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spalding12 · Oct 14, 2003, 05:59 PM

i have the Rev. B 17" powerbook... 99% of the time it is plugged in...

is THIS ok?

greg

nobitacu · Oct 14, 2003, 06:50 PM

Sure it's ok. I've had mine on and plugged in 24/7. All goes well. It's been almost a year now.

Ming

spalding12 · Oct 14, 2003, 07:25 PM

Ming,
you always have the answers
i appreciate your advice, as always

take care,

greg

Mithras · Oct 14, 2003, 07:30 PM

My old Wallstreet has been plugged in since 1999, almost nonstop, awake (with screen off) almost all of that time. Still works great.

Agent69 · Oct 14, 2003, 07:34 PM

Is there any down side, battery wise, to doing so? Also, do Powerbooks require a battery to be installed in order to operate?

Spheric Harlot · Oct 14, 2003, 07:40 PM

In one of the other recent battery threads, a member noted that Lithium-Ion batteries (which Apple uses) are so inherently frail that they are ALWAYS supported by an elaborate charging control circuit which will continually keep them on ideal charge/discharge cycle.

This is also the reason why your Powerbook battery is rarely at 100% when plugged in; mine usually hovers between 96% and 99%.

The only downside is that power supplies do get hot, but the current ones (there's a pun for ya!) seem adequately dimensioned, so this shouldn't be a problem, either.

-s*

superlarry · Oct 14, 2003, 07:42 PM

powerbooks don't require a battery to be installed to operate. don't know about the other question though.

michael_on_mac · Oct 15, 2003, 05:26 AM

The battery degenerates faster when it's warm (like installed in a PB).

Maybe you need to consider this.

Best,
Michael.

spalding12 · Oct 15, 2003, 06:08 AM

that power supply DOES get warm.
i'm currently using the powerbook 5 hours/day, even though i only use it for fun at home...
if i don't leave it plugged in all the time i'll be cycling the battery from 15% - 98$ AT LEAST once daily...
i better think about just WHEN i'll be buying that second one

i sure wish that APPLE would finally RE-introduce a free-standing battery charger so that i can get that second battery and keep it always "at the ready."

greg

spalding12 · Oct 15, 2003, 06:10 AM

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
In one of the other recent battery threads, a member noted that Lithium-Ion batteries (which Apple uses) are so inherently frail that they are ALWAYS supported by an elaborate charging control circuit which will continually keep them on ideal charge/discharge cycle.

This is also the reason why your Powerbook battery is rarely at 100% when plugged in; mine usually hovers between 96% and 99%.

The only downside is that power supplies do get hot, but the current ones (there's a pun for ya!) seem adequately dimensioned, so this shouldn't be a problem, either.

-s*

thanks for that explanation
i was wondering about that as well

greg

alien · Oct 15, 2003, 04:28 PM

The reason the battery will stay at less than 100% is that the battery won't recharge until it's below 95%. This is to not "waste" a recharge cycle, since the battery can only take a certain number of recharging cycles. You can do a search for li-ion battery issues and find a ton of info.

One of the downsides with li-ion is that the battery capacity may detoriate after a year or so, from what I've read there's not much you can do about this. Of course, this can vary.

I'm on my second battery now on my 2 year old iBook. The computer has been turned on almost all the time, but I put it to sleep at night of course. This has never led to any trouble.

2kmy477 · Oct 15, 2003, 06:18 PM

Anyone knows how long is the warranty for the battery(w/applecare)?

Lertsiri · Oct 15, 2003, 06:33 PM

From the posts above I can assume that to even make more use of your recharge cycle and limited amount of recharges the battery can actually take, why not just take the batttery out of tthe notebook when plugged in...I bet most of us are tethered to a wall anyway except commute....so use the battery to maintain memory or dates and time on commute and then after plugging in, just take the battery out.......

the battery should last longer this way , am I correct?

plus it will be away from a heat source as mentioned that heat degrades the battery....

nobitacu · Oct 15, 2003, 06:39 PM

Originally posted by Lertsiri:
From the posts above I can assume that to even make more use of your recharge cycle and limited amount of recharges the battery can actually take, why not just take the batttery out of tthe notebook when plugged in...I bet most of us are tethered to a wall anyway except commute....so use the battery to maintain memory or dates and time on commute and then after plugging in, just take the battery out.......

the battery should last longer this way , am I correct?

plus it will be away from a heat source as mentioned that heat degrades the battery....

Hmmmm... sounds like a good idea, but I'm too damn lazy.

Ming

C-Bear · Oct 16, 2003, 12:49 AM

Someone please correct me if this is inaccurate, but I've been under the impression that for the particular type of battery that Apple uses, the more you stay plugged in, the longer the battery's life.

BookWurm · Oct 16, 2003, 08:01 AM

Say my PB battery does deteriorate and I need a new one. How long does Apple supply batteries for for older PowerBooks?

Shoud I expect Apple to keep selling batteries for my old Wallstreet for say, another five years? Longer?

spalding12 · Oct 16, 2003, 08:16 AM

Originally posted by Lertsiri:
From the posts above I can assume that to even make more use of your recharge cycle and limited amount of recharges the battery can actually take, why not just take the batttery out of tthe notebook when plugged in...I bet most of us are tethered to a wall anyway except commute....so use the battery to maintain memory or dates and time on commute and then after plugging in, just take the battery out.......

the battery should last longer this way , am I correct?

plus it will be away from a heat source as mentioned that heat degrades the battery....

i can't do that around here, on the west coast of florida, because our power goes out for no apparent reason all the time... and i need to have the battery in so that i don't lose stuff with those power fluctuations.

i'll have to take my chance and eventually have to buy another battery...
a SMALL price to pay for using this wonderful apple product...

at least OUR batteries are as much as those Sonyh Vaio's!!!!

greg

iDuc · Oct 16, 2003, 09:53 AM

Originally posted by BookWurm:
Say my PB battery does deteriorate and I need a new one. How long does Apple supply batteries for for older PowerBooks?

Shoud I expect Apple to keep selling batteries for my old Wallstreet for say, another five years? Longer?

Last year I bought a battery for my Pismo.. no problem... I think they will supply batteries for quite some time...

Agent69 · Oct 16, 2003, 10:15 AM

Originally posted by 2kmy477:
Anyone knows how long is the warranty for the battery(w/applecare)?

According to the Applecare Terms and Conditions page, the Applecare Protection Plan does not cover "Repair, replacement, or maintenance of items that have been subject to wear and tear, such as cases, key caps, knobs, handles, batteries or mechanical parts."

So the battery warranty should be one year. IBM also warranties their Thinkpad batteries for one year, even though some models have a three year base warranty. I'd bet a one year warranty on batteries is pretty standard.