Stefan Mileschin

Laptop battery blunder

Keeping a laptop plugged in is a one-way ticket to Tech Trouble Town.

University of California battery boffin Kent Griffith has been testing the effects of keeping a laptop fully charged, and apparently, the numbers could be better.

Griffith told Gizmodo that leaving your laptop battery at a full 100 per cent charge for extended periods is like a tech time bomb. If you expect a marathon run from your laptop after such treatment, you'll be lucky to get a sprint.

Griffith prescribes a healthy 20 to 80 per cent charge. His top tip: charge up, unplug, and let your laptop live a little. This 'mid-range' mantra could be the elixir of life for your laptop's lifeline.

This is because the lithium-ion battery is a delicate dance of graphite and lithium cobalt oxide layers, with lithium ions shimmying between them. A battery brimming at 100 per cent is a lithium lion's den, with energy bursting to break free. But cram too many lithium ions into one layer, and you're dialling up the stress levels. The battery's happy place is a balanced 50 per cent.

https://fudzilla.com/news/pc-hardwar...ed-with-damage