ThinkPad battery resuscitation

Mirlyn

Mirlyn

Well-Known Member
I've got three ThinkPad batteries...all of which seem not to hold much of a charge anymore. I've heard of a way to shock a battery and remove/restore its memory and charge. Any input/experience on this? More specifically, any ideas on the batteries for 390E/390X TP series? I dont' want to shell out $80+ for a new battery if I can help it.

Photos can be available if needed.

Thanks all! :headbang:
 
Can't be of much help here but i've heard that they can be charged 'wrong'(not sure how this happens) so that the battery thinks it's fully charged at say forty percent and from then on whenever it gets to 40% it stops charging. I think this actually happened to my thinkpad. Suddenly one day the battery would only hold a charge for a matter of minutes before dying. Didn't look any farther into in though as i sold it the next week.
 
Sadly, there is no way to recover them.


Here's what happens. When a ni-cad battery is charged, it grows crystals between foil sheets. When you dischage it, the crystals shrink. But. They don't all go back to the same size. Some stay just a tiny bit larger. Once this starts, it's the beginning of the end. Like a stalactite, the crystals grow in layers. And only one layer (the outer) can discharge. This is why you're told to not recharge batteries until they're totally dead. Make sense now?

When these ovesized crystals grow big enough, they pierce the foil conductors and bleed into the next layer, thereby killing both their own and the next layer, reducing the battery's power. That's probably where you're at now.

Batteries can be reconditionned if they're caught before they pierce the foil. Not to 100%, but better. You need a battery butler. It's a simple electronic built, if you've a little talent in that direction. And the plans should be findable on the net. My copy went MIA about 20 years back.


As for new (replacement) batteries, try Duracell instead of IBM. I always got my batteries direct and saved a chunk of change.
 
Uh oh. I've been putting my phone on the charger every night since the middle of February, it's usually at 2/3 charge then. Does this mean I'm killing it? :mope:
 
NP Mirlyn.

Fluffy, it all depends on the battery type. Li-ion are less succeptable to memory effect. NiMH also. Ni-Cads are the worst. But all batteries should be discharged to the lowest point before recharging. And recharging should be done by the slowest method managable. Cell phone car chargers are good for a quickie, but shouldn't be used as the normal method of charging. They're usually a fast charger, getting up to full within an hour. The home AC charger whould take up to 8 hours (you know, that time you're supposed to be sleeping) to charge fully.
 
Mine's Lithium-Ion, and the only charger I have for it is the AC charger which only takes an hour from dead to full when the phone's off.
 
Then you've no worries, mate. How long does it run the phone? Mine takes longer, but I get about 3 days use on a charge
 
I usually have 2-3 days from full to dead, depending on how often I talk on it.
 
A lot of camcorder battery chargers nowadays drain the battery completely first before charging, to combat the memory effect. One would think the ThinkPad's charging system would do the same.
 
That's a damn good price for it. But I didn't know Global would sell to particulars. They're a wholeseller. Have you checked with CDI, Insight, or Duracell?

Inky, that wouldn't make any sense, if you think about it. The camcorder charger discharges the battery when you install it on the charging stand. Then it full charges. The laptop battery is never out of the charger, since the charger is the laptop. And how would it decide when to discharge? I'd imaging the user would be major league pissed if the laptop decided to discharge the battery 15 minutes before he left for an important meeting.

A long time back, when laptop batteries lasted an hour or so at best, we had external chargers and everyone carried spares. The external chargers did discharge the batteries like the camcorder chargers. Better ones included the battery butler circuit to recondition an older battery. But noone makes them any more.

New laptop batteries and power management systems let a laptop squeeze up to 4 hours out of a battery. And executive models let you sacrafice the floppy for a second battery, stretching your time over 7 hours. And, since all newer models use non-memory batteries ... the point is moot.
 
I wasn't reading this thread because I know next to nothing about batteries but I should have been reading, because I learned something!

Thanks. :)

I know Dell runs specials for things like batteries and whatnot every once in a while, does IBM do the same? I usually wait for a special to run and then buy a bunch of stuff at the lower prices. I would think you would need a buyer's account with them though.
 
Prof said:
That's a damn good price for it. But I didn't know Global would sell to particulars. They're a wholeseller. Have you checked with CDI, Insight, or Duracell?
Click to expand...
They were listed on Pricewatch when I searched. Haven't tried ordering yet (of course)...I tried checking Duracell's website, but didn't get very far (wasn't trying very hard though). I'll check out the other ones too.

BTW, what's the part number. I'm not at the office today.
Click to expand...
I'm sure the FRU will do, but here's all the info I can find.
FRU P/N 02K6521
ASM P/N 02K6534
NiMH 9.6V 4AH

greenfreak said:
I know Dell runs specials for things like batteries and whatnot every once in a while, does IBM do the same?
Click to expand...

My experience has been no. Replacement battery on the site for IBM is $230. :) I've yet to see a sale on these. I think the new TPs use different batteries though, so they'll probably want to squeeze whatever they can out of the warranty-expired users. ;)
 
Mirlyn said:
My experience has been no. Replacement battery on the site for IBM is $230. I've yet to see a sale on these. I think the new TPs use different batteries though, so they'll probably want to squeeze whatever they can out of the warranty-expired users.
Click to expand...

OUCH!! That's crazy. In the end, they'll always get you somewhere. :whip:
 
my TP is leased so it doesn't matter what i do to it, just take it to the helpdesk, play dumb, and it gets fixed. backing up the system and wiping linux is important though, playing dumb is hard when they fire it up and linux boots :D
 
The hazmat truck just left with about 200 lbs of thinkpad batteries. Damn, I'm glad to be rid of that.
 
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