Dead battery T42 - how do I know it's a battery?

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keith5523 · #1 Post by **keith5523** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 2:34 pm

Thanks to forum members, I've replaced (or had replaced) a motherboard and HDD, upgraded RAM, all in the last 12 mos, and also within the last 12 mos. bought what was represented to be a new battery. Now, the INSTANT that I disconnect the T42 from the AC adaptor, it dies. No warning, just shuts down. I went from battery life of maybe 1.5 hours to ZERO overnight. Battery miser check says battery has 100% charge, but the little battery light located in the lid, under the screen, just keeps blinking in gold, instead of the usual solid green. I did the "battery reconditioning" offered by the onboard software to no avail. How can I determine that I have a bad battery and not some other ailment? Or what other problems are possible? Thanks.

Keith

edited to add: I have 2 ac adapters, and one docking station. Computer has same issues, no matter where it's plugged up at.

zdriver · #2 Post by **zdriver** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:12 pm

You don't mention what the current battery stats are...
Go into Thinkpad Configuration - Power Management - Battery Info - Status Detail
What does it show for health, cycles, remaining capacity etc etc
Is it a genuine oem battery or a generic no name replacement?

keith5523 · #3 Post by **keith5523** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:33 pm

This is an OEM battery, I think. It's a SONY IBM FRU # 08K8195

Battery

Status - No activity
Remaining percentage 100%
Remaining time -
Remaining Capacity 39.59 Wh
Full Charge Capacity 39.59 Wh
Cycle Count 77

hope this helps.

#4 Post by **rkawakami** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:14 pm

There's this possibility: the fuse that protects the battery has blown. The battery stats are read from another pin on the battery (and I believe it is also protected by a different fuse). You would be able to "see" the battery pack's information but the laptop will not charge it, nor operate from it. This could be proved by either installing another known good battery into your system and having it perform the same or installing your battery into another T4x system and having it work there.

A lesser possibility exists and that is the battery pack IS actually dead (or suffers from a broken internal connection). You can check the battery's voltage using a multimeter as shown on page 40 (manual page, not the .PDF page number) in the Hardware Maintenance Manual:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-46464

keith5523 · #5 Post by **keith5523** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:57 pm

Ray, thanks for your input. It will be difficult to find another T42 for me to test this battery using your suggestion.

But if the fuse has blown, is that something I can repair/replace? Could I just go ahead and replace it now. That would probably be easier than finding another T42 owner in my area.

The unit was functioning one evening before I powered down for the night, and the next morning I had the problem.

Thanks again.

#6 Post by **rkawakami** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:01 pm

I'm not totally sure about the fuse protecting the main battery on a T4x system, but it might be similar to the one labeled "F10" on the middle right of this photo from a T23:

http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/let.jpg

It's a 10 amp fuse made by Littelfuse and can be sourced from mouser.com or digikey.com. For additional information:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 860#214860

Following the mouser.com link I provided in the next post in that thread, it appears that they have been obsoleted. No doubt due to the RoHS mandate. There is a substitute available at Mouser. And as I've stressed before: if the fuse is blown, replacing it might cause it to blow again (or cause additional damage).

SMA · #7 Post by **SMA** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:13 pm

In a T41 there are 2 fuses that influence the operation of the main battery. They are labeled F9 and F12.

Looking carefully on Ray's picture, I see that the big white fuse being referred to as F10 is actually F11.
F10 is sitting to the right of F11 and is a much smaller black fuse.

Similar in a T41. One big white fuse and one small black fuse.

#8 Post by **rkawakami** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:54 pm

Thank you for that correction

. Yes, the large white, ceramic-looking fuse with silver endcaps and the LF10A marking is the T23's F11 fuse. The F10 fuse is to the right of that one and is marked with an "F" on top. These two fuses are next to the Ultrabay connector but there's an identical pair near the main battery terminals. Here's that photo that I finally found again:

http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/t23_mo ... _fuses.jpg

The larger 10A fuse is inline with the battery voltage. I believe that the smaller fuse is inline with one of the other pins coming from the battery. I assume that it's the serial data line that goes to the memory inside the battery pack. I seem to remember tracing out those fuses a couple of years ago...

SMA · #9 Post by **SMA** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:21 pm

I did not see that it was the Ultrabay connector on the first picture. Good that you found that other picture.
Both fuses are kind of inline with the battery voltage - that is on a T41.
The 2 pins on the battery connector that are used for serial data are protected by 100 ohm resistors. By the way, it is an I2C bus.

This should make no change to the T42 in question.
It will still be 2 fuses to check. One big white fuse and one small black fuse. Labeled F9 and F12.

#10 Post by **richk** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:55 pm

The 10 amp fuse you see is for running off the battery, not for charging. The charging fuse is on the underside near the battery terminals. (near the one you are discussing) It is a little black fuse with an "F" on it.

keith5523 · #11 Post by **keith5523** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:37 pm

Thanks for all of your replies...

I think the one thing I feel pretty sure about is that I'm probably not the one to make this repair. Can you recommend someone? Now, I feel like I should have parted this laptop out over a year ago, and maybe bought a T61. With the price of an OEM battery on the north side of $100, and a refurbed T61 on the lenovo site for $589, it gives me pause.

So if you can make a recommendation for a service tech, I'll probably at least send it to someone for a diagnosis.

Thanks for your help.

keith5523 · #12 Post by **keith5523** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:45 pm

I must have asked the wrong question, because I've received no replies....

So let me ask another question, please.

Where is the best place to advertise my T42 for parts, and what should I expect to receive for it.
model 2378
Pentium M 1.7 GHz
2 GB RAM
wireless b/g-card upgraded 12 mos ago
i most likely remove the HDD and keep it or destroy it
motherboard replaced under warranty 12 mos ago
2 docking stations
2 AC adapters in addition to those connected to docking stations
ATI Radeon 7500
DVD/CD-RW
Screen seems to be in great shape

Thanks for your help.

Keith

zdriver · #13 Post by **zdriver** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:30 pm

Keith
You have a number of options to consider unless you are just set to get out from under the T42.
Personally, I think you just may have a bad battery, sometimes they fail suddenly, even when fairly new (which is probably one reason they come with a 1 year warranty. The fuse is a possibility, but they never blow for no reason.
Perhaps you can contact a forum member in the Charlotte area that has a battery and can meet with you to check if the battery is indeed the problem.
You could buy a cheap / known good used battery in the $20 range and check it yourself.
You can ship either the notebook or even just the battery to a trusted forum member with T4x parts and let him check it.
If it does turn out to be the battery and you are patient, new batteries can be found for much less than $100...I have purchased new sealed oem 9cell batterys for <$50 recently.

If you are still intent on selling it, you will get more from your local Charlotte area Craigslist, but you can also put an ad in the marketplace for say $150 or best offer....
You may get more if you take the time to part it out.

keith5523 · #14 Post by **keith5523** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:27 am

zdriver wrote:Keith
You have a number of options to consider unless you are just set to get out from under the T42.

I''m really not trying to take advantage of my situation and buy a new laptop. It seems that I've made a lot of wrong turns by thinking I could find a cheap fix and wind up with my cheap fix being not so cheap.

You could buy a cheap / known good used battery in the $20 range and check it yourself.

I would certainly like to try this...can you recommend such a battery?

If it does turn out to be the battery and you are patient, new batteries can be found for much less than $100...I have purchased new sealed oem 9cell batterys for <$50 recently.

I rarely use the battery for any reason other than to not lose my data while I'm transferring between AC adapters or docking stations, but if I could have found an OEM for around $50, I would have probably tried that already...but my replies to this post have me worried that something else caused my problem, ie I have an underlying problem.

If you are still intent on selling it, you will get more from your local Charlotte area Craigslist, but you can also put an ad in the marketplace for say $150 or best offer....
You may get more if you take the time to part it out.

While I like the idea of parting it out, it would probably just wind up stuck in a closet somewhere. Thank you for your willingness to help.

Please send me a source for either a cheap or reasonably priced OEM battery. thanks

Keith

zdriver · #15 Post by **zdriver** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:03 am

Keith
I would suggest trying to contact forum member Brad via pm and ask him his opinion. I believe he has access to anything you may need.
He may be willing to test your battery and or sell you a good one at a reasonable price. I know of no person every dissapointed in dealing with him. If yours is a 15" model, he currently has some premo T42 Flexview machines for sale in the marketplace, read that thread... You could sell yours and upgrade to one of those increasingly rare T42's with full factory warranty.
Alternatively, you could place an ad in the marketplace for a functional but cheap battery or someone in your area that can assist you to verify its the motherboard or the battery.
If I were not 2000 miles away, I would meet at a Starbucks to help determine the problem.

Brad · #16 Post by **Brad** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:07 am

I thought I heard my ears ringing. Thanks zdriver. Keith if I can help in any way please let me know.

Brad

#17 Post by **richk** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 11:49 am

If you want to ship me your battery, I can test it. If you want to ship me the machine, I'll check the fuses, but that requires a complete disassembly and is silly if the battery is bad.

keith5523 · #18 Post by **keith5523** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 12:15 pm

Thanks for the help. I've contacted Brad and he's going to send me a battery. We'll go from there....

Dead battery T42 - how do I know it's a battery?

Dead battery T42 - how do I know it's a battery?

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