Cheap genuine T/W/L 4xx/5xx 6 & 9 cell batteries from Newegg

[mspacek]

(Hopefully this is the appropriate place to post this, and isn't a duplicate.)

I bought one of these "refurbished" 9 cell batteries (0A36303, Thinkpad 70++) for my W510 a few days ago for only $25, and was so happy with it, I just got another one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834985381
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6834985381

It's free shipping in the US, $11 shipping in Canada (where I am).

The 6 cell (0A36302, Thinkpad 70+) is also available for $18:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834985380
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.as ... 6834985380

They also seem to be available from Newegg on ebay. Looks like they've been selling them for a while at this price, not sure for how much longer, or how many they have left. According to Lenovo, both of these should work for all the following models:

L410 L412 L420 L421 L430 L510 L512 L520 L530 T410/T410i T420/T420i T430/T430i T510/T510i T520/T520i T530/T530i W510 W520 W530

Here's the review I just posted, hasn't shown up on the site yet:

This battery came with a cycle count of 0, and the first use date is the day I plugged it in to my Thinkpad W510. So, unless these values have been reset in the battery, it's brand new. Came 31% charged, charged it up all the way, which maxed out at only 88.5 Wh. Did a full discharge and then a full charge, and now it's at 93.4 Wh, right where it should be. No scratches or anything either, which further suggests it's a brand new battery. From the manufactured date, it looks like it's been sitting on the shelf for just over a year. I doubt anything was done to "refurbish" it, but labelling it as refurbished might be necessary once it hits a certain age. However, as far as I can tell, it looks and behaves exactly like a brand new battery. At this incredibly low price (about 1/6th that of normal retail), I'm very very happy! Thanks NewEgg! Just ordered a second one.

Here are all the details, as reported by tlp-stat in Linux:

user@box:~$ sudo tlp-stat | grep BAT0
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/manufacturer = SANYO
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/model = 45N1007
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/manufacture_date = 2012-08-29
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/first_use_date = 2013-10-28
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/cycle_count = 2
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/design_capacity = 93240 [mWh]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/last_full_capacity = 93400 [mWh]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_capacity = 93400 [mWh]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_percent = 100 [%]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_running_time_now = not_discharging [min]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_charging_time = not_charging [min]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_now = 0 [mW]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_avg = 0 [mW]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh = 96 [%]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh = 100 [%]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/force_discharge = 0

Note that although the battery reports the model number as 45N1007 (and is labelled as such on the battery), this is apparently the FRU (field replaceable unit) model number which corresponds to the 0A36303 marketing part number, so NewEgg isn't falsely advertising as I suspected at first:

http://support.lenovo.com/en_CA/product ... D=PD024291

[mspacek]

The second one seems to be even better:

/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/manufacturer = LGC
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/model = 45N1011
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/manufacture_date = 2012-07-04
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/first_use_date = 2013-11-05
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/cycle_count = 3
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/design_capacity = 93600 [mWh]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/last_full_capacity = 96300 [mWh]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_capacity = 96300 [mWh]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_percent = 100 [%]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_running_time_now = not_discharging [min]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/remaining_charging_time = not_charging [min]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_now = 0 [mW]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/power_avg = 0 [mW]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/start_charge_thresh = 96 [%]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/stop_charge_thresh = 100 [%]
/sys/devices/platform/smapi/BAT0/force_discharge = 0

[ilakast]

Did a full discharge and then a full charge

Might sound like a stupid question, but could you elaborate on this? How can I do a full discharge ? TIA

[Neil]

One of the ThinkVantage battery maintenance tools has the option of battery run down. If you don't have ThinkVantage tools installed, you can also disable all battery saving timers and features, and just let the machine run until it drains the battery and shuts down.

[ilakast]

[mspacek]

In Linux, the TLP program can be used to do a full discharge and charge by running:

Code: Select all

tlp recalibrate

or if you just want to discharge:

Code: Select all

tlp discharge

[Cigarguy]

I do it the old fashion way. Disable hibernate/sleep feature. Turn device on and leave it on. Go to work. After work come back to a drained device. Plug device in and let charge overnight.