If it's a NiCd battery, the only way to keep it robust is to use it fully.
These batteries develop 'memory' and get stuck with it - if you do a
frequent cycle between 90% and 100% charge for a while, that last 90% turns
into near nothing.

I know you'd like to think it's staying 100% charged, but even overnight,
you'll lose some stored power, resulting in a cycle like I mentioned.

BUT! you can sometimes retrain them: using a light bulb or similar resistive
load (DON'T just short the battery - lots of heat, damage, and I've never
seen it but I've heard they'll explode), discharge the battery as far as you
can.  Recharge, rinse & repeat a few times, and your capacity will be
better.

With Lithium ion batteries on the scene and getting safer all the time, it
would be really polite of NiCd to go the way of 8-track tapes.

regards,
Tracy Pierce

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Brandt [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 5:58 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: OT: Notebook battery life
>
>
> I have a Gateway Solo 9300 notebook, which spends almost all
> of its time
> plugged into the port replicator, so the battery is almost
> always charging.
> On the rare occassions when I use it on battery power, the
> battery lasts
> less than 15 minutes. This is the second battery, which I
> purchased in Jan.
> 2002. It lasted around 8 hours then.
>
> Do these things wear out after a year and a half? Is it
> because it's almost
> always charging? Is there any way to recover the full use of
> the battery?
>
> TIA
>
> --
> Tom Brandt
> Northtech Systems, Inc.
> 130 S. 1st Street, Suite 220
> Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1343
> http://www.northtech.com/
>
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