The laptop is one of the most useful devices we have in the modern world because it allows you to do everything the desktop computer can do in a compact and portable body. In that regard, thank the laptop’s battery for powering up your device whenever you need to use it on the go. That’s why it is important for you to take care of your laptop battery and to know whether or not it is still healthy. So, when should you change your laptop’s battery?
If your laptop’s battery is often overheating, no longer charges well, doesn’t have half of its original battery life, or often leads to your laptop shutting down, that is when you should know that you should have it replaced or changed. You can also check your battery’s capacity to know whether or not it is still healthy.
Your laptop’s battery is one of the most important components of the entire laptop. Without it, you are basically carrying a smaller desktop computer that needs to be plugged in all the time to work properly. As such, if you want your laptop to live up to what it is supposed to do, you should make sure that you are keeping the battery healthy or know when to replace it when the time comes.
What are the signs that you need to change your laptop’s battery?
When you are always on the go and you need to work, play, or keep yourself entertained while you are traveling, a laptop is one of the most important devices you can have by your side. That’s because it is functional, portable, and very convenient to carry around as it basically can do whatever a desktop computer can do but comes in a smaller package.
So, one of the most important components of any laptop is its battery because this is what allows it to run without the need for you to plug it into a power source. This allows you to work or play while you are traveling by road, sea, or air or whenever you are in a place where there is no nearby power outlet.
Because of how important the laptop battery is, you should know some of the signs that will point to the fact that it needs to be replaced. Truth be told, a laptop battery will eventually deteriorate and die out on you the more you use or charge it. This is perfectly normal. So, in that case, your job here is to make sure that you know the signs that will point to the fact that you need to have it replaced.
Overheating
It is normal for a battery to produce heat when you are using it. After all, power will always equate to heat production on the part of any electronic device or tool. And the best part here is that your laptop has fans and cooling systems that are there in place to make sure that the battery doesn’t get to heat levels that are dangerous.
However, when your battery is at its limit or when it has reached the end of its lifespan, what happens here is that it might end up producing more heat. In turn, your computer will also need to work harder when the battery is weak so that it can compensate. As such, the laptop’s cooling system won’t be able to catch up to the increase in heat, which will not only overheat the battery but also the computer itself.
So, if you notice that your laptop is becoming noisier than it usually is because of how its fans are working harder, this is an attempt to cool itself down on the part of the laptop. When you try to feel the bottom of the laptop or even the keyboard area, it should be warmer than it usually is. And when you actually place it on your lap, it should feel very warm on your lap.
If such a sign is becoming more apparent, that is when you should actually change the laptop battery. You would notice how big of a difference that could make to your laptop’s performance and to the heat it produces by simply changing the battery.
No longer charges well or actually fails to charge
Another sign that your laptop’s battery needs to be replaced is when the battery actually doesn’t charge well enough or when there are moments that it fails to charge. This can happen when you see the battery icon saying that the laptop is not charging or when the battery is still going down even when you have your laptop plugged in. There are even times when the battery won’t even charge at all.
However, the first thing you need to make sure of here is that this is not an issue regarding your charger. All you need to do is to use your charger to charge another laptop or to use a different charger to charge your laptop. If your charger is charging another laptop and the other charger isn’t charging your laptop well, then this is most likely an issue regarding your laptop’s battery and not its charger.
Battery life or capacity is now drastically weaker than original
This is something that you can easily notice if you are always using your laptop unplugged and when it is usually running on battery power. At the start, you might have noticed that your laptop’s battery is actually pretty good and can reach up to 10 hours on one single charge. However, what you should know is that batteries will naturally deteriorate the more you use them. As such, it will get to a point where your battery won’t be as powerful as it once was.
So, if you notice that your laptop’s battery capacity is now drastically weaker such that it fails to even reach half of the old run time that it used to have, then that should point to the fact that it needs to be replaced. There are even some batteries that will end up only running for a few minutes before they empty out. Meanwhile, some laptop batteries that originally had 8 to 10 hours of life will probably only have about 2 to 5 hours on one single charge.
Shutdowns
This can be quite problematic for a lot of laptop owners because of how some laptop batteries just shut down out of nowhere without any warning whatsoever. Such is common whenever the laptop battery is no longer as healthy as it once was or whenever there are underlying issues that cause this problem.
It is important to note here that sudden shutdowns and battery capacity aren’t always two sides of the same coin. There are some laptop batteries that still have good capacities in the sense that they still have a handful of hours left before the next charge. However, it isn’t uncommon for such batteries to cause sudden shutdowns that may lead you to question why or how that is happening.
The problem here is that there is almost no warning that your battery will suddenly cause your laptop to shut down unlike when batteries are emptying out and the system warns you that the battery is at a critically low level. This can lead to problems regarding work or gaming as you don’t want to end up losing valuable work time or playtime just because your laptop suddenly shuts down out of nowhere.
Replacement warning
Older systems did not have this feature but Windows and Mac operating systems now have a way to warn you that your battery needs to be replaced. For Windows users, the system will automatically warn you when the battery needs to be replaced once it has reached a low enough capacity as you will see a red X appearing over the battery icon. Meanwhile, for Mac users, you’d have to click on the battery icon for you to see whether or not the system is already warning you that you need to replace your battery.
How do you check your laptop’s battery health?
The problem with most operating systems is that they don’t have a way for you to know how healthy or unhealthy your laptop’s battery already is. That’s why some people use third-party applications or programs that will allow them to view the battery info so that they can tell the battery’s current health.
One of the best software you can use is Nirsoft’s BatteryInfoView, which you can learn more about here. The good thing about this app is that it displays the battery’s approximate wear level so that you will be able to see how far down your battery has deteriorated. You can actually see the laptop’s battery health such as when you see that it is down to 70% of its original capacity.
This will allow you to make an informed decision regarding when to replace your battery as it might be time for you to replace it when you see that its original battery capacity has gone down to below 50%.
How do you replace a laptop battery?
If you have noticed that your laptop’s battery is showing signs that it needs to be replaced, you might be wondering how you can actually replace the battery. So, for starters, there are two ways you can replace a laptop battery.
The first one involves buying a separate battery from the same laptop brand or manufacturer. All you have to do is to simply remove the old battery from the laptop with a press of a switch and then swap it out with a new battery. However, this only applies to laptops that actually allow you to remove and replace their battery as there are some laptops that are designed to have batteries that cannot be removed.
Laptops with batteries that cannot be removed are usually the newer or more expensive ones that are built to be durable and very compact. As such, they are designed to make sure that you cannot remove the battery so that there are fewer openings for dust, ants, and water to enter the laptop. And the best part is that these laptops come with built-in systems that will allow them to choose which between the power adapter and the battery to use so that you no longer have to remove your battery when you want to keep your adapter plugged in. So, in a sense, when the system has detected that the battery is already fully charged, it automatically uses the power adapter as its power source.
So, in cases where you cannot remove your battery from your laptop without having to pry the laptop open, the only way for you to have your battery replaced is to send it to the authorized service center. This can be more expensive than buying a separate battery but this is what works.
What are some quick tips for extending laptop battery life?
If you are looking for some quick tips to help extend your laptop’s battery life so that you can minimize buying a new battery or getting your old one replaced, here are some of the more useful ones:
- Use battery saver mode. This mode was incorporated into your laptop for a purpose as it allows you to conserve your battery’s energy so that you no longer have to charge it as often as before. Charging the battery over and over again is one of the reasons why it deteriorates.
- Remove the battery if you are connected to the adapter. There are some laptops that will allow you to remove their battery. So, if you are simply working in an area with a power outlet nearby, you may want to remove your laptop’s battery and then rely solely on the power adapter.
- Don’t empty the battery out. Batteries that are emptied out tend to lose more life than batteries that are charged right away before they go empty. As such, when the battery has reached a critical power level, plug it in right away.
- Keep your laptop in steady temperatures. Ambient temperatures can affect the way a battery works. That’s why you need to make sure that you are working somewhere that isn’t too hot or too cold if you want to keep the battery as healthy as it should be.
- Upgrade your RAM or close some processes. The reason why RAM or memory is so important here is that your storage drive tends to work harder and use up more power if your laptop is low on memory. You may have noticed this when you have too many processes or apps opened and you hear your laptop’s drive churning and producing heat.
- Remove peripherals that are not in use. Peripherals such as your external keyboard or your mouse can actually eat up a ton of power from your laptop battery and cause it to use up more power. So, when they are not in use, remove them from the laptop or keep them turned off.