Thinkpads Forum

Hi.

As many of you know, the generic thinkpad batteries cost much less than the IBMs, but often come with problems. I though we might start a list of the problems, and any solutions. People on this forum must be buying a lot of these generic batteries, but are they the same as IBM?

For example, I noticed a T42 user on another forum note that his Yock battery did what mine does: when recharging, the battery indicator (the one just below the LCD screen) goes from solid orange, to a slow blinking green, to solid green (for about 30 min), and then to eternally fast blinking orange. Removing and reinstalling the battery makes it go solid green for about 30 minutes, and then it turns to eternally and rapidly blinking orange again. Otherwise, the battery works great.

So I though the form of the list would go like this:

1. Computer Type (e.g., "T42")
2. The Generic Battery name ("Yock"... can be found under "Battery Information" under either (a) the battery maximizer guage in the lower right of the screen, or (b) the upper right of the Thinkpad Configuration).
3. The problem ("rapid blinking orange after full charge")
4. Any solutions tried the failed ("Reconditioing the battery to reset the chip in the battery").
5. Any solutions tried that suceeded ("None" in my case).

Any Takers?
Best,
Aris

Well, although this isn't a ThinkPad, my friend's Compaq Armada has a generic third party battery that works fine with the problem that it doesn't fit in very wel, it's too lose and she had to duct tape the battery into place.

I bought T2x batteries at simplemicro.com and they worked just fine.
The three batteries for Compaqs Armada M700 worked good, but didn't fit well, one had to jam them in.

I got a '4400mAh' X22 battery from ebay.

It shows up as 38Wh battery, much lower capacity than the IBM battery than came with the X22. The generic is now at 29Wh after 2 weeks.

I think the chip in the battery is wrong or the seller/manufacturer replaced the cells. It after 3hrs it will reach 0% but will keep going for 30-40minutes. I estimate the battery to be 41Wh to 45Wh based on my testings. However, the chip isn't saying the right capacity.

It's a pain since when the battery reports 0%, I can't power on the laptop even though there's plenty of power left for 30minutes.

I've tried draining the battery and doing a long recharge, but nothing fixes this bad reporting.

Just ending my second week with my generic ebay battery (4400maH T2x compatible). So far the battery life is much better than my old IBM battery, but for the first week and a half, battery maximizer would do something similar to what the original poster said. It will charge to 100% and then BM will just go grey like there's no battery and the T22's battery LED will blink orange rapidly. Only powering down and reseating the battery stops it. I can still run the laptop off battery power when this is happening though.


Now it has seemed to go away. Perhaps when the battery was brand new it was charging to a voltage higher than the system could measure and that is why it would blink the battery error. That's my theory.

Nevermind it getting better. It still blinks.