Where should I buy a replacement battery for a T41?

[spenceuiuc]

I am in need of a new battery and there seems to be a whole lot of websites to buy a new battery for a T41..... most of them shady looking.

Does anyone have any suggestions of websites to buy a quality, affordable replacement battery for a T41 (2373)?

[ricerocket]

I have a 9 cell. Holds 71.95 Wh full capacity (design capacity is 77.76 Wh). Manufacture 2007-04-09, first date of use is 2007-09. Manufactured by Sanyo. It's a genuine IBM part, FRU 92P1077.

Quality and cheap can't be used in the same sentence.

PM me if you're interested.

[00111100]

I am in need of a new battery and there seems to be a whole lot of websites to buy a new battery for a T41..... most of them shady looking.

Does anyone have any suggestions of websites to buy a quality, affordable replacement battery for a T41 (2373)?

I just bought a replacement battery for my sister's T41 from: www.batterytech.com/ . It was ~$120.00 for the standard battery. They also sell a HI CAP version that sticks out the back of the Thinkpad but my sister didn't like that "style".

Battery Info from the T41:

Manufacturer Name: BTI
Manu Date 2008-01-30
First Used: 2008-03
Ser #
Bar-coding Number:
Battery Name FRU IBM-08K8214
Device Chemistry: Li-Ion
Design Capacity 48.84 Wh
Design Voltage 11.10V

Cycle Count: 0

[mange_]

I bought a knock-off brand on ebay of the 9cell high capacity battery. It cost me $63 on ebay.co.uk with shipping from hong-kong. Full capacity is reported as 72010 mWh and it's working great. The seller was named excellbay and the batterys manufacturer is reported as SZEC.

Since the battery hasn't caught fire or exploded yet after two months of usage and I haven't got radiation poisoning yet it's starting to look more and more like a steal deal..

[kajencik]

I bought a knock-off brand on ebay of the 9cell high capacity battery. It cost me $63 on ebay.co.uk with shipping from hong-kong. Full capacity is reported as 72010 mWh and it's working great. The seller was named excellbay and the batterys manufacturer is reported as SZEC.

Since the battery hasn't caught fire or exploded yet after two months of usage and I haven't got radiation poisoning yet it's starting to look more and more like a steal deal..

Thanks a lot for you post, that is what I was excatly looking for, a trusted generic battery seller Is this battery charging and dischargning properly at all? Have you noticed any difference compared to the original one?

[mange_]

I bought a knock-off brand on ebay of the 9cell high capacity battery. It cost me $63 on ebay.co.uk with shipping from hong-kong. Full capacity is reported as 72010 mWh and it's working great. The seller was named excellbay and the batterys manufacturer is reported as SZEC.

Since the battery hasn't caught fire or exploded yet after two months of usage and I haven't got radiation poisoning yet it's starting to look more and more like a steal deal..

Thanks a lot for you post, that is what I was excatly looking for, a trusted generic battery seller Is this battery charging and dischargning properly at all? Have you noticed any difference compared to the original one?

Charging and re-charging works just as good as the original battery. With the cpu set to the lowest power setting I get 5h50m real battery time when using word and having the wifi enabled. While I can't say if all generic batterys is like this it certainly worked for me.

[exTPfan]

The "generic" batteries I've used have usually worked well, but the last one worked perfectly for two months and then suddenly died.

[Trixie]

Here you go:

Link

Moderator note: Changed really long URL into a link, even though the original URL didn't seem to work (cookie error)

[kajencik]

So, more news about the batteries:

First, my opinion:

I don't think that the manufacturing process of the generic batteries is as different as when lenovo/IBM makes them, it's all made in china... What I think IS different, is quality control - great with lenovo, formely none and now better but still quite low compared to lenovo with those chinese manufacturers. I have no proof for this, it's just my feelings, but the chinese generic batteries are now often comming with warranty, usually between 6-12 months. It actually is quite tricky to send the battery to china, but if everything works well you get new battery just for shipping to china price... As 6 month is already quite a long time for battery to fail, if the batteries would be SO bad, I don't think they would offer this...

Now, to the yock batteries:

I was concerned about the sometimes blinking orange battery led when the battery is fully charged, so I asked the seller if he knows about this, here is what he replied:

Dear kajencik,

Thank you for you inquiry.
The little rate that the battery led blinking oragne when fully charged in laptop.If really it happens this accident, we will send instruction to repair it .This model of battery has 6 month warranty, if it has some problem under warranty ,i can exchange the new battery to you again.
Feel free to contact with us if you have any request.
Best regards.
My email:sell@yock-asia.com


- manufacturerbattery2

His english is almost as good as mine as you can see , but he's got a point, in case of failure, or this anoying blinking, just send it back and you'll get a new one.

Obviously, question is how this chinese warranties actually works, won't be your battery lost somewhere in asia with no response? I don't know... But for myself, I'll give those chinese guys a try (and of course keep you informed )

[Msmax]

I have good experience with at least 1 chinese supplier.
I ordered a Dell D820 power supply which was dead upon arrival.
Mailed him, and he send me a new one. The new one arrived within 3 days and works perfect.

Msmax

[dkpw]

My experience has been that it is worth spending the extra on a genuine IBM/Lenovo replacement battery.

I bought an extended third party battery for my T43p from a laptop battery specialist on-line here in the UK.

I cycle conditioned it three times, and it intially worked well. I then had to use on a long train journey which drained it completely. Thereafter it would not accept any charge and all battery monitoring tools I used in both Windows and Linux reported the battery as being non-existent.

A genuine extended battery is over £120, the third party cost £45.

I have now bought a genuine one. Okay, I could have been unlucky, but I'll stick with the genuine article from now on.

[kajencik]

My experience has been that it is worth spending the extra on a genuine IBM/Lenovo replacement battery.

I bought an extended third party battery for my T43p from a laptop battery specialist on-line here in the UK.

I cycle conditioned it three times, and it intially worked well. I then had to use on a long train journey which drained it completely. Thereafter it would not accept any charge and all battery monitoring tools I used in both Windows and Linux reported the battery as being non-existent.

A genuine extended battery is over £120, the third party cost £45.

I have now bought a genuine one. Okay, I could have been unlucky, but I'll stick with the genuine article from now on.

I completely agree with you, genuine battery is much better solution than a generic one, but I think that the price difference is even bigger, as I checked the link above in this thread, really new genuine battery costs $200 (could be less, but I don't think under $150 and it was without shipping), in case I would be buying a really new battery, I wouldn't be interested in more than 2 year battery or "slightly used", those won't make much difference compared to the chinese ones and the price is still quit high.

On the other hand, the chinese battery often have some warranties, the yock batteries comes with 6-12 month warranty, but they are not making the 9 cell ones, The battery I ordered has this warranty information:

Warranty & Return
Brand new replacement with 30 days warranty
1 year Warranty provided by manufacturer
If merchandise is defective we will replace a new one for you, no refunds or credits.
Defective situation must be reported to seller within 30 days upon receipt.
Shipping and handling charges, insurance are not refundable in any case.
Buyer bears all shipping charges.

So I have 30 days for intensive testing, the one year manufacturer warranty is a question.... But still, shipping to china is quite affordable for me and it won't take a month...

The point here is, the battery mange_ has, I ordered only for $50 shipped, thats a price which I don't have to consider, but the $200 is another amount for me....

[Trixie]

Sorry about the "cookie problem" in my previous post. Go here and enter FRU 92P1087.

[alexmoss]

I just ordered a 9-cell for my T43 from Laptops for Less, where I've had reasonable luck in the past.

New question: the Lenovo site lists all 3 available 9-cell batteries as NOT being compatible with my T43, type 2668-J1U. Some other T43 model types are listed as being compatible. Does anyone know why, and will I be putting my system in danger if I use a 9-cell battery with this system?

Thanks much.

[lithium726]

Just search ebay a few days.

I got a genuine T40 9 cell for $78 shipped (iirc, this was like 2 years ago) and I just got a genuine 9 cell for my T60 for $70 shipped. 84.1 aH!

[nkh]

I bought a knock-off brand on ebay of the 9cell high capacity battery. It cost me $63 on ebay.co.uk with shipping from hong-kong. Full capacity is reported as 72010 mWh and it's working great. The seller was named excellbay and the batterys manufacturer is reported as SZEC.

Since the battery hasn't caught fire or exploded yet after two months of usage and I haven't got radiation poisoning yet it's starting to look more and more like a steal deal..

Hi, thanks for the tip!

I bought a 9 cell battery from excellbay for USD34 (~22 Euro), USD52 (~34 Euro) with shipping to Denmark.

I paid for it on March 11th, got a tracking number on the 12th, and the battery arrived here today (well, it arrived in Denmark on the 22th, but because of the easter break it was delayed a bit). Not too bad

The battry is a different shape than the original, but it fits well, and I don't mind the more square design. It's a bit thicker than the original too, so when the laptop is on a table it rests on the battery rather than the rubber pads in the corners.

I made some screenshots of the battery information, and took a couple of pictures of the replacement battery next to the original one so you can compare the shape.

Battery health - Full Charge Capacity: 73.21 Wh | Design Capacity: 71.28 Wh
Status Detail
Information - Manufacturer Name: SANYO | Manufacture Date: 2008-03-12
Bottom view - original vs. replacement
Top view - original vs. replacement

It'll be interesting to see how well it holds up. I got about 1½ - 2 hours on the old 9 cell battery on my T40p, hopefully this will last a bit longer

Moderator edit: Changed inline images to links. Points for trying to keep overall image size < 50KB, but as you are not the original poster (who can edit the thread subject line with *PICS*), please use links instead.

NKH edit: Ah, sorry, thanks. I've changed the links to something more meaningful than the filenames

[mange_]

I bought a knock-off brand on ebay of the 9cell high capacity battery. It cost me $63 on ebay.co.uk with shipping from hong-kong. Full capacity is reported as 72010 mWh and it's working great. The seller was named excellbay and the batterys manufacturer is reported as SZEC.

Since the battery hasn't caught fire or exploded yet after two months of usage and I haven't got radiation poisoning yet it's starting to look more and more like a steal deal..

Hi, thanks for the tip!

I bought a 9 cell battery from excellbay for USD34 (~22 Euro), USD52 (~34 Euro) with shipping to Denmark.

I paid for it on March 11th, got a tracking number on the 12th, and the battery arrived here today (well, it arrived in Denmark on the 22th, but because of the easter break it was delayed a bit). Not too bad

The battry is a different shape than the original, but it fits well, and I don't mind the more square design. It's a bit thicker than the original too, so when the laptop is on a table it rests on the battery rather than the rubber pads in the corners.

I made some screenshots of the battery information, and took a couple of pictures of the replacement battery next to the original one so you can compare the shape.

http://www.nk-h.dk/temp/TP-bat-1.png
http://www.nk-h.dk/temp/TP-bat-2.png
http://www.nk-h.dk/temp/TP-bat-3.png
http://www.nk-h.dk/temp/TP-bat-4.jpg
http://www.nk-h.dk/temp/TP-bat-5.jpg

It'll be interesting to see how well it holds up. I got about 1½ - 2 hours on the old 9 cell battery on my T40p, hopefully this will last a bit longer

Strange, my replacement battery looks just like your original one.. but, as long as they work we're happy, right? :=

[nkh]

Strange, my replacement battery looks just like your original one.. but, as long as they work we're happy, right? :=

Yup, very happy A new 9 cell battery costs DKK 800 (~ USD 166 ~ 107 Euro) here, without shipping. So the replacement is like a fifth of that price... I'm already thinking of ordering a 6 cell battery from them

Also, the original battery was moving around a bit, so I had to secure it with a couple of post-it notes... the replacement doesn't have that problem.

[kajencik]

this is indeed a good news! I ordered the same, it left honkong on 13th march, so now I'm really looking forward to this

[Stan]

I've just ordered a 9 cell battery from excellbay about half an hour ago. Excellbay advertises on eBay UK and offers this battery for circa GBP £30 but also offers the same item for Euro 31.98 (both prices include shipping) so it makes sense for UK residents to buy at the price offered in Euros rather than in GBP.

I just saved over £4 thanks to nkh's post and a bit of searching on eBay.

Thanks nkh.

[kajencik]

I've just received my excellbay battery, It is the same shape as the original, it fitted in a bit worse, but it holds tight inside, just as the original one. manufacturer name is 4SEA and manufactured date is 2006-06-30, so it seems to be older than yours, but it's charging properly, so we'll see

[alexmoss]

CAUTION: Following up on my earlier message re ordering from Laptops for Less (www.l-f-l.com). They gave me a tracking # the day I ordered my battery and also a confirmation email saying that my battery had already shipped. After 1.5 weeks and not being able to track the package using the # they provided, I called, sat on hold forever, and finally was told no, they don't have the battery in stock and don't expect it for "another week or so." They claim that their system sends a tracking # automatically and the message telling you the battery has been shipped, regardless of whether that has actually happened. Needless to say, I canceled my order, I am hoping there is no problem with the credit card billing. Just a caution for anyone considering using this vendor.

[Stan]

My excellbay battery arrived today, seven days after I placed the order. That's quite good imo.

It appears to be identical to nkh's battery, manufactured on 26th of March from Sanyo cells (if the information in battery manager is to be believed).

The T42 now rests on the new battery rather than the rubber feet on the rear of the laptop. I managed to find two self adhesive rubber feet and attached them a little forward of the batteries position on the base of the T42 and these seem pretty stable.

I'm running the battery on the maintenance cycle at the moment just to get it calibrated to the laptop and make sure the chemicals are properly activated. This is going to take quite a few hours, between 10 and 12 I suspect.

I'll report back when the battery has been in service for a few days.

[kajencik]

My excellbay battery has performed great last few days, I was kinda afraid that is already older, but right now, it has 68,50 Wh capacity remaining out of original 71,28, it dropped after initial charge and discharge cycles to this value, but now it's holding on, it has 8 cycles now, and my R50p is able to get about 4 hours battery time from it with moderate usage, there is no charging issues at all, everything is working just fine, I've carried it all the day in standby mode off the plug, randomly turning it on for a while, and I ended up in the evening with less than 5% battery left, and the laptop was still working great.

[Stan]

Most modern and sophisticated Lithium- Ion battery’s, once manufactured, are put into a storage mode (sleep mode) which will mean that if they are unused and kept at the correct level of charge and at low temperature they will remain in very good condition for a number of years.

It seems that kajencik’s battery is of such sophistication considering its reported age.

That’s good news for all of us, taking into account the fact that IBM/ Lenovo can’t be bothered to supply genuine batteries (at a reasonable price to “peripheral” markets).

I think Europeans will be looking to third party Chinese manufacturers more often in future, if they need parts that Lenovo thinks we don’t need (can’t be bothered to provide).

Sorry Lenovo, you should try harder in Europe. There is a large population here with some serious money to spend, they just need taking care of.

[joelbuckley]

I just picked up one of these for my T42:

http://www.thebestpartinc.com/92p1091.html

It is indeed the genuine IBM item with Panasonic cells. This is the slightly larger capacity 6-cell battery intended for the T43, but it works fine in the other T4x models. The one I got was manufactured in March 2006 and already had 18 charge cycles on it. I contacted Ryan from thebestpartinc, and he said he was very sorry that a used battery was sent to me and he offered to take it back for a full refund (incl shipping), or I could keep it and get a partial refund (25usd). After a reconditioning cycle, the battery still had 49.38 Wh left out of its original 51.83 capacity, so I decided to keep it.

All things considered, I'm quite happy with the result. Ryan went out of his way to try to make things right.

[kajencik]

I just picked up one of these for my T42:

http://www.thebestpartinc.com/92p1091.html

It is indeed the genuine IBM item with Panasonic cells. This is the slightly larger capacity 6-cell battery intended for the T43, but it works fine in the other T4x models. The one I got was manufactured in March 2006 and already had 18 charge cycles on it. I contacted Ryan from thebestpartinc, and he said he was very sorry that a used battery was sent to me and he offered to take it back for a full refund (incl shipping), or I could keep it and get a partial refund (25usd). After a reconditioning cycle, the battery still had 49.38 Wh left out of its original 51.83 capacity, so I decided to keep it.

All things considered, I'm quite happy with the result. Ryan went out of his way to try to make things right.

Good price for genuine battery! Still, on the go, with the R50p's power consumption, the 9 cell is the only way for me, but it seems that our batteries were manufactured with only a 3 months diference and arrived in similar almost new shape, I'm curious how long will they last, I'll post here as soon as my battery reaches 50% of it's manufacturing capacity, along with reached charge cycles, it will be good idea if you can do it too.

Now I'm wondering if it isn't time to create a page in thinkwiki dedicated to the genuine/chinese batteries shape, capacity, price etc. to see the differences more clearly than in this thread.

[joelbuckley]

I'm one of those people who can't deal with the way the 9-cell protrudes out the back, so I'm also using the 3-cell ultrabay battery as well. The extra cost (vs. using a single 9-cell battery) is worth it to me.

[Stan]

I ran through the conditioning process twice with the excellbay battery and it seems to have settled down nicely. It now states capacity as 72.42 Wh, having completed 4 cycles in total, and the battery charge LED is behaving normally.

I haven't had the chance to test the full running time but estimates are around 5.5 hours on the T42 with moderate battery management (LCD at level 3 and adaptive CPU mode) encompassing my usual document writing and web surfing mode, with wireless connected permanently.

Multi- media intensive work (Flash, or similar, CPU hogging usage) would reduce the running time by a noticeable margin, I suspect.

I suppose it is now down to the actual longevity of the battery to determine if it was worth purchasing? If it's still working proportionately well after three years I will be more than happy.

[msidd]

How are everybodys batteries holding up? I might want to buy a battery, so from which seller should I buy from? Thank LMK