G5 docking station's negative effects on Pavalion Plus battery life

[Regional_Punter]

Hi folks 🙂

Hoping for some insight from the collective wisdom here 

I have a HP G5 docking station to which I've connected my new HP Pavilion Plus laptop, an ergonomic keyboard, an ergonomic mouse and two HP monitors.

Everything works as it should... touch wood!

What worries me is that there is no way to stop the dock from charging the laptop ...the battery icon in the system tray shows that it is being charged all the time.

Does anyone know whether or not the laptop has some kind of built-in mechanism or protective circuitry that prevents the battery from overcharging or sustaining damage from the continuous charging?

Thank you for sharing your wisdom and insights!

[Jupitero]

Hello.

HP Pavilion is a consumer laptop, and so far HP has enabled battery life optimization features only in their business laptops. The feature is configured in the system BIOS, so you can take a look, but if there are not battery management features then you are out of luck.

Your laptop has circuitry to stop charging when the battery is full. The only issue here is that the battery will likely degrade a bit earlier than if it was kept at 50%-80% charge, but other than that it is safe to keep the laptop connected to a charger permanently.

[Regional_Punter]

Thank you, Jupitero. Appreciate your shedding light on the matter 😃

I did go in and sniff around the BIOS the other day -- you're right, there is no real option other than the basic optimized battery charging -- I did update the BIOS to its latest version last night but doubt that would make any difference in this regard.

I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet, keep the laptop plugged in so that I can comfortably use my monitors and let the battery deteriorate 🙄

I have two more follow up queries -- if you're (or anyone else is) unable to advise, no worries -- just thought it was worth asking 🤔

1) If the laptop remains plugged in around 3-4 days a week and is allowed to discharge the rest of the days, how long do you reckon its battery will last? I realize this is a dumb question as battery life is usually unpredictable ---> any educated guess is welcome 😁

2) I have gotten an HP 3 year pick-up and return support with accidental damage protection and risk free care pack.  I'm guessing I'll be charged for a Pavilion Plus battery if the laptop requires a battery replacement-- any ideas on how much that would cost given that the support postage/shipping is paid for?

[Jupitero · Accepted solution]

Hello again.

1. Impossible to say how long it will last. Your laptop battery is LiPo, or lithium-ion polymer battery, and while HP calls it Long Life in your laptop Service Guide, its longevity will in the end be determined by ambient temperature, type of usage and even minute manufacturing variances.

The battery product number is N66427-001. I see that your laptop model is brand spanking new and I found a single New Zealand store where it is sold for around 250 (presumably) NZ dollars. HP Part store does not recognize the battery code.

You need to decide for yourself whether it is worth it to pay constant care for you battery life and have it replaced in say, 8 years, or just pay no attention to it and replace it after only 7 years and still pay the same price for the battery. (Note: all numbers from my random number generator)

A good reference for lithium-based batteries is this article: (the site has plenty of information)

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

Keep the laptop (and thus battery) as cool as possible to extend the battery life, so don't leave laptop in sunlight, blow the accumulated dust and debris off the laptop and so on. Things like laptop cooling pads may help keeping the thermals at bay.

2. I cannot say. I haven't had experience with HP carepacks for some years now, and there are many different care packs to choose from. I recommend reading the care pack agreement or asking the place you bought the carepack from. If the carepack small print does not specifically exclude parts such as batteries, then they should be included in the care pack. Since Li-ion batteries degrade even when stored in optimal environment, the care pack may have provisions for how much the battery must have lost capacity before it can be replaced under the carepack.

[Regional_Punter]

Thank you, Jupitero.

I didn't realize you were in NZ.

I'm Aussie, by the bye -- although I live in the states.

I guess if the battery will last anything more than 5 years while the laptop is mostly plugged in to the dock for daily use, that's not a bad way for it to function.

It's only a few times a week that I'll be actually moving the laptop around while doing something on it.

At the moment to keep my conscience clear I've resorted to not plugging in the USB-C dock cable to the laptop unless I'm opening up several things e.g., if I'm just sending a quick email I just use the laptop on battery power.

This seems to keep the machine around half-charged most of the time.

Of course, the use case wil change once I start doing more heavy work on this machine e.g., work emails and things. 

Hopefully my new employer will dish out a company laptop for that sort of thing and I can conserve this one =D

Appreciate your detailed insights and that you took the time to respond. 

Warmest regards

[Jupitero]

Hello again,

Just to correct this:

No, I'm not from NZ - almost antipodean to NZ really -  but the only web search hit I could find was some dealer in NZ of all places! 😀

[Regional_Punter]

😂pardon my error, Jupitero ... it is interesting that the batter is sold in NZ and not anywhere else, though -- isn't it?

I wonder if HP is listening...

[Jupitero]

Hello again,

I think that since your laptop is a brand new model, the retailers and distributors are not likely to stock batteries that are not in demand yet since the batteries decay even when stored. In a year or two the battery will be widely available.

HP has the spare part and it can be ordered from them - directly or via a retailer - if someone needs to buy one.

[Regional_Punter]

That makes sense... thank you!