keeping sp4 plugged in

larryg

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Mar 10, 2016
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I know I raised this about a year ago when the sp4 first came out, not sure there was ever any clear position, so wondering after a year if opinions have changed. I leave my SP4 plugged in 24/7 and use it intermittently every day while plugged in. I unplug it intermittently for short periods of time - lets say 30-60 minutes a few times a week and then maybe 1 or twice a month take it with me traveling where its unplugged for a few hours. Should I let it run down more often?
 

Axeelant

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Nov 20, 2014
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I know I raised this about a year ago when the sp4 first came out, not sure there was ever any clear position, so wondering after a year if opinions have changed. I leave my SP4 plugged in 24/7 and use it intermittently every day while plugged in. I unplug it intermittently for short periods of time - lets say 30-60 minutes a few times a week and then maybe 1 or twice a month take it with me traveling where its unplugged for a few hours. Should I let it run down more often?

Hard to find those answers on here, trust me I tried. What I found was some guy's post who has 3 SP4s, and says the best battery life can be found in those who get plugged off and let it drain to about 10%, then get recharged with minimum use/heat back to 100%. So NO, not the best idea to always keep it plugged in.
 

onlysublime

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The Surface Pro 4 has circuitry to prevent overcharging. So keeping it plugged in won't cause damage.

In any case, battery life on the SP4 is pretty bad because it's a pretty small battery. Discharging and recharging constantly won't help you have a longer session on battery. The only thing that helps with longer sessions is having less x86 programs installed (I've tested it between my SP4 machines; the one that is barebones with only Adobe Creative Suite 6 runs for far longer than my fully loaded work SP4). Most x86 software was designed for desktop PCs with an unlimited supply of electricity. There are fewer provisions to keep runaway programs from sucking up juice. I've tried to decrease the number of software that is preloaded at boot but I'm down to the core software I use daily for work.

And trying to decrease frequency of charging doesn't help either because batteries age over time anyway. So the bottom line is it doesn't matter whether you leave it plugged in all the time or whether you charge to 100% then discharge, then charge again. Personally, I'm against full discharge merely for the fact that the SP4 charger is awfully slow.
 

Mikeman

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I've had my SP4 for over a year now and I also keep mine plugged in 24/7. I occasionally unplug it and run it down, but not often. When I do unplug it and run it down, I do not have any degraded battery life and I tend to get 5-6.5 hours of use out of it. From my understanding these batteries will only charge / recharge until they are no longer able to - At which point it would be time for a replacement. As for me, by the time the battery is useless - it will be time for an upgrade anyhow. I would only replace the battery if I intended to resell it etc. I believe that once the battery is charged, the flow of electricity is stopped so its not overcharging etc. Hope this helps -
 

John Jackson15

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Feb 18, 2017
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it used to be that leaving them plugged in 24/7 was bad but they have made it so it stops charging when it's fully charged. but it is a good idea to try and run it down once a month but it's not critical. the fact is they only have so many charge cycles in them then it's time to replace. like the other reply said, by the time you need a new battery you are probably looking to upgrade anyway.
 

raqball

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Mine stays plugged in 24/7 but I do run it dry once every few months.. I've not had any negative effects thus far..
 

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