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January 3rd, 2020 10:00

charging xps 13 7390

Hello. This is my first laptop, and I plan to use it mainly as a desktop. Does it harm the battery to have it charging continuously, and if so, what is the best way to keep it charged and how far should the battery run down before recharging it? Thanks.

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14K Posts

January 3rd, 2020 13:00

@computer newbie  congrats on your purchase!  This question gets asked a lot.  Here's what I posted in another thread where this came up:

It’s perfectly fine. Leaving the laptop plugged in all the time so the battery is always at 100% isn’t ideal, but it’s still better than using the battery when you don’t have to. If you want to maximize longevity, go into the BIOS or Dell Power Manager and set the battery max charge to 80% and the minimum charge to 50%. That way when the battery reaches 80%, the laptop will essentially run itself on wall power but NOT keep the battery charged. Instead, the battery will be allowed to "self-discharge" over a period of many days down to 50%, and at that point the system will charge the battery back to 80%. This is best for long-term lifespan because in this setup, the battery spends most of its life essentially doing nothing, neither being charged nor being kept topped up nor being actively drained. And limiting the charge to 80% is better than keeping batteries maxed out all the time, which is why Tesla cars default to an 80% charge and you have to specifically request a “Max Range” charge each time you want one. The downside to this strategy of course is that you only ever use 80% of the battery’s capacity, and if you set the minimum charge to 50% and need to unplug from the wall unexpectedly, you might only have a 50% full battery. Basically, you can optimize your battery for everyday use or long-term life, but not both.

January 3rd, 2020 17:00

Response greatly appreciated. Very helpful. Thanks very much.

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14K Posts

May 7th, 2020 19:00

@Bhanh  in the BIOS Setup or through Dell Power Manager.  Change the battery charge mode from Adaptive to Custom.

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May 7th, 2020 19:00

How to set the max charge to 80%

 

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