Is there a program to limit battery charging while plugged in?

[otherBen]

The article mentions that Lenovo and Dell have software to limit the charge put into the battery while plugged in. Does anyone know a program that does this for an Asus laptop (model S530UN)? They do have an app with this function (called 'Asus Battery Health Charging') but the system specs for it exclude my model.

On a deeper level, does anyone know why this is so hard to get? Shouldn't it be fairly straightforward to write this kind of software? That Asus app requires an x86 architecture, which suggests that the problem might lie on the hardware level. Given that there must be a component that routs the socket power either to the battery or directly to the rest of the system, is it simply not possible to control that switch by software in certain models?

Seems like I'm a bit late to the party, but if anyone has an answer, I would really appreciate it.

 

[Ryujingt3]

Please try this tool and see if it meets your needs.

Battery limiter | robotonfire

 

[otherBen]

Hey, thanks for the answer!

That one is close, but it can't actually rout the power away from the battery, so instead it sends an alarm to remind you to manually unplug the laptop. Mostly that's a nuisance, but it also means that the laptop is running on battery power most of the time, meaning you're unnecessarily cycling the battery, given that the power socket is right there.

Ideally, the program would rout power away from the battery as soon as a preset charge is reached, so you could keep it plugged in and it still wouldn't charge any further. That way, the battery would be preserved essentially as if it was taken out of the laptop and put on a drip charger. The Asus app does this, and from what I understand, so do Lenovo and Dell alternatives, so it's definitely possible. I'm guessing that the reason these apps can't be used across brands or even models of the same brand, is that it depends on the specific hardware used, and the specific connections to software. I really just want one that works on my computer. Ideally, I'd like to understand how this works and why it's seemingly hard to do, but I'd definitely settle for just a properly working solution.

Any ideas?

 

[Ryujingt3]

According to the site below, it can only be done at the hardware level (which is why certain laptop manufacturers have the app you want). But there is some hardware tips you can try if you are feeling brave? Otherwise, unfortunately, no such software exists.

https://softwarerecs.stackexchange....battery-charging-control-software-for-windows

 

[otherBen]

Hey, thanks again. It baffles me that this is not just standard functionality nowadays, especially with built-in batteries. I'll see if I get brave enough to open up the laptop and risk my warranty over it.

 

[Ryujingt3]

Hey, thanks again. It baffles me that this is not just standard functionality nowadays, especially with built-in batteries. I'll see if I get brave enough to open up the laptop and risk my warranty over it.

The reason why it is not standard in all laptops is because it is due to hardware (the battery) and the firmware for that battery that allows it to be controlled in the manner you are looking for.

 

[otherBen]

Sure, but presumably most manufacturers get the batteries for all their models from the same supplier, right? So it shouldn't be so hard to write this code once, and install it on all models? Essentially, it would just need to be a while/if check that reads out current battery charge (which every laptop has) and controls whether or not adaptor power is routed tto the battery to further charge it.

 

[otherBen]

Savila, the answer to that depends on the brand and model of your laptop, as there doesn't seem to be a satisfactory tool that works across brands. Asus has a downloadable Battery Health Charging app, Lenovo has something similar and Dell supposedly has a "primarily AC" option in power settings (info on those last two from an article on this site titled "The reality of leaving your laptop plugged in").

As said before by Ryujingt3, an alternative is Battery limiter from robotonfire, but I'm personally not too impressed by that one.