IBM Battery Warranty?

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synapse · #1 Post by **synapse** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:20 pm

Hi-
I got my battery in June of 04 and I was just wondering what sort of wear level it has to have to fall under IBM's warranty for it. I would say I use it very average and I am not getting anywear close to the 4 hours that I thought I would get. Thanks-
-Dan

ndornhoefer · #2 Post by **ndornhoefer** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 4:46 pm

Hello Dan,

You can check under Battery Information --> Battery Health on the Design Capacity (probably about 47/50 Mh) and compare it to your Full Charge Capacity. If there is a wear off, of more than 30 % per year, as far as I know, it should be exchanged under warranty. Warranty for Battery mostly is 1 year.

Happy new year
Nadja

synapse · #3 Post by **synapse** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 4:54 pm

Thanks for the reply Nadja. My Design Charge Capacity is 47.52 and my Full Charge Capacity is 38.92. Which gives me an 18% loss over 6 months. At this rate I will definetely loose more than 30% before the year for the warranty is up. And that is only after 27 cycles.

I might give them a call then. Thanks for your help!
-Dan

epigram · #4 Post by **epigram** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:16 pm

i sent my battery in to IBM singapore and was told that a 30% wear after 9 months is normal/acceptable and my battery was not exchanged.

synapse · #5 Post by **synapse** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:46 pm

That is extremely dissapointing as I had much higher expectations from it.

I will have to give them a call anyway.

Champ · #6 Post by **Champ** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 10:48 pm

hrm what did they do? they can't make you return the battery they send you can they?

does onsite warantee cover battery too?

t41user · #7 Post by **t41user** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:06 pm

Two comments. First, whether IBM replaces a battery seems to me to be a judgment call by the person dealing with your case, rather than some specific rule that specifies some number or threshold. Second, whether IBM replaces a battery seems to me to be based more on the battery life times that you report (on different power schemes) rather than the charge capacity reading that you report.

gengar · #8 Post by **gengar** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:37 am

epigram wrote:i sent my battery in to IBM singapore and was told that a 30% wear after 9 months is normal/acceptable and my battery was not exchanged.

Wow, that's pretty lousy. I had a good experience with my 770Z 9549-81U battery when it was still under warranty. It had lost about 45% of charge (it would just pass large sections of % on the display). They just sent me a new one and RMA'd the old one.

ndornhoefer · #9 Post by **ndornhoefer** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:23 pm

From IBM Battery Tips: (if youl look it up on your Batter Tips you will also find a graph showing again that up to 30% for average use is normal after 1 year)

Battery Characteristics Batteries are a "consumable" product and battery life decreases over time, depending on how the battery is used. Over time, the Full Charge Capacity, or total amount of charge the battery will accept, become less than the Design Capacity, or the amount of charge that a new battery can store. Both of these are measured in Watt-hours (Wh) and are displayed in the Battery Information window.

Normal deterioration Under average usage patterns (see figure) your ThinkPad battery maintains approximately 70% of its power capacity for the first year of operation. Average usage is defined as the number of recharge cycles. A cycle is defined as each time the battery discharges a total of 85% or more and is recharged it counts as one cycle. The battery health utility uses Design Capacity, Full Charge Capacity, Cycle count and the normal aging properties of your battery to determine your battery capacity status.

ndornhoefer · #10 Post by **ndornhoefer** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 6:28 pm

Sorry i sent it too fast (only wanted to get a preview

)

I have some battery issues too (more than 42% wear off after 1 year and 15 days). In my case I will not get a new battery (because of the 15 days over warranty - which I have to say I think is completely ridiculous considering the 3 physical HDD failures, 1 Motherboard Failurs and some other issues I had with this d... machine in 1 year). But the IBM guy told me that for a wear off of more than 30% in 1 year they replace the battery.

So call and try, and please let me know how it went.
N

epigram · #11 Post by **epigram** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 7:05 am

Champ wrote:hrm what did they do? they can't make you return the battery they send you can they?

does onsite warantee cover battery too?

they made me bring down the battery to the service centre - and after running tests, declared that it was perfectly normal behaviour.

as for battery life - since i never run the laptop with the ultrabay slim alone, i have no idea how long it will run on its own

scillyisles · #12 Post by **scillyisles** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:57 am

Just checked my battery nealth on my ten month old 9 cell battery
Full charge capacity 73.02Wh
Design capacity 71.28Wh
Cycle count 12
First used date 2004 -02

So I appear to have a battery that has above average performance.

Leon · #13 Post by **Leon** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 8:04 pm

10 months and only 12 cycles!!!! sounds like you live near an outlet..... mine is 6 months old with 92 cycles!

synapse · #14 Post by **synapse** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 9:12 pm

Leon, what sort of capacity are you getting now with it? Curious since you have 92 cycles. Thanks-

-Dan

Leon · #15 Post by **Leon** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 9:42 pm

I have lost 11% (89% remaining) of design capacity.

synapse · #16 Post by **synapse** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 9:53 pm

Sorry for another question but that is a lot better than I am doing and you have so many more cycles as well. Would you mind telling me what type of thinkpad you have and if you have the normal or extended battery? I am trying to figure out if the extended ones hold their charge longer or not and if perhaps your minimal wear is due to your specific thinkpad instead perhaps. I am really not sure

Do you have a strategy that you use for charging it, like do you let it wear most of the way down first or do you always try to top it off? Sorry for the hundred questions again - I am just really curious on how to get the most out of my battery. Thanks,
-Dan

Leon · #17 Post by **Leon** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:07 pm

No problem, that's what the forum is here for. If you think of another, feel free to ask!

I have a T42 2373-9ZU with a normal (non extended) battery. My recommended charging strategy is to always "top off". I always do, but I am not "paranoid" about it, i.e. I will not hesitate to run my machine all the way down if it is inconvenient to "top off" (which is a small percentage of the time).

synapse · #18 Post by **synapse** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:43 pm

Thanks for the insight!

Silencer · #19 Post by **Silencer** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:28 pm

scillyisles wrote:Just checked my battery nealth on my ten month old 9 cell battery
Full charge capacity 73.02Wh
Design capacity 71.28Wh
Cycle count 12
First used date 2004 -02

So I appear to have a battery that has above average performance.

Really strange things are happening with 9 cells batteries, cause mine in T40p has also full charge 73.02 and design capacity 71.28. And 28 cycles in 12 months.

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