Battery charge limit occasionally ignored

Framework Laptop 16
1

I have battery charge limit in BIOS settings set to 60, the recommended setting when the laptop spends most of its time on AC power.

I have the latest firmware installed:

 └─Laptop 16 AMD Ryzen 7040 System Update:
        New version:      0.0.3.5
        Remote ID:        lvfs
        Release ID:       102512
        Summary:          Framework Laptop 16 System Firmware for AMD Ryzen 7040
 Mainboards
        License:          Proprietary
        Size:             36.1 MB
        Created:          2024-11-13
        Urgency:          High
        Tested by Framework:
          Tested:         2024-11-21
          Distribution:   fedora 40 (workstation)
          Old version:    0.0.3.4
          Version[fwupd]: 1.9.26

Most of the time the battery charge stays steady at 60%, as requested. But this has already happened several times, and I see no clear pattern, but sometimes the battery charge limit gets ignored and the battery continues to charge.

Last time it happened I noticed that the battery was at about 80%. I rebooted the laptop, and the battery charge slowly drew down to the prescribed 60% capacity, and held there.

I just noticed that the battery is now at 90%. The battery continued to charge after a reboot. I turned off AC power, I’ll wait until it drops below 60%, then plug back the AC power and see what happens…

1 Like
2

I have seen the same issue. I also have the charge limit set at 60% and mostly that is what it sits at but on two occasions now it seemingly randomly started charging past that limit. I then have disconnected the AC power and let it go below 60% before connecting it again.

I’m running Windows 11 pro and have the latest BIOS (3.05) and driver bundle (2024-10-02) installed.

3

Disclaimer: This is only my speculation, consider a second opinion.

The latest BIOS introduced Battery Life Extender, which slowly discharges the battery to 90% if the laptop is left plugged in for several days. The BIOS might sometimes consider using the Battery Life Extender charge % despite the manual charging % limit is lower. Disabling Battery Life Extender might work.

1 Like
5

It is certainly something to do with the BIOS update to 3.05. I have my battery charge limit set to 80% because it is permanently plugged in and after the update the charge level will sit at various values between 80% and 90%. It is currently at 87%, which seems to be a common intermediate value.

I haven’t worried about it as it hasn’t gone to 100%. But personally I think setting it at 60% seems extremely low, 80% seemed to be the recommended when I looked around, and it certainly suits me.

6

I have the same.
In fact it look like the new “Battery Life Extender” take precedence over “static” limite.
so if you activate both, after the selected time it use his limit (90%?) even if it is higher than the static config.

Cool be nice if we can config the % limit for “Battery Life Extender” or use the static One if both are enable.

If we can find a “better” strategy, may be Framework can change that for next bios update.

For 80% vs 60%. 60% is what is recommended by battery maker for long storage. 80% is a compromise between energy storage (when you need some time to use it not connected) and battery lifespan.

2 Likes
7

It work for me. :wink:

1 Like
8

Update: I let the battery level drop below 60%, then plugged in AC power. The battery charged up to the 60% level and it’s holding there.

So, that has to be it – this is just the confusing way that battery life extender logic works, it brooms away the battery charge limit setting in a non-intuitive manner.

Logically, it would’ve been more intuitive if the battery life extender worked in a slightly different way. The battery life extender basically computes: if the system is on AC power, continuously, for period X, then reduce the battery charge level to Y%.

The way I think this should work is that the effective battery charge level target should always be the lowest of Y% and the battery charge level setting value. That’s it. Effectively, the battery life extender kicks in only if it wants the battery to be below the current battery charge level setting’s value. Otherwise it has no effect.

3 Likes
9

I can see both sides. Personally, I think any of the options are too complicated or non-user-friendly enough that I just don’t use them. What I’d personally love to see is a physical switch that toggles a battery charge limit on/off, and the percentage of that limit be configurable in the BIOS. That’s never gonna happen, but I can dream.