you have three or more bars of signal on your phone.

 

If you're underground or in another area with no signal, turn your phone off. Turn it on again when you know you'll have a signal, or turn it on every now and then to check.

 

In summary:

 

• Make sure your phone has a good signal even when you're not using it

 

• If you need to make a call, try and find an area with as strong a signal as possible

 

• Turn your phone off if you're in an area with no signal for a long period of time

 

 

Most mobile phone batteries these days are lithium-based rather than nickel-based. While nickel batteries had to be charged for over 10 hours before first use (to prime the battery), lithium batteries only need to be charged until the mobile phone says the battery is full.

 

Don't let the battery run flat too often and apply regular charges
Another advantage of using a lithium battery is that it doesn't suffer from 'memory' -- a charging issue that affects nickel batteries. If nickel batteries are charged randomly and aren't fully discharged regularly, then large crystals will form on the internal cell plates, which causes it to underperform.

 

A lithium battery can be charged whenever it needs it. Full discharges are not needed -- indeed, they are inadvisable. Instead, let the battery run down to around a third of its capacity and charge it on a regular basis rather than running the battery completely flat.

 

If your phone is not displaying the correct amount of energy left in your battery, then let it run completely flat and this should solve the problem.

 

Keep the battery cool and don't leave it in the sun
Lithium batteries come with built-in circuitry that protects them from overheating, so leaving a phone to charge overnight or over a couple of days won't damage it. However, if a lithium battery is over-charged for too long (eg a week) it will start to heat up. Overheating is a lithium battery's main enemy and could result in permanent damage to the battery. The battery can also get overheated if your mobile phone is left in the sun or near a radiator, so avoid doing this as well.

 

After about two years buy a new battery for your mobile phone
A lithium battery only lasts for around 300 to 500 charges, so if you have been using the same battery for more than a couple of years you may need a new battery. Buying a spare battery is not advisable unless you use it on a regular basis because lithium batteries deteriorate even when they're not being used.