T20 - Battery Problem? Or What?

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marum017 · #1 Post by **marum017** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:35 pm

Hey all, I'm new to the forum. I got my hands on a T20 that has an unusual problem. Basically, it won't boot using the battery (occasionaly it will). Most of the time it just shuts off like the battery ran out. If it's plugged into AC, it will do exactly the same thing UNLESS I remove the battery, then it'll boot and run for days without fail. The catch is that the battery indicator is green, and after boot I can put the battery in, unplug AC and it will ususally run for a decent amount of time (I've been able to watch 40min of DVD using this method).

Here are the symptoms summarized:
- Won't boot from the battery
- Won't boot from battery + AC
- Boots/Runs Fine from AC when battery removed
- After boot, can run on just battery for ~40 min.

Anybody have any idea what's going on here? I'm hoping I just need a new battery and not a system board.

Thanks
Andy

ThinkPad · #2 Post by **ThinkPad** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:23 pm

The first thing that comes to mind is that is is a bad battery. Battery life is roughly 2 years.

marum017 · #3 Post by **marum017** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 12:54 pm

That's what I first assumed, bad battery...but then why will it run on battery power for about 40min after booting up on AC? The only thing I can think of is that the current draw on boot up is much higher than normal operation, and the battery fails to supply the necessisary current. After boot however, the battery can supply enough current to maintain usage for a while. Does this sound like a possibility?

Marc_G · #4 Post by **Marc_G** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 3:49 pm

Is it a genuine IBM brand battery? I've hard they have done some BIOS things to lock out other battery brands. Perhaps this is done only at boot?

marum017 · #5 Post by **marum017** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 5:24 pm

It's a genuine IBM. I'm not sure if it's the original battery or not, since my brother bought it used. I'm pretty sure it's not a bios problem, because I know it's not on the latest BIOS. I was going to update until I heard about the battery problem.

I did some research on the BIOS battery issues, and it doesn't really sound like that's my problem. I could try to flash back to an older bios just to see. But I hate to mess with it if I don't have to.

marum017 · #6 Post by **marum017** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:02 pm

Anyone have any ideas? I'm pretty much stuck right now. If I can't be sure on the problem I'll just use it with AC only. Thanks

Andy

AbsoluteRaleigh · #7 Post by **AbsoluteRaleigh** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 11:30 am

marum017 wrote:Anyone have any ideas? I'm pretty much stuck right now. If I can't be sure on the problem I'll just use it with AC only. Thanks

Andy

You will have to get another part in there to figure it out.

The cheapest place to start would be to buy another battery.

(It is the most likely source of the problem, anyways.)

T20 - Battery Problem? Or What?

T20 - Battery Problem? Or What?

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