Thinkpads Forum

I am thinking of getting a new battery for my X30. I get about 2.5 hours of battery life with the lowest settings. It has 96 cycles (I bought the laptop used). There is a seller on the marketplace here with a like-new OEM battery.

How long of a battery life should I expect with an almost new X30 battery (the regular size)? How many cycles might something like that have, and what exactly *is* a cycle? I don't know much about batteries if you can't tell. Thanks a lot for the help!

The description "Like new" doesn't tell you anything about the battery. Ask for the cycles and more importantly for the "Desgin" and the "Full Charge Capacity".

I had a 300 cycle battery that lasted 75% of its original life.

I currently have 2 30 cycle batteries that last 25% of their original life.

I have come to realize that cycle means nothing. Most batteries I have gone through had first used dates of 2002 and they worked better than some 2005 first used dates. Cross your fingers!

One cycle is one use of the battery without AC plugged in, followed by any charging of the battery.
One can assume that any battery with several hundred cycles does not have a lot of life left, but the reverse may not be true.
For example, a battery with two cycles that was left in a sealed car in direct sunlight all afternoon isn't going to last very long.
Actually cars are a good example - a car with 200,000 miles on it is not going to last too long, but a car with 10,000 miles could possibly have been run with no oil in the engine, or it could have been in a collision.
"Design Charge Capacity", and "Full Charge Capacity" together tell you the most.
And - although there is some variation - generally the more recent the manufacturing date of the battery, the better.

it's my understanding that one cycle=greater than 85% discharge.

Hi,
Don't forget about the dreaded digital memory problems. They can
fool your battery into thinking its not fully charge! I use the old stand-by, a bios discharge. I also found notebook hardware contoller (freeware) very helpful. Mike

http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc.htm

Does the T42 Battery Software have a cycles count, like the T60?

Want to check my batteries before I sell them on eBay, to give an accurate cycle count.

I think I have been living in a fool's paradise.

The OS willing, I don't shut my Thinkpads off. When I change locations, I suspend them (F7) unplug them, take them to the new location and reconnect them to AC. Even over several hours this usually means a discharge of only a few percent, according to the meter. I was assuming that this had a neglible effect and I was really only "spending" my batteries capacity when I ran it down to something near flat, then recharged it.

Does the amount of the capacity used during a "cycle" affect the number of cycles?

High storage temperatures have been mentioned as a negative condition fir battery life. Other suggestions are that batteries of more recent manufacture may last longer. What other conditions affect them?

I think many of us do the same thing, so I'm really interested in the reply.

Just upgraded to the T60, from the T42, and am enjoying it - though the incompatible Ultrabay Slim batteries really annoy me. It's a Sony thing to pull, very bush league of Lenovo.

Brian Wallen wrote:I think I have been living in a fool's paradise.

The OS willing, I don't shut my Thinkpads off. When I change locations, I suspend them (F7) unplug them, take them to the new location and reconnect them to AC. Even over several hours this usually means a discharge of only a few percent, according to the meter. I was assuming that this had a neglible effect and I was really only "spending" my batteries capacity when I ran it down to something near flat, then recharged it.

Does the amount of the capacity used during a "cycle" affect the number of cycles?

High storage temperatures have been mentioned as a negative condition fir battery life. Other suggestions are that batteries of more recent manufacture may last longer. What other conditions affect them?

tripmaster wrote:though the incompatible Ultrabay Slim batteries really annoy me. It's a Sony thing to pull, very bush league of Lenovo.

The T60 has a different processor and different power requirements to a T4x. That's why it is in a T6x model number sequence!

The Ultrabay Slim batteries for a T4x can't work with a T60 because of the differing power requirements. Same with the main batteries and power packs for a T4x etc etc.

96 isn't very much, my T23 battery has 488 cycles and has roughly 1/4th of it original capacity. However, cycles alone aren't the main factor in battery life. The amount of discharge, exposing the battery to extreme heat/cold and a few other things can kill it. For example, my uncle's T23 battery has 277 cycles on it, yet mine has slightly more capacity.

I've been wondering about the status of the battery in my T30 and I can't seem to find out how to determine the number of cycles it has. I've installed the battery utility and the power section of the control section shows percentage of charge but no other battery info.
Mobilmeter shows the battery is operating at 56%, which seems about right since I only get an hour out of it, about half of the 4400ma potential capacity.
I assume "reconditioning" the battery means draining as much of the power as possible, then recharging, but I'm guessing a new battery is in my future if I want to take it on the road.

Have you tried the Thinkpad Configuration utility? Look at the Tabs on the System Information choice!

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks for the tip, Bill, I'll check it out. This is my first Thinkpad, I'm still getting the hang of it.
Now I need to decide if I should buy a replacement battery off eBay. Not a big eBay fan, but a 4400ma aftermarket battery is only $50 with a year warranty(for what that's worth).

It's possible to recondition batteries by letting them discharge fully (3% or below) before a full recharge - that's true of pretty much anything from your mobile phone upwards.

My T20's battery, with a 2002 first use date, is on 202 cycles with about 55% it's design capacity - although that actually improved slightly with it's last full discharge, and I plan on doing the same a few more times.

Personally I'm VERY wary of used/third party/ebay sourced batteries - there are many very convincing fakes and questionable no-name manufacturers out there, and a real danger of batteries exploding or catching fire if they're poorly assembled or defective. You don't want that in your lap, let alone your thinkpad! If I was going to replace mine, I'd save up for the real thing from a reputable supplier.