LF: T500 9-cell battery

[gravy robber]

My T500 battery just died on me. Does anyone have some compatible batteries in decent condition? A 6-cell would be fine too if it has a good charge.

I am in Canada.

[precip9]

Just buy one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-Cell-Battery- ... 23443c867f

They work fine.

[TuuS]

With no disrespect to the previous member who replied I must strongly disagree. Generic batteries are risky at best and Ebay is notorious for allowing the sale of not only generic, but fake batteries with forged lenovo logos and black market batteries that were imported illegally as personal shipments so no official declaration from the manufacture is required. Without proper safety circuits a battery can catch fire and they are very difficult to extinguish, this could not only destroy your laptop, but also your home including loss of life.

If you want a genuine battery I have both 6 and 9cell batteries available starting at only $25 plus shipping for one in good (green) condition. I will also provide you with info on using Lenovo power manager to change your charge thresholds so that you're not constantly charging to 100%, this can greatly increase the service life of the battery.

Shipping of 1 to 6 (6cell) or 1-4 (9cell) battery/s would be a flat $6 to any USA address. International rates and restrictions vary by location.

[precip9]

With no disrespect to the previous member who replied I must strongly disagree. Generic batteries are risky at best and Ebay is notorious for allowing the sale of not only generic, but fake batteries with forged lenovo logos and black market batteries that were imported illegally as personal shipments so no official declaration from the manufacture is required. Without proper safety circuits a battery can catch fire and they are very difficult to extinguish, this could not only destroy your laptop, but also your home including loss of life.

This was discussed in another thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=118138

There is not one single case of record of an eBay laptop battery causing an accident. There are cases of other eBay batteries causing problems, but they were not laptop batteries.

A Google search of laptop fires does not indicate that 3rd party batteries are more dangerous. A Google search retrieves a single case of a 3rd party battery recall: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2420729,00.asp

And there is not a single report of a laptop explosion resulting from an eBay 3rd party laptop battery. There are reports of other devices with lithium batteries catching fire: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... -exploding
But not a single laptop battery.

Between 2001 and 2005, top-tier cell makers repeatedly increased power density, by reducing the thickness of the electrodes and inter-electrode spacing. The 3rd party makers were unable to do this, which is why they have less initial capacity than "genuine" packs. But this is why most battery fires occurred after 2004.

Lithium batteries are not fail-safe. But given the numerous, repeated recalls of batteries by name-brands, and the rarity of 3rd party battery reports, it can't be asserted that they are more dangerous. On the other hand, name-brands, with extreme emphasis on power density, push margins to the limit.

Buy the battery. I have about 8 of them. They work great!!!

[Hans Gruber]

With no disrespect to the previous member who replied I must strongly disagree. Generic batteries are risky at best and Ebay is notorious for allowing the sale of not only generic, but fake batteries with forged lenovo logos and black market batteries that were imported illegally as personal shipments so no official declaration from the manufacture is required. Without proper safety circuits a battery can catch fire and they are very difficult to extinguish, this could not only destroy your laptop, but also your home including loss of life.

This was discussed in another thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=118138

There is not one single case of record of an eBay laptop battery causing an accident. There are cases of other eBay batteries causing problems, but they were not laptop batteries.

A Google search of laptop fires does not indicate that 3rd party batteries are more dangerous. A Google search retrieves a single case of a 3rd party battery recall: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2420729,00.asp

And there is not a single report of a laptop explosion resulting from an eBay 3rd party laptop battery. There are reports of other devices with lithium batteries catching fire: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... -exploding
But not a single laptop battery.

Between 2001 and 2005, top-tier cell makers repeatedly increased power density, by reducing the thickness of the electrodes and inter-electrode spacing. The 3rd party makers were unable to do this, which is why they have less initial capacity than "genuine" packs. But this is why most battery fires occurred after 2004.

Lithium batteries are not fail-safe. But given the numerous, repeated recalls of batteries by name-brands, and the rarity of 3rd party battery reports, it can't be asserted that they are more dangerous. On the other hand, name-brands, with extreme emphasis on power density, push margins to the limit.

Buy the battery. I have about 8 of them. They work great!!!

Speak of the devil, I bought one yesterday myself. I think from that very seller, how ironic.

[ajkula66]

IDK.

I've seen quite a few charging circuits that were blown by generic batteries.

When I receive a ThinkPad from *any* era with a generic battery, that battery goes straight into recycling bin.

Unless the machine in question is something *really* vintage - think 570/600 series or older - where one's chances of obtaining a working genuine battery are extremely slim - I'd never go with a generic offering.

My $0.02 only...

[precip9]

This I have not seen. Perhaps it is vintage related. My experience begins with the X60s:

X60s - 1 unit
X61s - 4 units
X61T - 3 units
T400 - 2 units
W500 - 3 units.

A total sample of only 13 units, all with generic batteries. But it indicates that charging circuit failure is not an massive phenomena. I have no experience with units older than the X60s.

[gravy robber]

I would rather have a genuine battery for the added peace of mind. Hoping to spend a little less though. I might be interested in a working W500/R500/T500/T60/etc. with battery included instead for the right price as well.

[ajkula66]

I would rather have a genuine battery for the added peace of mind. Hoping to spend a little less though. I might be interested in a working W500/R500/T500 with battery included instead for the right price as well.

Do bear in mind that the battery in question also fits - and hence could come from - the following systems:

R60, R61 (all but 14" widescreen)

T60/p, T61/p (all but 14" widescreen)

W500

Z60m, Z61m, Z61p

There might be a couple more, but this is just of the top off my head.

Happy hunting.

[Qing Dao]

If you want a 12 cell battery for your T500, the only way to do it is go generic. I have had generic battery circuits fail on me, but they never caused fire or any other sort of damage, the battery simply stopped working in some way. I only buy generic batteries. I can have one rarely fail and still make out a lot ahead with regards to money.

If you were to replace the cells in a battery, I would only bother with using an OEM battery circuit in there though.

[Hans Gruber]

All of my Thinkpad batteries are Lenovo batteries. I just ordered a generic battery for my T500 to replace a dead genuine Lenovo 9 cell that died from old age and 700+ power cycles. I will update this thread as the days and months go on with regards to battery performance.

[TuuS]

There is not one single case of record of an eBay laptop battery causing an accident. There are cases of other eBay batteries causing problems, but they were not laptop batteries.

You can believe what you want, but recall data doesn't cover blackmarket or greymarket batteries. If a manufacturer forges the logos on a battery they certainly aren't going to register them with regulatory organizations or submit them for testing to assure they meet safety standards and if it was manufactured to sell in another country then you probably be out of luck if the battery caused loss of a house or human life.

If someone wants to use a generic battery I'd recommend getting them from a legitimate company where you have some recourse.


edit: Just had a quick look on that ebay auction and it appears there is no manufacturer name on those batteries. I also didn't see the UL Lab logo or RoHS certifications. Even if they work good you might want to take a good look at them. and see if you can figure out where they were manufactured and confirm the company really exists.

[Hans Gruber]

Lenovo battery manager recognized my generic battery with a cycle count of 1. Under FRU is lists it as COMPATIBLE. It measures all the battery functions the same as the Lenovo batteries.

[gravy robber]

Lenovo battery manager recognized my generic battery with a cycle count of 1. Under FRU is lists it as COMPATIBLE. It measures all the battery functions the same as the Lenovo batteries.

Where did you order yours from? How much battery time can you get?

Others: Is it possible to tell who the manufacturer of a used battery is through its FRU/ASM#?

[Hans Gruber]

Lenovo battery manager recognized my generic battery with a cycle count of 1. Under FRU is lists it as COMPATIBLE. It measures all the battery functions the same as the Lenovo batteries.

Where did you order yours from? How much battery time can you get?

The link at the beginning of the thread. My T500 has been troublesome. I got it about a month ago and finally have it running good. On integrated graphics 4 hours or more battery time.

[TuuS]

Others: Is it possible to tell who the manufacturer of a used battery is through its FRU/ASM#?

You can tell the manufacturer of the batteries CELLS in lenovo power manager, but I don't think that indicates the manufacturer of the battery. My preference is for panasonic or sony cells, sanyo are most common and can hold up well if you charge thresholds that don't constantly charge to 100%. I don't have any proof to back this up except from a lot of observation and testing of hundreds of batteries, but I believe that the sanyo batteries get hotter when charged to 100% and this could trigger the thermal safety warning that shuts down the battery. There is no easy way to make the battery usable after this happens. Some have looked into replacing the thermal fuse but it's not easy to find them in quantities of less than 1000 and even if you replace the thermal fuse, there is no assurance it won't blow just like the last one so a way to test and diagnose the components would be needed first. If anyone is interested in rebuilding batteries I have a box with about 30-50 or more of these batteries that have failed or had other issues that I'd let go dirt cheap (basically just enough to cover boxing them up and postage), otherwise they will end up getting recycled.

[gravy robber]

Thanks for the explanation. I think that's probably what happened to my latest battery though I had the top threshold set to 95%. Just suddenly stopped working overnight. Do the thresholds stay in place while the power is off but charging?

[precip9]

There is not one single case of record of an eBay laptop battery causing an accident. There are cases of other eBay batteries causing problems, but they were not laptop batteries.

You can believe what you want, but recall data doesn't cover blackmarket or greymarket batteries. If a manufacturer forges the logos on a battery they certainly aren't going to register them with regulatory organizations or submit them for testing to assure they meet safety standards and if it was manufactured to sell in another country then you probably be out of luck if the battery caused loss of a house or human life.

If someone wants to use a generic battery I'd recommend getting them from a legitimate company where you have some recourse.


edit: Just had a quick look on that ebay auction and it appears there is no manufacturer name on those batteries. I also didn't see the UL Lab logo or RoHS certifications. Even if they work good you might want to take a good look at them. and see if you can figure out where they were manufactured and confirm the company really exists.

You can believe what you want, but I'm not relying on recall data. If somebody's 3rd party battery caught fire, it's news. The fact that a Google search shows nothing of the kind indicates you believe incorrectly.

[precip9]

edit: Just had a quick look on that ebay auction and it appears there is no manufacturer name on those batteries. I also didn't see the UL Lab logo or RoHS certifications. Even if they work good you might want to take a good look at them. and see if you can figure out where they were manufactured and confirm the company really exists.

They weren't made by anybody, hence they don't exist, the company doesn't exist, but the batteries work great. I have about 50 of them.

[gravy robber]

I bought a different third party battery at http://www.ebay.ca/itm/9-Cell-Laptop-Ba ... 1591758215? since the other seller doesn't ship to Canada. Even at the same price I would have preferred the battery Hans Gruber bought. "Do not dispose in fire, but keep the battery away from it" indeed. We'll see how it goes.

[precip9]

I bought a different third party battery at http://www.ebay.ca/itm/9-Cell-Laptop-Ba ... 1591758215? since the other seller doesn't ship to Canada. Even at the same price I would have preferred the battery Hans Gruber bought. "Do not dispose in fire, but keep the battery away from it" indeed. We'll see how it goes.

You're commenting on the poor English? The inserts are badly written. It does not seem to reflect on the performance of the batteries.