Supply Cabinet

Recharge Your Batteries

Tired of having your iPod battery drain out on you in the middle of your favorite song? Does your laptop battery always seem to die in the middle of meetings? There are measures you can take to extend the life of your rechargeable lithium ion batteries. Check out some of the tips below:

Avoid buying a backup battery

Lithium ion batteries begin to lose power once they’re assembled and it’s estimated that an unused battery could lose 20% of its life a year. So unless you’re in a position where you’ll be using a back-up battery on a regular basis, don’t buy an extra battery until you absolutely need one.

Battery drain not needed

Previous generations of rechargeable batteries would lose life capacity unless the full power of the battery was drained before charging. This is no longer the case. It’s safe to recharge your battery at any power capacity. The life of your battery will not be diminished. Though, it’s recommended that a battery is fully drained once every 30 charge cycles.

Worry about over-heating, not over-charging

Many laptop owners fear that keeping a fully charged battery in a laptop while the AC adapter is plugged in will “overcharge” the battery and diminish its life span. This is not the case. Most devices are equipped with circuits that divert the power away from a battery and straight into the device when the battery is fully charged. However, heat does increase the rate in which a battery loses its life. So laptop owners who regularly power their computer with an AC adapter may consider removing the battery and storing it in a cool, dry place (it’s recommended that this be done with the battery at 40% power) to preserve its life. The downside to this is that there will be no backup power for your computer in case of a power outage, making data loss a possibility.