Lithium-ion Batteries
They offer quick charge times, long life, steady discharge characteristics, low weight and small size. Your Li-Ion Laptop/camcorder batteries offers about 40% more charge capacity than a NiCd battery of similar size and weight and can be fully charged in half the time. These Li-Ion batteries do not suffer from memory effect. You should keep your Lithium-Ion batteries fully charged. You can top off a battery that is 90% charged back to 100%. Keep them cool, dry and safe from shock. Weather can affect your battery. Very hot or cold conditions can affect a battery's performance and in some cases can even cause permanent damage. Bag your spare charged batteries in plastic bags this keeps them clean and dry.
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Your new battery comes in a discharged condition and must be charged before use. Upon initial use (or after prolonged storage period) the battery may require two to three charge/discharge cycles before achieving maximum capacity. If the battery is not going to be used for more than a month, it is recommended that it be removed from the device and stored in a cool, dry, clean place at 50% charge level. 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.
Battery.
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Battery Care
Do not short-circuit a battery. A short-circuit may cause damage to the battery.
Do not drop, hit or otherwise abuse the battery as this may result in the exposure of the cell contents, which are corrosive.
Do not expose the battery to moisture or rain. Keep battery away from fire or other sources of extreme heat or extreme cold. Do not freeze your battery.
Do not leave your laptop on overnight all the time while charging. The laptop should be turned off occasionally.
Do consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)
Do use the Suspend or Hibernate feature when taking a break.
Do minimize the number of programs and/or applications running at the same time. Quit any of the programs/applications that are not in use.
Do not throw away or dispose of your battery with household waste. Please recycle all batteries, as they contain chemicals which are harmful to the environment.
Do set the Windows Power Management settings to maximum savings.
Do lower the brightness setting on the screen back-light
Do not carry loose batteries in a pocket or purse with metal objects like coins, paper clips and hair pins, etc. This may short circuit the battery, generating high heat.
Do disconnect any unused devices such as modems, wireless cards, Blue-tooth and USB devices.
Do not buy old batteries, even if sold at clearance prices.
Do store battery in a dry, cool place at 40-50% charge level. Some reserve charge is needed to keep the battery and its protection circuit operational during prolonged storage.
Do make sure that the laptops power management features in the BIOS and Operating System are optimized, turning off the screen, using speed step.
Do not incinerate. Exposure of batteries to extreme heat may result in an explosion.
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Why Is My Battery Not Charging?
New batteries are shipped in a discharged condition and must be charged before use. We generally recommend an overnight charge (approximately twelve hours). Refer to your user's manual for charging instruction. Rechargeable batteries should be cycled – fully charged and then fully discharged – 2 to 4 times initially to allow them to reach their full capacity. (Note: It is perfectly normal for a battery to become warm to the touch during charging and discharging).
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How Long Will My Battery Last?
The life of a rechargeable battery operating under normal conditions is generally between 500 to 800 charge-discharge cycles. This translates into one and a half to three years of battery life for the average user. As your rechargeable battery begins to die, you will notice a decline in the run time of the battery. Average run time is 1 1/2 hours to 3 1/2 hours depending on what applications you are running. Functions that require more power will deplete your laptop battery faster. Viewing a DVD or using your CD player to play and record music are power intensive functions and will consume power at a faster rate. Also different notebooks use more power than others. Most laptops have a power management control panel where power use can be reduced while on battery power, such as reducing the brightness of your LCD screen. External batteries can also be purchased to provided extended power.
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How Does Power Management Works?
Battery power is automatically conserved each time an AC power source is used to run the computer. The battery's life expectancy is largely determined by the number of charges it receives, so use an AC power source to run the computer if one is available.
When power conservation features are used, some of the performance of the computer is traded off for increased battery operating time. For example, if the hard-disk drive is turned off, a delay may occur the next time the computer tries to access the hard-disk drive.
Other power conservation features, such as standby mode and suspend mode, stop almost all system activity and suspend-to-disk mode turns off all power to the computer. They allow the user to maximize power conservation when work is interrupted.
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Why Use Standby Mode?
Standby mode conserves battery power by turning off the display and reducing power to the microprocessor, VGA PCI bus, diskette drive or CD-ROM drive (if installed), serial and parallel ports, hard-disk drive, PC Card controller, internal speakers and microphone, and external speakers and microphone (if attached). Use standby mode when you leave the computer unattended for less than a few minutes. Resume normal computer activity by moving the cursor or pressing any key on the keyboard (the computer takes less than a second to return to normal operation).
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Why Use Suspend Mode?
Suspend mode conserves battery power by turning off the microprocessor, external cache, hard-disk drive, serial and parallel ports, PS/2 ports, diskette drive or CD-ROM drive (if installed), external keyboard or mouse (if attached), display, PC Card controller, internal speakers and microphone, and external speakers and microphone (if attached). In suspend mode, the computer reduces power to the PC Card controller. Use suspend mode whenever you leave the computer unattended for more than a few minutes. Resume normal computer activity by pressing any key on the built-in keyboard (the computer may take several seconds to return to normal operation).
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Will Dimming The Display Conserve Battery Power?
You can slowly dim the display to conserve battery power when you are working with the computer intermittently or when the computer is performing a task that does not require your input. It is recommended that you always set this option to the lowest setting that affords comfortable viewing. You can conserve up to 5% of battery power by using the minimum brightness.
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New Batteries
New batteries come in a discharged condition and must be fully charged before use. It is recommended that you fully charge and discharge your new battery two to four times to allow it to reach its maximum rated capacity. These are all brand new battery cells and don't always "wake up" and work to their full capacity until they've been used a bit.
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What is a "full cycle"?
A cycle is when the total battery power is less then 50% before it is recharged. The battery electronics monitor the status of the cells during use, and not cycling the battery at least once a week may cause the electronics to get false recordings.
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Why doesn't the Battery charge overnight in my laptop?
Make sure the notebook computer is receiving power (Is the AC Adapter plugged in correctly?). With the battery installed in the computer and the AC adapter connected check whether the battery ‘fuel gauge’ and laptop are displaying a charge light. If not the battery, the power system in the notebook, or the AC Adapter may be defective. A laptop repair shop can test the relevant components.
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What should I do if the battery gets hot in my laptop?
It is normal for the battery to become very warm to the touch during use. If it becomes too hot, then 1) Disconnect the AC Adapter/Charger or 2) Remove the battery so it can cool down. If the problem persists once the battery or AC Adapter/Charger is inserted back into laptop then the battery or AC Adapter/Charger could be defective and may need to be replaced.
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Why won’t my new battery charge to 100%?
Sometimes your device's charger will stop charging a new battery before it is fully charged. If this happens, simply remove the battery from your device and then re-insert it. The charge cycle should start again. This may happen several times during your first battery charge. Don't worry; it's perfectly normal.
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My battery used to charge to 100%, why won't it anymore?
If your battery used to charge to 100% but now it won't it then it could be a problem with your AC Adapter, laptop battery or even the motherboard.
The AC Adapter may be bad. The simple test for this is to try running the laptop solely from the laptop power adapter. If the laptop doesn't run off the laptop power adapter then you have a dead adapter on your hands. In some cases the laptop charger itself is faulty and may run the laptop but not have enough power to charge the battery. In this case try charging the laptop battery with the laptop turned off. If the notebook battery charges while the computer is off then the laptop power adapter is faulty and you will need to replace it.
Your laptop battery may be bad. Although defective rates are less than 1% it is still a possibility that the laptop battery is bad. A simple way to test this is to see if another laptop battery will charge in your laptop, if so, then the battery you have is defective. If the laptop battery is being charged, but not all the way, then the problem is likely with the computer BIOS and an update will be required for the laptop to recognize and fully charge the laptop battery.
The computer motherboard may be bad If your new and your old laptop battery won't charge and the laptop charger is working properly. Also, if your laptop battery will charge in another laptop then that could be a sign that you have a bad motherboard.
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Why won’t my computer start up with the battery inserted?
Make sure that the battery is properly inserted and has sufficient charge. If this does not work, consult your computer manual.
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Can I store batteries in the refrigerator?
Yes, but the battery must be protected from moisture which will cause internal corrosion. It must be kept in an airtight container. This method of storage is only suitable when the battery needs to be stored for long periods without use. The low temperature slows down the rate of discharge. Once removed from the refrigerator, the battery must be allowed to warm up to room temperature before use. Storing the laptop battery in the freezer is not recommended.
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How long will my laptop stay ‘powered’ with the battery?
A ‘realistic’ average run-time for a standard battery is 1.5 to 3 hours. However, Run time will vary between individual laptops as well as the following:
The type of applications being run, i.e. power hungry applications such as games, graphical software or wireless networking will dramatically reduce run time
The number of times a file is saved or retrieved from hard drives, external drives or CD/DVD drives
The RAM size of a laptop
The chemistry, capacity and age of the battery
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The laptop shuts down automatically, What could be wrong?
Plug in the AC adapter/Charger into the laptop and turn the machine on. Check the bios Power Management settings, they may be set to turn the laptop off when the battery reaches a certain level. In this case you should make sure the battery has sufficient charge by leaving the laptop (with battery installed) connected to the mains for at least one hour. If these steps do not help solve the problem consult your laptop manual.
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Exercise Your Battery
Do not leave your battery dormant for long periods of time. We recommend using the battery at least once every two to three weeks. ___________________________________________________________
Battery Storage
If you do not plan on using the battery for a month or more, we recommend storing in a clean, dry, cool place away from heat and metal objects at 40-50% charge level.
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Update Your Laptop's BIOS
Check your laptop manufacturer's website for possible system BIOS software upgrades. Some laptops have been prone to reject 3rd party batteries if they have an old BIOS software version installed on the laptop. BIOS upgrades are designed to fix a wide array of problems including Hard Drive capacity limitations, Battery compatibility and usage, Power management features, and performance modifications after the laptops were made and shipped. It's like getting a tune-up for your automobile.
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What if I have tried all of the troubleshooting?
Please make sure that you have ruled out your AC Adapter or laptop as a problem. A new battery will not solve a hardware or motherboard issue. If you have tried all of the above and the battery still will not charge to full capacity or you have another problem with the battery then we suggest you get an exchange. |
