Is it okay if my laptop is always plugged in so that my battery is charged 100%? Must I allow it to drain periodically by unplugging to increase battery life?
Before I mention what I do and what I’d recommend you to do, I’m gonna lay down some facts about the working of a laptop battery.Every laptop today uses a Li-ion battery. These batteries cannot be overcharged. As soon as your laptop reaches 100%, the laptop starts running directly on AC power if it is still plugged in.The problem with Li-ion batteries is that they self discharge. So if you keep your laptop plugged in, the battery will charge up to 100%, stop charging, self discharge to 99%, start charging, charge up to 100% and this cycle will repeat every couple hours.Newer laptops have ways to tackle this but in general, keeping your laptop at 100% at all times, is not good for your batteryIt is also not advisable to store your laptop at full charge. If you keep your laptop plugged in, chances are when you’re not using it i.e. it is shut down, it is at full charge as well. Fully charged batteries deteriorate faster than partially charged batteries even when not in use.You also don’t wanna let the battery drain out and store a battery at 0% charge. Stored batteries also keep losing energy, and if your battery has no charge, you’re risking harming it.So what should you do?Change the maximum percentage your laptop charges to around 55–60%. This eliminates all of the issues stated above. This is how I use my laptop and it stays plugged in 10–12 hours everyday. There is no need to completely discharge your battery.The only downside to this is that when you’re not plugged in, the laptop cannot accurately judge how much time your battery would last but I’m guessing that shouldn’t be a problem for the OP.
Is it bad that I never shut down my laptop?
No it's not bad, but periodically shutting down your laptop will prolong its lifespan.
Why is earthing necessary in electrical systems?
To understand the “need” of earthing, we will try understanding what “earthing” or “grounding” mean and its benefits…Earthing or grounding simply means making an electrical connection to the ground (yes literally to the earth), but the way the connection is done has a process and a standard (more info on factors affecting earthing). Why do we do so? simple answer would be for “PROTECTION” of the human life or the electrical/electronic equipment…An earthing is a MUST for an equipment which has NO insulation and susceptible to a human contact - something like the water heaters, iron boxes etc…In case of an insulated equipment we still find the earthing to ensure safety for humans (Top priority) if the insulation fails… Coming to the second need, it is to protect the equipment itself- specially the electronic equipment - which are sensitive to external noise (Electromagnetic noises), static charges (Static electricity is a beautiful concept - refer to this link to understand the main cause behind a petrol bunk explosion)…By earthing an equipment how are we avoiding the peril to human life or a malfunctioning of an equipment? reason is simple: Earth offers a ZERO RESISTANCE path for any leakage current or a noise current - hence any current that would be a risk to human life or to the functionality of the equipment will be bypassed to destination which offers a least resistance path…The essence of a FARADAY CAGE application (LINK1 LINK2)…Earth has an enormous capacity to take in the free electrons as well as it serves as a source - The Earth’s Surface Serves as a Giant Source of Antioxidants in the Form of Free Electrons | Wake Up World
My motherboard doesn't support as many fans as I have, because it sucks. Can I power my extra fans without connecting to the motherboard?
Yes, you can. In fact, there are a number of ways to do so.First, if you know the power ratings of your fans and of your motherboard, you may be able to use a splitter such as the Rosewill Case Fan PWM Cable Splitter.Such a splitter connects two or more fans to a single fan header on the motherboard. In order to use one, you must make certain that the total amount of current which a motherboard fan header can provide is greater than the sum of the currents needed for all of the fans you want to connect through a splitter. I am personally driving two sets of two 140mm Magnetic Levitation Bearing fans through splitters from my motherboard.Alternatively, you can connect a power adapter cable such as the Cables to Go 27078 3-Pin Fan to 4-Pin Pass-Through Power Adapter Cableor the CRJ SATA to 3 x 4-Pin PWM Sleeved Fan Power Adapter Cable.These cables connect to either a Molex or unused SATA power connector from your power supply. SATA cables can generally provide more current, so can generally power more fans.Another option is to use a USB power fan adapter such as this one: USB to 3/4-Pin PWM 5V USB Sleeved Fan Power Adapter Cable.The drawback to this device is that it only provides +5V instead of the +12V that fans normally use, making them run slower, move less air, but also be quieter than normal.You can also use an internal fan hub. This is a box that several fans can plug into which gets its power from either Molex or SATA cables connected to your power supply. An example would be the SilverStone PWM Fan Hub System.This one allows a total of eight fans to be plugged in.Finally, you could use any of several different fan controllers, such as the Kingwin 5 Channel Fan Controller w/ Individual LEDs.pr the Sentry 3 5.4'' Touch Screen Fan Controller.These type of devices usually go into either an otherwise empty 3.5″ or 5.25″ drive bay in your case, provide power to multiple fans, and let you individually vary the speed of each fan. There are also combination bay devices which have fan controllers, memory card readers, USB hubs, and other such things all in a single bay. such as the Kingwin Multi-Function Bay Controller.Which of these is more appropriate for you depends on your exact needs and desires. In general, though, they are all about equal in what they will provide you, so it ultimately becomes just a person choice of which solution you think is more elegant to you.