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| Thread ID: 78844 | 2007-04-30 04:57:00 | Battery not charging | technicianxp (6463) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 545582 | 2007-04-30 04:57:00 | Hi everyone I got an IBM Thinkpad R40 laptop from work which had been decommisioned a year ago when it refused to turn on and was quoted to require a replacement motherboard at $1000. I got the laptop repaired (from www.open.net.nz) for $200 and received it yesterday. I recovered Windows and pretty much left the thing plugged in all day on its docking station (as I don't have the direct AC adaptor). That's when I noticed that the battery charging light remained orange all day, and after Windows was finally installed it reported the battery to be 0% charged, and the meter did not go up even though I left it plugged in for much longer. After disconnecting the laptop from AC it ran for about 15 mins then died. I let it charge all of last night and it did the same thing this morning, with the computer reporting it as being 0% charged the whole time. Before charging it I completely discharged the battery. What I'd like to ask is, do you think the fault is with the battery or is it the laptop charging circuit? I am willing to get a new battery as it is a cost that I anticipated, but the fact that the battery now won't charge worries me that maybe even that won't fix it. It could possibly even be the fact that I'm not using a direct AC adaptor. All answers would be much appreciated. Unfortunately I don't have access to another compatible battery with which I could try it out. |
technicianxp (6463) | ||
| 545583 | 2007-04-30 05:10:00 | It's a fairly safe assumption that the battery is dead, extinct, etc. It's had a year or more to decay. ;) The "0%" charge state is calculated by the microcontroller in the battery pack. That's based on the current which has been supplied by the charging circuit. A dead battery will reach the maximum voltage very quickly, and the charging will be stopped (to stop the battery "venting with flame"). You get the 15 minutes running time from the quick burst of charging. It's possible that the microcontroller was "confused" initially, but you have done the calibrating process when you ran the laptop for 15 minutes on the battery, and it hasn't recovered after that. You could try a couple more cycles (which won't take long at 15 minutes discharge ;) ), but I wouldn't be very optimistic. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 545584 | 2007-04-30 05:53:00 | Thanks very much for that. What I'm slightly concerned about is the fact that the charging indicator remained orange (meaning charging). Although now I guess it doesn't mean much considering the fact that the battery didn't explode (or even get hot for that matter). I was pretty much expecting the battery to be gone after sitting around for that long too. The thing that ended up worrying me was the 0% charging problem. I've used the built-in PC Doctor utility to drain the battery completely down to zero, so yes I guess the calibration was done correctly too. I'm going to apply a bunch of updates to it tonight, including some ACPI and battery monitor ones. Don't think they'll make a difference but I'll post the result here. |
technicianxp (6463) | ||
| 545585 | 2007-04-30 08:31:00 | Just updated the IBM battery management software. It made no difference to my problem but it did provide a bit more information. Whenever the laptop is on AC, the battery stated is noted as "No activity", rather than charging. Oh well I'm going to order a replacement battery anyway, and see how it goes. |
technicianxp (6463) | ||
| 545586 | 2007-04-30 09:23:00 | Oh well I'm going to order a replacement battery anyway, and see how it goes. In the circumstances it might be worth trying a rebuilt battery from eg BatteryMasta (Auckland, 0800 63 73 83) or do a search for similar firms. I think their prices are around 50% of new replacements which would mean that you could test the "stuffed" theory at lower cost. As a very long shot you could also try the old 'freezing overnight and gently thawing' trick, but I doubt that that would resurrect a shot battery. |
Robin S_ (86) | ||
| 545587 | 2007-04-30 09:27:00 | It will be a Li-Ion battery, and re-celling is not always straightforward -- in some cases it's impossible. There will be plenty of "alternate source" batteries available for a popular laptop, and the prices will be reasonable. It will still be a cheap laptop. ;D |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 545588 | 2007-04-30 23:29:00 | Thanks for the suggestions guys. I did do my homework when I looked around for the battery. The place where I got the laptop repaired from also did rebuilding for $130. However I managed to find a battery on Trademe for much less, only $90 so I've gone with it. It's not brand new I believe but has a 6 month warranty so I should be well covered (at least I hope I will be). |
technicianxp (6463) | ||
| 545589 | 2007-05-01 08:21:00 | I thought that no battery problem was unsolvable until godfather said so !!! Misty :confused: :confused: :confused: |
Misty (368) | ||
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