Why shouldn’t you calibrate your laptop battery?

In the past, the calibration of the laptop battery was a recommended process. But when a new generation of batteries arrived, calibration became unnecessary and may even damage your device. This time we will present the most important information about battery calibration.

In this article you will find out:

• what is battery calibration in a laptop
• why calibration is not recommended any more
• how to take proper care of your laptop battery.

What is battery calibration?

Battery calibration – also known as reset or formatting – is discharging the battery to zero in order to recharge it to the full. In order to calibrate your laptop battery all you need to do is:

• charge the battery,
• wait until it cools down (cause your laptop to run on the fully charged battery for a while, without performing any strenuous tasks),
• disconnect the laptop from the power supply and wait until it runs out of energy,
• once the battery is discharged – replenish it.

When the battery is discharging, you have to be careful not to let the device hibernate – this will delay the whole process.)

But the real question we need to ask is not “how to calibrate your laptop battery?” but “whether you should calibrate it at all”? And the answer to the latter is clear – “no”.

Why did we calibrate batteries in the past?

Laptop batteries used to be calibrated to retain the accurate battery measurements. Battery life is reduced with time and it’s natural for your laptop to run on a battery for a shorter period of time after a while. A laptop will not always “realise” this feature has changed. The users – especially in the case of older models – could experience a situation when the device still showed a few per cent of the battery and next moment the laptop hibernated all of a sudden. Calibration helped you avoid such surprises and some even claimed it extends the battery life.

Why is calibration not recommended?

In the past, deep discharge was a reasonable option. In some manuals – even those more recent! – the users can find recommendations for regular battery formatting. This advice is outdated, though, because modern batteries have a completely different specification. By calibrating the battery in new laptop models you can compromise the battery life!

Most batteries used in laptops nowadays (i.a. Li-Ion batteries) are more efficient and lightweight than older batteries. Plus, they don’t have the “memory effect”, which means deep discharge will affect them adversely. It is therefore recommended to connect the battery to the power supply when the energy level reaches 10 – 20%. By calibrating your laptop battery you can speed up the depletion process. Of course, if you do happen to discharge your laptop every now and then, this won’t damage your battery (especially if it’ a high-quality model), but if you frequently allow deep discharge, this will definitely reduce the performance of your device.

That’s why it’s not advisable or reasonable to calibrate modern laptops. It’s not true that you can format the battery from time to time or that calibration is good for your laptop. On the contrary – regular calibration means you will soon have to replace your laptop battery.

How to make the most of your laptop battery?

If you want to extend battery life, do not calibrate your device. Instead, you could follow a few useful tips:

• Use a charger with proper parameters..
• Connect the device to the charger when the battery level is below 10% and keep charging it until the battery is at least 80%.
• Make sure the computer is plugged in when you launch demanding tasks and programmes (like games).
• Try to prevent overheating (avoid putting your laptop on a blanket, don’t work in the sun when it’s hot).
• When the laptop is discharged, don’t wait – even if you’re not using it for a while, connect it to the power supply from time to time.

Summary

If you suspect your laptop battery is running low, remember that calibration will not solve the problem. Make sure it’s actually the battery that’s at fault (check the charger, the laptop input and the charging settings). If the answer is “yes”, you should consider replacing the battery. You will find high-quality batteries – original models and reliable replacements – in  our online store.