does it hurt to charge my battery while using it?

[Jason Whitener]

I have an omnibook 6000 with a lithium ion battery and was wondering if I leave it charging all the time while at home will it hurt the battery?

[Roger Faucher]

Jason:

This text is from an HP Omnibook XE manual but it should apply to yours as well:

To get the most from your batteries
· Do not leave batteries unused for long periods of time. If you have more than
one, rotate them.
· If you normally use AC power, make a practice of at least once a week using the
battery as your power source.
· Unplug the AC adapter when the computer is not in use.
· To preserve the life of a battery, be sure to charge the battery regularly.
· For long-term storage, the battery must be charged at 20â 50% to minimize
capacity loss by self-discharge and to avoid deterioration of battery
performance.

HTH

Happy Ho

[Perignon]

Hi Jason,

Concur with Roger's points as a general statement, but I'd like to emphasise that there exist different policies about how a battery should be best preserved.

Actually, loading/re-loading procedures may vary with the model of battery used, thus you should stick to the manufacturor's recommendations at the first hand.

Normally, a brand new battery should be fully loaded once, computer off. First use would extend to the moment when the battery is totally empty. Once done, it should be fully re-loaded again, computer off. Actually, only these preliminary measures will influence on the life of your battery as a general rule, other precautions are much dependent on the manufacturor.

Alain