Resolved laptop battery

I have a three-month-old Toshiba Laptop with a battery already installed at the time I purchased it. I keep it in my house plugged into an electric outlet. My question is this: If my battery dies out can I still use the Laptop plugged into the electric outlet? Would I have to remove the dead battery or can I keep the dead battery in? Would keeping the dead battery in cause any damage to my Laptop? Thank you for your response. Stang

 

You can still run the laptop off the mains but if you really only connect to the mains it's probably best to try and maintain the battery's life.

Maintenance differs between battery types (eg Ni-Cad, Ni-MH etc) so if you post that we can provide more assistance.

 

To wildfire

It is a nickel cadmium battery. Stang

 

Hi Stang,
have a look here:http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/03/10-tips-to-make-your-laptop-battery.html

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

http://4sysops.com/archives/how-to-take-care-of-your-laptop-battery-to-prolong-its-lifespan/

Most reports I have read advise using the battery in your laptop to discharge it to about 20% left and then charge fully. If you are going to use it plugged in to an AC outlet - take the battery and cycle it every 3-4 weeks.

Batteries will develop memories as these links will point out. There are a number of newer type batteries which don't - but use and discharge and charge equally is a good rule to follow. Cheers Neil.

 

Follow Neil's advice Stang, but with Ni-Cads forget the 20% rule, discharge the battery as fully as you can before recharging (some laptops come with a utility to do this check your documentation).