Some basic battery questions

I just bought a new battery for my Inspiron 1501 from Dell. I have some basic questions:

1. When I plug in the computer using the power cord, sometimes the battery icon reads "plugged in, charging" but sometimes I get "plugged in, not charging". Is this normal? The second version doesn't make sense to me.

2. The Dell guy I spoke to about battery use and charging said I should not let the battery get below 10% and also that once the battery is fully charged I should not use the power cord. Are these statements correct?

I was hoping to use the battery mostly without the power cord during the day and charge the battery at night, but it will not take entire night to charge the battery. I usually don't shut down the computer at night but put it in sleep mode. Would it be better to shut the computer off at night while the battery is charging?

If the battery runs out of power while I'm using the computer is the worst thing that can happen is that the computer shuts down and I might lose some word document if I hadn't saved it?

3. Is there any good website you recommend that deals with basics about battery use, charging the battery,etc.?

THANKS!

 

To be on the safe side, I always name the document first. You can go into the settings for MS-Office (Word, Excel, etc.) and set it to auto-save any changes every few minutes (this also covers you in the event the system crashes or the power flickers using a desktop PC).

Newer versions of Office attempt to auto-save open files in the event of a shutdown (even if the auto-save is disabled), but this isn't always successful.

 

Can anything worse than losing a document occur if a battery shuts down unexpectedly?

 

Hi Lebowl,

1. The charger automatically stops charging when the battery reaches 100%.
2. The Battery alarms default to 10 and 5% and give you plenty of time to stop what you are working on and shut down.
Makes no difference if it's on or off when charging on a modern laptop.
If the battery runs down unattended the laptop will do an orderly shutdown and nothing will be lost.

Hope this answered all your questions,

Jim

 

So just to make sure I understand:

Basically everything that the Dell person told me(make sure not to have the computer plugged in after reaching 100%, there can be a problem if the battery runs down unattended) was wrong?

It's OK to charge the battery throughout the night whether the computer is off or in sleep mode?

How can I make sure the battery alarm is functioning?

 

One more question: Is there nothing strange about the "plugged in, not charging" message I sometimes get when I click on the battery icon? This makes no sense to me.

THANKS

 

Most notebook PCs will force the PC into hibernate mode (even if it's not otherwise enabled) if the battery drops to about 5% change.

If Windows experiences a hard shutdown (example: the power going off while using a desktop PC) it can potentially corrupt the Windows OS.

 

Hi again Lebowl,

Nothing strange about the message. If the battery is fully charged (100%) the charger stops charging and the indicator stops signaling that it is charging. Use the laptop until the battery gets down to 10% or whatever you have reset it to and you should get an audio alarm signal and maybe a message. Keep going and you should get another alarm at 5% or whatever you have set it to. Some older (real old) laptop AC adaptors were not up to charging and running at the same time. That hasn't been true for many years. Watch out for the Dell guy!

Luck, Jim

 

But I get the message "plugged in, not charging" when the battery is not fully charged(less than 100%). For example, right now it says:

"85% available(plugged in, not charging)"

and I've gotten similar message for percentages much less than 85.

 

Hi Lebowl,

Now we have a handle on it. There are NO charger components in the AC Adaptor. It's OK as long as it runs the computer with and without the battery . There is a micro processor in the battery case that monitors the battery cells and reports their state of charge to the charger circuits in the Laptop. Looks like your next step is to try another battery. How does the old one act?

Good Luck, Jim

 

I am using a new battery I purchased from Dell two weeks ago. I couldn't quite follow your post. Do you think the battery is faulty?
Thanks.

 

The old battery died a few years ago so I assume I can't get information by trying it? I also disposed of the old battery a few days ago so unfortunately I can't try it even if it could give some useful information.