How to tell how full the battery is..?

[daz]

Question's in the title, really.

I have a 24Ah battery that should have run my laptop (1.5A) for at least 12 hours. It did less about 5.

So, either the battery was not completely charged, or it is actually on its last legs.

Is there a way to tell how full the battery is?

Thank-ee

[Greg]

Is it a lead acid jobbie Daz??

[legion48]

Battery runtime depends on what you are actually doing with the lappy. 12 hours seems a long ime and I suspect you would only get this if the lappy is powered up but unused. I know wi/fi drains a battery very quickly.

If you got under 5 hours - I presume you got at least 4 - then I don't think that's too bad nowadays.

My laptop has an icon that appears on the taskbar when unplugged from the mains. The icon shows how much life is left in the battery.

[Greg]

I'm getting confoosed here ...

Are we talking the battery in the lappy? Or a power pack.

Sorry if i'm being thick here..

[legion48]

Ah...15 hours? I bet it's an external jobbie. One of those biguns, not the actual laptop battery. If so, ignore my previous post.

[regulus]

I'm getting confoosed here ...

Are we talking the battery in the lappy? Or a power pack.

Sorry if i'm being thick here..

Its got me confused, too I would imagine 24 aH has got to be external, of some sort

If the computer consumed 2Amps per hr, that battery would last 12hrs.

The battery on this/my laptop is a NIMH 4400mah battery, i can use it for about 2hrs playing, say, a DVD etc..., thats a battery less than 1/2 an aH.

[George]

Put your tongue on it, if your toes curl it has a good charge

[gsjag]

Just on the external PSU thing, I forgot to charge mine and now it won't hold a charge (it's less than a year old as well). Maplins don't sell replacement cells for it and the best price I could find on the web for a replacement costs £42. Well, the unit was only £20 (on offer) so have reluctantly decided to bin it and have just ordered a new one for £32. Morel of the story, don't let the darn things run completely flat :-(

Gary

[Jamie]

Daz post a pic of your battery and the name and make of it.

[Greg]

Just on the external PSU thing, I forgot to charge mine and now it won't hold a charge (it's less than a year old as well). Maplins don't sell replacement cells for it and the best price I could find on the web for a replacement costs £42. Well, the unit was only £20 (on offer) so have reluctantly decided to bin it and have just ordered a new one for £32. Morel of the story, don't let the darn things run completely flat

You can recover them with s deep recycle charger....The type they use for motorcycles..

[Tinkerbell]

Lo Daz

I know I'm late onto this thread but if You run a lappy of an external power pack it is best to remove the battery from the lappy as it is trying to recharge the internal battery as well as run the lappy :? Also check the Amp rating on Your lappy as 1.5A seems a tad low, mine runs to 4.7A

[gsjag]

Thanks Phattire, I'll look into that.

Gary

[daz]

Hi Guys

Sorry - been out and about all weekend

Yes - its an external battery, not the internal one.

The essential answer to the question was - the battery charger tells me!! I found three little LEDs on the side for 20,50 and 90% charge levels.

I am in the process of testing again - I have removed the battery - although I've not switched off WIFI (D'oh!).

Kev - the charger unit has 2 amp ratings, one for input, one for output - 1.5Amps and 5.6Amps respectively. I assumed that the higher amperage would be produced as a function of the transformer, but I have (on rare occasions) be known to be wrong!

I need to pop home at lunch time anyhow, so I will update you on the testing. I ran it for 3 hours last hight (no battery) and set if off again this morning. I create a little scheduled task to write the time to a file every 15 minutes so I can see when it packs in!!

Thanks to all - will keep you updated on progress!

P.S. George - thanks