How to increase battery performance in Predator Helios 300

TeknoClan
TeknoClan Member Posts: 51 Troubleshooter
edited October 2023 in Predator Laptops

Hello, I have a Predator Helios 300, which is 6 months old. Before, I used to have a 6% wear level with around 86000mWH(I don't remember the exact number) full charge capacity. Then a few weeks ago the wear level went to 8% and stayed there. But ever since two days ago, the performance has dipped. All I did was play Minecraft on it for 2 hours, and I had to plug in my charger twice during it. Then once I'd finished playing, I went to HWMonitor to check my battery levels and saw the wear level was at 11% with 80000mWH Full Charge Capacity. The battery life has also taken a dive as it discharges faster and has less screen time. Then today, wear levels went down to 8%, but then I played Minecraft again, and it went up to 9%. I generally try to keep my laptop at 80% or less before shutting down for the night. However, while I'm gaming, I plug in the charger and charge it to full before unplugging it and repeating the process once the battery dips below 40%. So, should I replace my battery, given its current wear levels, or use the same one for a few more years?

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Answers

  • TeknoClan
    TeknoClan Member Posts: 51 Troubleshooter
    Screenshot (1283).png
    Screenshot (1248).png

    The first screenshot is my current wear level today. The second screenshot is from yesterday night when it was at 8% wear level. The last screenshot is from 2 days ago, when the performance first dipped.

    Screenshot (1233).png

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,964 Trailblazer
    edited May 2023
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/685818/how-to-increase-battery-performance

    There is no need to increase your battery performance, your battery wear is better than average, count on <10%/year wear the first 3 years and then anything can happen when cells die. Average lifespan is 4-5 years, after that replace the battery ($40). Don't use ACC battery limiter or any other form that interrupts the normal charging process, leave your adapter plugged in 24/7 after charging LED is blue (no problem). Stop using your 80% max. limit charging, that interferes with BIOS stats and Windows ACPI battery control. That battery longevity story is a myth, never been tested. Uninstall ACC as that has problems in Windows11 22H2.

    You should (if you haven't done that yet) drain the battery till the laptop turns itself off (hibernates at 5%) then plug in the adapter and charge to the blue charge LED turns (from orange) to blue. That is 1 full charge cycle required by BIOS and Microsoft ACPI protocol, otherwise your battery meter/report and battery stats are inaccurate. Don't play games without the adapter plugged in full time, don't use Ultra High Performance Power Plan but use the default power settings and Balanced Power Plan.

    BTW, HWINFO uses the Designed Full Charge Capacity to compute battery wear, that is wrong, use Initial Full Charge capacity, at the date the battery was installed. The designed capacity is a fictive value simply entered by the vendor in the Smart chip, not measured and always inflated (sales pitch).

  • TeknoClan
    TeknoClan Member Posts: 51 Troubleshooter
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1204712#Comment_1204712

    Ok, I have done a battery drain before, back in February/March this year. I don't use any limiters for the battery and always charge it to 100%. I do try to keep the adapter plugged in while gaming, but I do unplug it after a while. Since the temperature can rise very quickly while gaming with the adapter plugged in.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,964 Trailblazer
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1204822#Comment_1204822

    I heard that before but fail to see the rationale behind directly powering adapters/CPU "generates" more energy than a full battery. Either your Power Plan is completely askew, severely throttling the CPU when you switch to battery (I believe that is the case) and you don't notice the difference in performance or the Turbo Booster is turned off (CPU functions like an i3), also maybe the power adapter is far too powerful for the battery capacity. Check which part is getting so hot during the charging with a digital thermometer, is it the battery maybe? I hope not😐️

  • TeknoClan
    TeknoClan Member Posts: 51 Troubleshooter
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1204881#Comment_1204881

    When I checked the temperatures on Predator Sense, the CPU temperature was in the 70s with the adapter plugged in. I have done research online. Playing an intense game like God of War or Witcher 3 with the adapter plugged in will greatly increase the temperature.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,964 Trailblazer
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1204898#Comment_1204898

    But WHY the increase in temp.?

  • TeknoClan
    TeknoClan Member Posts: 51 Troubleshooter
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1204900#Comment_1204900

    Ok, I did some research. It's because of how much electricity passes through the computer. Also, the battery wear level is now at 12% with 79834mWh full charge capacity.

  • Puraw
    Puraw ACE, Member Posts: 13,964 Trailblazer
    edited June 2023
    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1205623#Comment_1205623

    Sorry, but I disagree unless the adapter voltage is much higher than a (fully charged) battery. On the other hand, I have witnessed many batteries (including my car batteries) getting very hot when being charged too fast (they can even catch fire or explode).

    Your battery is 4-cell with a huge (83Wh) capacity, I was referring to standard 48Wh 3-cell batteries so your wear level may be higher, it should still last 4 years at that rate at which time you need to replace any battery. Calculate battery wear yourself, don't use Design Capacity for that but the actual first measured Full Charge Capacity.

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