I am rather baffled by this. I recently moved to Europe, and have been charging my electronics with the proper adapters. Most modern electronics seem to be able to handle the 120-240v range with no problem. However, before I moved, my personal laptop could not remain charged for more than a few minutes at a time without being plugged in. Now, the battery life seems not brand new but significantly extended. How is this possible? I confess I know very little about battery chemistry, but shouldn't the voltage that reaches the laptop's battery be the same downstream of the block regardless of the line voltage? Is it possible the higher line voltage is able to charge it better?

 

It is indeed possible that the charger was not charging adequately when supplied at the lower mains voltage.
But that would be a challenge to verify without a fair amount of effort, because it would require measuring the output under load, which the load current is not easily measured on most laptop computers.

 

Welcome to AAC!

How is this possible? I confess I know very little about battery chemistry, but shouldn't the voltage that reaches the laptop's battery be the same downstream of the block regardless of the line voltage?

It has nothing to do with the battery/chemistry and everything to do with the charger. If it charges "better" with a higher line voltage, it must be defective.

Is it possible the higher line voltage is able to charge it better?

Not unless the charger is defective. You can test the charger at its rated current with the two different line voltages and see if the output voltage drops more with the lower line voltage.

 

Exactly what I stated in post #2. Either by design, or by defect, the charger was not charging as much when working with the lower input voltage.
I has nothing at all to do with the battery.
BUT the issue might possibly lie in the charging connection inside the computer, if that can somehow respond to the charging power.