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Battery Not Fully Charging

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zerubbabel
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Battery Not Fully Charging

#1 Post by zerubbabel »

This is probably not a Debian question, per se, except for the fact that I'm running Debian Testing on my Dell Latitude 6540. But within the past week the battery hasn't gotten past 48% charged no matter how long I'm plugged in. This is a new development. Until a few days ago, it would charge fully and I could work for about 2 hours on a full charge. Now it discharges within an hour of normal use. Is it likely that my battery is just worn out, or could it be a system issue, from a recent update?

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Re: Battery Not Fully Charging

#2 Post by dilberts_left_nut »

zerubbabel wrote:s it likely that my battery is just worn out,
Yes.
zerubbabel wrote:or could it be a system issue, from a recent update?
No.
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zerubbabel
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Re: Battery Not Fully Charging

#3 Post by zerubbabel »

Ok, thanks.

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Re: Battery Not Fully Charging

#4 Post by RU55EL »

You may want to check for "Dell Extended Battery Life" options. I don't know if it is a bios setting or not, but some notebook computers have a setting to keep the battery from charging more than 50%. This helps keep the battery vibrant if you us it a lot with the battery in the computer and have the power cord plugged into the wall for long periods. Lithium batteries degrade faster if kept at full charge at high temperatures, like what it would be subjected to if kept plugged into the wall with the battery installed.

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Re: Battery Not Fully Charging

#5 Post by zerubbabel »

That is good to know about, to get more life out of a replacement battery, but I know that until a few days ago the battery reached full charge every time I plugged it in, so I'm sure there's no option set in the bios to only charge it half way.

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Re: Battery Not Fully Charging

#6 Post by bw123 »

I've been looking for a way to turn my charger off at 80% and I seem to recall reading that some Dell apps on windows can change this threshold permanently. Have you used any battery or power-related apps lately?

The 'sweet spot' from what I've read is 40%-80% that would be a good range to keep your battery in.
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RU55EL
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Re: Battery Not Fully Charging

#7 Post by RU55EL »

zerubbabel wrote:[...] I'm running Debian Testing on my Dell Latitude 6540.[...]
Possibly a Dell E6540?

From the Dell E6540 manual, regarding the bios settings:
Advanced Battery Charge
Configuration Allows you to enable the advance battery charge mode. The option is disabled by
default.

Primary Battery Charge
Configuration Allows you to define how to use the battery charge, when AC is plugged in. The
options are:
Adaptive (Default Setting)
Standard
Express Charge
Primarily AC use
Custom
I don't know what "Primarily AC use" does, but it may be worth checking. Of course, is is very possible the battery may have failed.

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