Netbook assistance required

[rossybee]

Relative numpty on these matters....so here's the scenario:

HP netbook, over 4 yrs old now, solely used now by me when working away for general net surfing.

Replaced the charging cable with a gen HP one late last summer and all was fine (apart from the thing running a bit slow but not unusably so)

Hasn't really been usable unplugged from mains for over a year now, not been an issue.

Now the battery isnt even charging when in use and plugged in, but the wee light on the side of the netbook is on suggesting that power is reaching this point.

Is it simply the battery has die completely? Or could it be something else (nothing hints at loose connections) before I spunk £30 on a spurious replacement battery?

Tempted to throw the thing away and get a mini tablet

Any constructive suggestions happily received folk ta

[cstrachan]

If you leave a laptop on constant charge it kills the battery so I guess you have done the same to the netbook. It is best to use the battery every so often or remove it if constantly on AC.

[rossybee]

So you suggesting the netbook is f*cked? Or just the battery?

[cstrachan]

I am assuming it still works when connected to the mains, if this is the case then most likely the battery is dead.

Laptops tend to state the battery is full then switch off after 30 seconds when the battery goosed.

[Lazydonkey]

Just the battery i'd suggest - not expensive to replace.

As an aside i've just put an SSD and upgraded the RAM in my netbook and it's transformed it from an unusable sack of sh*t to something that's quite a nice wee worked. All stuff supplied by Crucial.

http://www.crucial.com/

[rossybee]

Thanks chaps - I should've clarified - it charges when switched off but when switched on and leaving connected to the mains, the battery still slowly (ie slower than when unplugged) discharges.

[cjm]

Just the battery i'd suggest - not expensive to replace.

As an aside i've just put an SSD and upgraded the RAM in my netbook and it's transformed it from an unusable sack of sh*t to something that's quite a nice wee worked. All stuff supplied by Crucial.

http://www.crucial.com/

Slight hijack. Is it worth upgrading an old laptop? I have a 6 year old Acer that is running very slowly and also has a dead battery so is always plug into the mains. I have previously used the recovery disks to wipe it and start a gain when it was running slowly but it didn't seem to read the disks the last time I tried that. How do I produce new recovery disks so I still have the copy of XP that came on it? Or is it time to fling it in the bin and buy something new?

[cstrachan]

If fully charged does it last a decent amount of time on battery power? If so the battery is fine.

[tut]

The battery is knackered after four years no matter how you have used it. Both my Asus's batteries went to where they would hold no charge, so I bought new ones on eBay rather than overpriced originals.

However I spilt a glass of wine on mine the other day, and even though I have stripped it down it will not power up. Just thankful that it was not my Macbook Air.

tut

[rossybee]

If fully charged does it last a decent amount of time on battery power? If so the battery is fine.

No, and hasn't done for quite a while

[rossybee]

The battery is knackered after four years no matter how you have used it. Both my Asus's batteries went to where they would hold no charge, so I bought new ones on eBay rather than overpriced originals.

good to have my suspicions confirmed mr D

I trust the spurious batteries performed fine? (wine excepted)

[robin]

If the battery is discharging while the power adapter is plugged in and the system is running and yet the battery charges when the unit is powered off it smacks of some problem in the charging circuit - it's unable to provide enough power to keep the unit on and so the battery is supplementing the power requirements of the system.

That said if the battery is utterly gubbed then it could be that it is just confusing the charging circuit.

If the battery is removable, how does the system behave when the battery is removed - does it run any better/faster/less hot/whatever?

Cheers,
Robin

[rossybee]

Ooh never even considered that Mr I - will try it with battery removed and report back

[robin]

BTW, it is commonly believed that LiPo/LiOn batteries are damaged by leaving them on the charge at all times. In fact the primary wear factor in a properly designed system should be cycling the battery - after 300-500 cycles you might expect 80% capacity from the battery.

If you're charging circuit is sh*t, however, then you can damage them by forcing current into the battery even when it's fully charged (particularly at an elevated temperature - i.e. if the charging circuit produces a lot of waste heat). That will damage the battery. The batteries are best stored at a voltage slightly below fully charged - it's common to store at 50% charge, but 90% would be OK too. What really kills a lithium rechargeable cell is deep discharge. If you take them down to below 2V/cell then you get a crystalline growth that punctures the internal insulation and causes the cell to short internally, reducing it's capacity dramatically.

Finally in multi-cell packs that were made by unscrupulous suppliers you will discover that one cell is weaker than the other and this creates a vicious circle that steadily reduces useful capacity and causes overcharging that in turn reduces battery pack life further. This is why the ebay battery pack is often dead after a year when the OEM pack lasted 3 ...

So, if you have a piece of kit with a Li battery that you always use on the charger, your best bet is to fully charge the battery, then use if for long enough to use about 1/3 of the capacity, then power down, remove the battery and store it. Charge it once every 6 months to a year. The battery will be as new when you finally do need to use it.

Cheers,
Robin

[rossybee]

Removing battery kills it ie it won't run without the battery in place