HP AC Power Control Utility

[GoogleGagga]

Hey fellow HP users..

i've been using HP laptops for a few years now..

and am very happy with their products..

Just got a new HP Notebook that came with "HP AC Power Control Utility".

- usually.. i do not install OEM bloatware..

- but fortunately.. i decided to try this little utility.

- from past experience.. if you leave the batter charging over a long period of time.. it degrades it's life & reliability. my last Pavilion's battery suffered such consequences.. it is no longer able to charge to max capacity and drains abnormally quickly when unplugged from the AC..

This "HP AC Power Control Utility" is not intuitive at all.

- the interface has poor & confusing descriptions.. (i'd like to consider myself proficient in English)

- basically.. i wanted to turn off the charging if my Notebook was plugged in.

- i still do not understand it fully.. but managed to get it working as i inteded..

• Direct Link

- as you can see in the preview.. the batter is no longer charging 🙂

- the clock on the Interface is not intuitive.. it's not even a clock..

- it's like a timer that can't be set..

- the left timer can only increment per click.. the right timer makes no sense as well..

- but i believe you have to set the right timer as high as possible..

- then click Apply ..

- Eventually.. the battery will being to drain to minimal level @ which point..

- it begins to draw power from your AC outlet..

Anyhow.. i hope someone with more knowledge of the inner-workings can provide a more in-depth tutorial or explanation...

- Very useful utility. ~! Great Job HP!

[manilenio]

For some time now, I've been looking for a software that would automatically bypass charging and maintain the battery level when the charge reaches user-specified levels (like say at 80%) while keeping the laptop running on main power.  The idea was to prevent the battery from being overcharged.  However, many people say this no longer applies to the new batteries.  Some laptops even come with non-removable batteries now.  So only now did I discover this software from HP that would *sort of* do that, except it won't maintain the battery charge, it will cut the main power instead until your laptop's battery gets to a low level and it'll begin to charge the battery again. 

The weird thing is, it works on a peak time setting, instead of a battery power/percentage setting.  In my opinion, this software would be a lot better if instead of peak time, it would let us set the maximum and minimum battery settings.  For example:

When battery reaches 85%, main power will be disconnected.

When battery reaches 40%, main power will be reconnected.

Or something to that effect.  Well, unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's gonna happen.

[manilenio]

Upon further experimentation, I conclude that this is a really strange (and maybe useless) program.  I tried this:

-Fully charged my laptop.

-Then, I set the low battery level at 60% (I want the program to stop using the battery at 60% and just use the mains).

-I set the program's peak times to 9AM to 6PM (I used it within these times).

The description of the program is:

AC Power Control allows you to schedule a peak shift time period in which only the battery is used, even when connected to AC Power.  When the battery charge level reaches (or drops below) the Low Battery Level, AC Power will be used.

NOTE: During the peak shift time period, the computer will not charge the battery.

So, that means that from 9AM to 6PM, until the battery charge level reaches or drops below the low battery level, it will use the battery.  Once the battery charge level reaches or dips below the low battery level, it will stop using the battery (and the battery won't charge as well) and switch to AC power instead.

Well, here's what happened:

- the low battery warning popped up at 60% as expected

- the battery level continued to go down

- it did NOT switch to AC power

In short, this program does NOT work.

Update: at 15% of battery power, the program suddenly came to life and disabled the battery while switching to mains.  It looks like it has a built-in parameter of 15% battery charge where it'll switch to main power, regardless of what you set your computer's low battery level to be.

I hope somebody else can confirm this observation.

[Ashutach]

 Hey did you find any solutions to this? I've done the same things...it says 'plugged in, not charging' but the battery keeps draining even after the low battery level and critical battery levels which i set to 65 & 60 % respectively, after which it should use the AC power right? 

Thanks in advance

[rich1974]

It looks  like the program is dead since the last version dates back to 2014. it would be great to have a setting for a battery treshold. it is quite annoying to have the laptop discharged and to leave the place. let's  say that you leave the office at 3 PM and, by happening, the battery has 20% charge.....so, you are facing the situation when you have the battery almost empty when you are on the road back home and maybe you want to use the machine while travelling.