Gentlemen,
I have a new cheap Toshiba laptop and is loses about 5-7% of battery
capacity when not used for each 24 hours. Is this about normal?

If I plug in the charger before starting then the power capacity loss
is slightly less.

Does it matter if the charger is plugged in at the DC end only as it
is sitting unused.


jl

Some loss of capacity is normal but yours seems somewhat high (not
grossly extreme, but higher than average).

The best strategy for a laptop that is pretty much stationary and not
actually being used for traveling is:

-Remove the battery completely
-Keep the laptop plugged into the charger all the time
-Plug the charger into a relatively small UPS (300 to 350VA is a good size)

The battery won't discharge back through the external AC adapter, but
some circuits in the laptop itself will be powered; it's an "ATX
standard" PC, and a few circuits are powered at all times.

Leaving the battery in the laptop continuously will eventually damage
the battery, one way or another (candidates include overcharging,
exposure to heat and using up the battery's charge/discharge cycles).



Joe Lauton wrote:
> Gentlemen,
> I have a new cheap Toshiba laptop and is loses about 5-7% of battery
> capacity when not used for each 24 hours. Is this about normal?
>
> If I plug in the charger before starting then the power capacity loss
> is slightly less.
>
> Does it matter if the charger is plugged in at the DC end only as it
> is sitting unused.
>
>
> jl

On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:36:46 -0500, Barry Watzman
<WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:

>Some loss of capacity is normal but yours seems somewhat high (not
>grossly extreme, but higher than average).
>
>The best strategy for a laptop that is pretty much stationary and not
>actually being used for traveling is:
>
>-Remove the battery completely

Would that cause a loss of settings? Can the backup battery be
trusted? Where or whatever it is?
I will likely only use it about every two weeks with a GPS device.
Removing the battery seem scary. On page 40 of the manual it says the
RTC battery maintains the settings "for up to a month"!
On page 45 it says " If you are not using the system for an extended
period, more than one month, remove the battery pack."
Is this real tech talk or what? WTF are they attempting to say????
Sounds like a sure path to failure. (It is a Toshiba Satellite
M115-S1061)

Is there also a CMOS battery? Is the RTC located on the mother board
- like a CMOS battery?

>-Keep the laptop plugged into the charger all the time

More my speed.


>-Plug the charger into a relatively small UPS (300 to 350VA is a good size)

Don't have one so that does not seem like an economical solution.


>
>The battery won't discharge back through the external AC adapter, but
>some circuits in the laptop itself will be powered; it's an "ATX
>standard" PC, and a few circuits are powered at all times.
>
>Leaving the battery in the laptop continuously will eventually damage
>the battery, one way or another (candidates include overcharging,
>exposure to heat and using up the battery's charge/discharge cycles).

So the 'protective circuits or electronics' does not fully protect the
battery?
What life should I realistically expect on the battery(s)? Replacement
cost?

Somebody said something about fully discharging the battery once every
two months (I think).


>
>
>
>Joe Lauton wrote:
>> Gentlemen,
>> I have a new cheap Toshiba laptop and is loses about 5-7% of battery
>> capacity when not used for each 24 hours. Is this about normal?
>>
>> If I plug in the charger before starting then the power capacity loss
>> is slightly less.
>>
>> Does it matter if the charger is plugged in at the DC end only as it
>> is sitting unused.
>>
>>
>> jl

Joe Lauton says...

>> -Remove the battery completely

> Would that cause a loss of settings? Can the backup
> battery be trusted? Where or whatever it is? I will
> likely only use it about every two weeks with a GPS
> device. Removing the battery seem scary. On page 40 of
> the manual it says the RTC battery maintains the
> settings "for up to a month"! On page 45 it says " If
> you are not using the system for an extended period,
> more than one month, remove the battery pack." Is this
> real tech talk or what? WTF are they attempting to
> say???? Sounds like a sure path to failure. (It is a
> Toshiba Satellite M115-S1061)

> Is there also a CMOS battery? Is the RTC located on the
> mother board - like a CMOS battery?

>> -Keep the laptop plugged into the charger all the time

> More my speed.

I have an L35, which I think is even lower end than yours.
My manual says not to leave the live AC adapter plugged into
the laptop for extended periods when the computer is off and
the battery is already fully charged. It says that may
damage the battery, presumably from some overcharging
effect. It's a bit disappointing that the charging circuit
doesn't automatically keep that from happening.

For what it's worth, most of the time (but not always) when
I plug in the AC adapter after everything has been off all
night, the computer's power light starts out amber, but then
changes to green within a minute or so. One time, however,
it took about 15 minutes of charging to turn green, even
though it had been green the night before when I turned
everything off. I don't know what was different about that
instance.

There is a separate CMOS battery in the L35. I think I saw
it when I was taking the various panels off the bottom to
see what was there. It may have been visible under the RAM
access panel, but I'm not sure. My manual says this battery
is recharged only while the computer is actually ON.

It will not cause a loss of settings. In Toshiba laptops, ONLY the CMOS
battery retains CMOS (that is, if the CMOS battery dies, the fact that
the main battery is installed won't save you). In most Toshiba laptops
(there may be some exceptions), the CMOS battery is a rechargeable
battery that is recharged only when the laptop is actually on (being
plugged in or having the main battery installed is not enough). It can
take up to 48 hours to fully charge the battery, which, once charged, is
supposed to hold the CMOS settings for 30 days (these numbers are for a
good battery; also, while it may take up to 48 hours to get a full
charge, in just 1 to 4 hours you will get an almost full charge).

There are not really that many settings anyway, this is mostly a matter
of keeping the RTC clock and calendar running (time/date). There is
NOTHING else that will prevent you from booting, and only a few
preferences, non of which are terribly critical.


Joe Lauton wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:36:46 -0500, Barry Watzman
> <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Some loss of capacity is normal but yours seems somewhat high (not
>> grossly extreme, but higher than average).
>>
>> The best strategy for a laptop that is pretty much stationary and not
>> actually being used for traveling is:
>>
>> -Remove the battery completely
>
> Would that cause a loss of settings? Can the backup battery be
> trusted? Where or whatever it is?
> I will likely only use it about every two weeks with a GPS device.
> Removing the battery seem scary. On page 40 of the manual it says the
> RTC battery maintains the settings "for up to a month"!
> On page 45 it says " If you are not using the system for an extended
> period, more than one month, remove the battery pack."
> Is this real tech talk or what? WTF are they attempting to say????
> Sounds like a sure path to failure. (It is a Toshiba Satellite
> M115-S1061)
>
> Is there also a CMOS battery? Is the RTC located on the mother board
> - like a CMOS battery?
>
>> -Keep the laptop plugged into the charger all the time
>
> More my speed.
>
>
>> -Plug the charger into a relatively small UPS (300 to 350VA is a good size)
>
> Don't have one so that does not seem like an economical solution.
>
>
>> The battery won't discharge back through the external AC adapter, but
>> some circuits in the laptop itself will be powered; it's an "ATX
>> standard" PC, and a few circuits are powered at all times.
>>
>> Leaving the battery in the laptop continuously will eventually damage
>> the battery, one way or another (candidates include overcharging,
>> exposure to heat and using up the battery's charge/discharge cycles).
>
> So the 'protective circuits or electronics' does not fully protect the
> battery?
> What life should I realistically expect on the battery(s)? Replacement
> cost?
>
> Somebody said something about fully discharging the battery once every
> two months (I think).
>
>
>>
>>
>> Joe Lauton wrote:
>>> Gentlemen,
>>> I have a new cheap Toshiba laptop and is loses about 5-7% of battery
>>> capacity when not used for each 24 hours. Is this about normal?
>>>
>>> If I plug in the charger before starting then the power capacity loss
>>> is slightly less.
>>>
>>> Does it matter if the charger is plugged in at the DC end only as it
>>> is sitting unused.
>>>
>>>
>>> jl

Joe Lauton wrote:
> Gentlemen,
> I have a new cheap Toshiba laptop and is loses about 5-7% of battery
> capacity when not used for each 24 hours. Is this about normal?
>
> If I plug in the charger before starting then the power capacity loss
> is slightly less.
>
> Does it matter if the charger is plugged in at the DC end only as it
> is sitting unused.
>
>
> jl
My experience with older P1 Toshiba laptops is that they run down in
about a week when not plugged in. I've had about five different models
that all had the same problem. My Dells will sit there unattended for
months without significant loss of capacity.

My unsubstantiated theory is that the main battery is wasting it's
capacity in losses in the circuit that recharges the internal secondary
battery.
mike

Joe Lauton wrote:
> Gentlemen,
> I have a new cheap Toshiba laptop and is loses about 5-7% of battery
> capacity when not used for each 24 hours. Is this about normal?
>
> If I plug in the charger before starting then the power capacity loss
> is slightly less.
>
> Does it matter if the charger is plugged in at the DC end only as it
> is sitting unused.
>
>
> jl
In july 2001 I bought a Toshiba Satellite 2710XDVD.
After I noticed the problem I take out the main battery every time after
switching off before stowing the laptop in it's bag.
Never had any problem after that.
On a computer with an ATX powersupply the computer is never really off
unless you remove power completely.
The on/off switch is just a toggle switch connected to the notherboard.
When "off" the mainboard still receives standby power and is waiting for
a command, be it from the on/off toggle switch or another command like
one from the network.
That's also true for regular PC's, I unplug mine when being away.

If you Leave a Laptop plugged into the power 24/7 you are going to ruin the battery, reguardless of make, best thing is to condition it by fully charging and using off power til fully discharged every couple of weeks, else you will be buying a new battery, but if you like forking out then leave it on charge and go buy one - laptop batteries