mid '09 macbook battery going strong!

[TJS]

Quite impressed; owned this macbook since may 2009 (old shape macbook with nvidia gpu)

Nearing 700 load cycles and still 91% capacity

[ShadowTD]

Wow! My 2008 Nvidia MBP needed a new battery about 6 months ago. How would you describe your useage?

[TJS]

I basically keep it plugged in unplug it when i go off around the house or what ever; try to get the battery down to about 50-60% charge before i turn it off at night; I think the main thing is to try and run it down to about half battery before you leave it over night or for any length of time

My old iBook G4 (going back a few years now) got up to 1,500 or so charge cycles before it stopped keeping a charge

[Waldo Pepper]

Originally Posted by TJS

I basically keep it plugged in unplug it when i go off around the house or what ever; try to get the battery down to about 50-60% charge before i turn it off at night; I think the main thing is to try and run it down to about half battery before you leave it over night or for any length of time

My old iBook G4 (going back a few years now) got up to 1,500 or so charge cycles before it stopped keeping a charge

The problem with batteries is heat. You can keep Lithium Ion/Lithium Polymer batteries on a float charge by keeping your laptop plugged in indefinately as most laptops have very good charging regimes. The problems occur when they heat up and that's what will eventually kill them.

As long as they run cool then whether the charger is plugged in or not will not have too much detrimental effect. I sit my laptop on a glass breadboard to ensure adequate air flow under the base.

If I am doing anything heavy like video manipulation, I remove the battery and just run on the power pack on a UPS as the heat generated can be conducted to the battery pack.

If you are not going to use it for a bit, store the battery pack in the fridge. (not the freezer)

[TJS]

Originally Posted by Waldo Pepper

The problem with batteries is heat. You can keep Lithium Ion/Lithium Polymer batteries on a float charge by keeping your laptop plugged in indefinately as most laptops have very good charging regimes. The problems occur when they heat up and that's what will eventually kill them.

As long as they run cool then whether the charger is plugged in or not will not have too much detrimental effect. I sit my laptop on a glass breadboard to ensure adequate air flow under the base.

If I am doing anything heavy like video manipulation, I remove the battery and just run on the power pack on a UPS as the heat generated can be conducted to the battery pack.

If you are not going to use it for a bit, store the battery pack in the fridge. (not the freezer)

The location of the battery on mac's is on the front left of the keyboard; away from the cpu + gpu so they stay pretty consistently around 30*c;

Storing batteris should be around half battery though; so i try to run mine down to around there before i leave it over night seems to have been working for me on ly last 3 laptops

[haydnwalker]

My Mid-2009 (June) MBPro (4Gig RAM / Nvidia GPU) has done 327 charge/discharge cycles and is at 98% Battery Health. My usage is mixed, but I try to run on battery where possible, and charge when it gets to like 30%. I even watch movies on it and can get about 4-5 hours of HD video watching from it

---------- Post added at 22:40 ---------- Previous post was at 22:38 ----------

Originally Posted by TJS

Storing batteris should be around half battery though; so i try to run mine down to around there before i leave it over night seems to have been working for me on ly last 3 laptops

Manual says to only do that if its being stored for more than a week without usage So I'm guessing the fact you're doing that is coincidence

[TJS]

So close to 700 now

[TJS]

100 load cycles later and its dropped 3% capacity, not bad going considering this battery was only designed to last 320 cycles.




---------- Post added at 19:49 ---------- Previous post was at 19:45 ----------

Originally Posted by ShadowTD

Wow! My 2008 Nvidia MBP needed a new battery about 6 months ago. How would you describe your useage?

Message never showed up prior to now so sorry about the delay

I just use it on battery on and off throughout the day, and usually keep it plugged in from 6 pm to about 9 pm when i use it the most after then i take it off charge and by the time i come off its usually ran down to about 40 - 50 % charge which is how it's left overnight

[haydnwalker]

I read somewhere that MBP batteries are classed of End Of Life when they reach just 80% capacity.

[TJS]

Originally Posted by haydnwalker

I read somewhere that MBP batteries are classed of End Of Life when they reach just 80% capacity.

yup, and this battery was rated for 350 charges and still over 80% while nearing 800 charges