Dell 5160 Checking the Battery Charge, Charging the Battery

28 Using a Battery

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CAUTION: Do not dispose of batteries with household waste. When your battery no longer holds a

charge, call your local waste disposal or environmental agency for advice on disposing of a lithium-ion

battery. See "Battery Disposal" in the Product Information Guide.

CAUTION: Misuse of the battery may increase the risk of fire or chemical burn. Do not puncture,

incinerate, disassemble, or expose the battery to temperatures above 65°C (149°F). Keep the battery

away from children. Handle damaged or leaking batteries with extreme care. Damaged batteries may

leak and cause personal injury or equipment damage.

Checking the Battery Charge

The Microsoft

Windows

power meter window and icon, the battery charge gauge, and the

low-battery warning provide information on the battery charge.

The Windows Power Meter indicates the remaining battery charge. To check the Power Meter,

double-click the icon on the taskbar. For more information about the

Power Meter

tab, see

"Power Management" in the

Dell Inspiron Help

file. To access help, see page10.

If the computer is connected to an electrical outlet, a icon appears.

NOTICE: To avoid losing or corrupting data, save your work immediately after a low-battery warning.

Then connect the computer to an electrical outlet. If the battery runs completely out of power, hibernate

mode begins automatically.

A pop-up window warns you when the battery charge is approximately 90 percent depleted. For

more information about low-battery alarms, see "Power Management" in the

Dell Inspiron Help

file.

To access the help file, see page10.

Charging the Battery

NOTE: The AC adapter charges a completely discharged battery in approximately 3 hours with the

computer turned off. Charge time is significantly longer if the computer is on and running at high

processor speeds and system activity levels. Running the computer at high system activity levels for

extended periods of time may prevent the battery from charging.

When you connect the computer to an electrical outlet or install a battery while the computer is

connected to an electrical outlet, the computer checks the battery charge and temperature. If

necessary, the AC adapter then charges the battery and maintains the battery charge.

If the battery is hot from being used in your computer or being in a hot environment, the battery

may not charge when you connect the computer to an electrical outlet.