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Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

T400/T410/T420 and T500/T510/T520 Series
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baertracks
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Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

#1 Post by baertracks » Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:05 am

I'm refurbishing a number of T420 laptops for some colleagues in Africa. In the process, I purchased three new Genuine Lenovo 55++ batteries. The batteries came in sealed boxes. However, when I attached one to a laptop, I received a "no battery detected" message which was then followed by a "plugged in, but not charging" message. And when I disconnected the AC power adapter, the laptop immediately died. It was the same result with all three batteries.

I thought at first that this was a Windows 7 (or 10) problem. However, when I inserted a different battery (e.g., 55+ Lenovo battery), the computer immediately recognized the battery and began charging.

Why did I get a no battery detected message?" Are these three 55++ batteries that I purchased really "dead". Or, is there some way to "shock" them back into life?

Has anyone had a similar experience? Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

FRANK (Baertracks)

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Re: Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

#2 Post by dr_st » Wed Jan 11, 2017 12:06 pm

How long did you them connected to the charger after you saw the "not charging" message?
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

baertracks
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Re: Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

#3 Post by baertracks » Wed Jan 11, 2017 1:59 pm

dr_st wrote:How long did you them connected to the charger after you saw the "not charging" message?
They've been connected several hours without any change in status.

FRANK

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Re: Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

#4 Post by dr_st » Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:01 pm

Probably quite dead then. :( At least in the sense that you would not get them to work without physical tampering (which I know nothing about, but some folks surely do).
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

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Re: Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

#5 Post by rkawakami » Wed Jan 11, 2017 4:16 pm

By "sealed boxes" I'm assuming that you mean that they were in brown cardboard boxes sealed with red and white tape and that they have Lenovo labels with the battery information printed on them? If so, I'd return them for a refund. Even assuming that they have been sitting on the shelf for 3 or 4 years, they should at least charge to some level and be detectable by the Power Manager.

Now that I'm thinking about it, there was a battery recall a little while ago which affected the T420 system (among others). Go here to check to see if you have the bad units:

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/hf004122

I don't know if the recall covered the 55++ battery but I have taken advantage of a couple of other recall campaigns when receiving new or old batteries from eBay purchases. Lenovo does a good job of getting replacements out quickly (at least in my experience).
Ray Kawakami
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
NOTE: All links to PC-Doctor software hosted by me are dead. Files removed 8/28/12 by manufacturer's demand.

baertracks
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Re: Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

#6 Post by baertracks » Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:29 pm

rkawakami wrote:By "sealed boxes" I'm assuming that you mean that they were in brown cardboard boxes sealed with red and white tape and that they have Lenovo labels with the battery information printed on them? If so, I'd return them for a refund. Even assuming that they have been sitting on the shelf for 3 or 4 years, they should at least charge to some level and be detectable by the Power Manager. Now that I'm thinking about it, there was a battery recall a little while ago which affected the T420 system (among others). Go here to check to see if you have the bad units: https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/hf004122. I don't know if the recall covered the 55++ battery but I have taken advantage of a couple of other recall campaigns when receiving new or old batteries from eBay purchases. Lenovo does a good job of getting replacements out quickly (at least in my experience).
your definition of "sealed unit" corresponds to what I had in mind. Thanks for the suggestion about check for bad units. I checked the SN of these three batteries at https://lenovobattery2014.orderz.com/, and they all came up as "not eligible for replacement." The person that I purchased these from has suggested that they need a "firmware" update. I tried downloading and running the “Lenovo Battery Firmware Update” utility (n15fu05w.exe). When I ran the program from a T420 laptop with one of the DOA batteries installed, I received an error message that “Battery firmware update tool has been terminated. The tool was unable to read the battery information due an internal error.” Is there another firmware battery utility that I should be using?

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Re: Lenovo 55++ battery - dead or dormant?

#7 Post by rkawakami » Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:11 am

Not that I know of. I don't believe that I've ever had to flash a battery's EEPROM. From the sound of it, all three batteries have probably gone dead as dr_st suggests.
Ray Kawakami
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
NOTE: All links to PC-Doctor software hosted by me are dead. Files removed 8/28/12 by manufacturer's demand.

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