T30 wont sit still

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darkdragoon · #1 Post by **darkdragoon** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:56 am

When I lay my T30 on a perfect flat surface, it tend to wobble little and it was infact one of the leg thats close to the battery area was actually shorter than other rubber legs. Anyone had that problem and how did you managed to resolved it?

Thanks.

Edit content:
I should go ahead and explain a little more. There is 3 rubber legs on each corner and 1 underneath the battery. When the battery was taken out, it sort of looses its stand on a flat surface.

#2 Post by **Harryc** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:15 pm

I don't understand the problem. One of the legs in 'ON' the battery, so don't remove the battery. Problem solved.

T30 Bottom

darkdragoon · #3 Post by **darkdragoon** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:19 pm

Harryc wrote:I don't understand the problem. One of the legs in 'ON' the battery, so don't remove the battery. Problem solved.

T30 Bottom

Thanks for replying, but the thing is I dont like to keep my battery charged and eventually wear it out.

There is this tiny piece of plasite that act as a leg once battery is detached. I reckon that piece of plastic is too short perhaps?

hitokage · #4 Post by **hitokage** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:41 am

Delurks to make my first post to this forum.

darkdragoon wrote:Thanks for replying, but the thing is I dont like to keep my battery charged and eventually wear it out.

If it's a Li-ion battery, they start to go bad as soon as they're made, whether it's being used or not.

Wikipedia article on Lithium-ion batteries
How to prolong lithium-based batteries - another site with information about Li-ion batteries.

Lurk mode re-engaged.

darkdragoon · #5 Post by **darkdragoon** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:10 am

hitokage wrote:Delurks to make my first post to this forum.

darkdragoon wrote:Thanks for replying, but the thing is I dont like to keep my battery charged and eventually wear it out.
If it's a Li-ion battery, they start to go bad as soon as they're made, whether it's being used or not.

Wikipedia article on Lithium-ion batteries
How to prolong lithium-based batteries - another site with information about Li-ion batteries.

Lurk mode re-engaged.

Thanks for the info. So I guess I should had the battery attached to my T30 at all times then.

darkdragoon · #6 Post by **darkdragoon** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:04 am

But again, would that be a design flaws if you need to have the battery attached to the unit at all times in order to have it lay still on a flat surface?

#7 Post by **Harryc** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:19 am

Design flaw? Try driving your car downtown without the right front wheel.

darkdragoon · #8 Post by **darkdragoon** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:54 am

Harryc wrote:Design flaw? Try driving your car downtown without the right front wheel.

Point taken, I guess its just my habbit that I always detach my battery.

Robbyrobot · #9 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:12 am

Thanks for replying, but the thing is I dont like to keep my battery charged and eventually wear it out.

Which means you're doing exactly the right thing, when you read the http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm (How to prolong lithium-based batteries) link.

There you'll read

Avoid keeping the battery at full charge and high temperature. This is the case when placing a cell phone or spare battery in a hot car. Running a laptop computer on the mains has a similar temperature problem.

So I guess I should had the battery attached to my T30 at all times then.

By no means, if the information in the link is correct. Apparently you're doing exactly the right thing now.

richp · #10 Post by **richp** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:58 am

If you really want the battery out and for it to stop wobbling go get a couple of spare 'feet', almost any hardware store will have them in little blister packs of 8 or 12. I buy a pack a year for the bug shield on my cherokee, I usually knock one or two off when washing or waxing it and get a bit careless when I get the sponge between the shield and nose.

darkdragoon · #11 Post by **darkdragoon** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 6:38 pm

richp wrote:If you really want the battery out and for it to stop wobbling go get a couple of spare 'feet', almost any hardware store will have them in little blister packs of 8 or 12. I buy a pack a year for the bug shield on my cherokee, I usually knock one or two off when washing or waxing it and get a bit careless when I get the sponge between the shield and nose.

Thanks for replying. So where's the exactly spot would you stick those"spare feet" on to? I find that there is limited space or I should say a proper spot to stick them on to once the battery is detached.

Robbyrobot · #12 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 11:46 pm

You know, instead of sticking on pads or anything like that, what I'd do is to get a dead battery - of which there are plenty around, at giveaway prices (for good reasons) - and put it in when you just need a "complete" unit, without battery power.

That has the added advantage that you have no hole in the bottom of your computer and can't by mistake pick it up with your fingers in the hole for the battery, possibly breaking some plastic.

darkdragoon · #13 Post by **darkdragoon** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:36 am

Robbyrobot wrote:You know, instead of sticking on pads or anything like that, what I'd do is to get a dead battery - of which there are plenty around, at giveaway prices (for good reasons) - and put it in when you just need a "complete" unit, without battery power.

That has the added advantage that you have no hole in the bottom of your computer and can't by mistake pick it up with your fingers in the hole for the battery, possibly breaking some plastic.

Thanks for you input, but believe me when I tell you this, a "dead battery" does not come by that easily...

The funny thing is, I have owned numerous of TP and always work with battery detached and never had this wobbling problem.

The Spirit of X21 · #14 Post by **The Spirit of X21** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:49 am

darkdragoon wrote: Thanks for replying. So where's the exactly spot would you stick those"spare feet" on to? I find that there is limited space or I should say a proper spot to stick them on to once the battery is detached.

I've never owned a T30, but perhaps you could attach a foot on each side of the battery bay to give the machine some added support. If you can find it, though, the dead battery idea sounds best as it involves no modification of the machine's underside at all.

Robbyrobot · #15 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 2:10 am

Thanks for you input, but believe me when I tell you this, a "dead battery" does not come by that easily...

A pity you're so far away and shipping thus so expensive... if you were in Germany I'd send you one of mine. This kind of thing is offered on the German Ebay for around EUR 10 or less nearly every day... naturally not as "defective", but only "I can't test this and so offer it without any guarantee"

darkdragoon · #16 Post by **darkdragoon** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:07 pm

Robbyrobot wrote:
Thanks for you input, but believe me when I tell you this, a "dead battery" does not come by that easily...
A pity you're so far away and shipping thus so expensive... if you were in Germany I'd send you one of mine. This kind of thing is offered on the German Ebay for around EUR 10 or less nearly every day... naturally not as "defective", but only "I can't test this and so offer it without any guarantee"

Thanks for the thoughts, thats so kind of you but I think I can managed.

#17 Post by **carbon_unit** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:39 pm

The bad part about using a dead battery is that it could damage the charging system in the T30 if it is trying to charge a battery that never finishes charging. I would run a pizza cutter down the seam and open up the battery case far enough to remove the connections between the T30 and the battery, then super glue it shut.
In the past I worried about the batteries and even followed the recommendations on battery university (my wife hated the batteries in the fridge) but in the end I just decided to let the IBM power manager handle the batteries and I used them as I pleased. I may have lost a little in the life of the batteries but I got to use the batteries at my convenience and they were still in good shape when I sold the laptops. It takes the fun and portability out of the laptop when you have to worry about charge levels and cycle counts and such. Just use it, enjoy it and sell it when you decide to upgrade.

Robbyrobot · #18 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:07 am

The bad part about using a dead battery is that it could damage the charging system in the T30 if it is trying to charge a battery that never finishes charging.

Why would that be? I would think that no current would flow if the battery can't be charged and thus the effect would be null.

I presently have a couple of T21s with batteries that are just on the brink of death... the orange light comes on when the units are powered on with the AC adapter. If the battery is then removed from the contacts and immediately replaced, the light turns to green. However, the computers aren't even capable of booting with the batteries alone, since they only provide a few seconds of power after the AC adapter is removed before the amber light comes on again.

These are what I'd call "as good as dead" batteries (the "really dead" ones give you a blinking amber light that never changes).

Up to now, I've never had any particular concern about using a Thinkpad on the AC adapter with a dead battery (which is the usual case with an older Thinkpad). Your comment is thus unsettling and I'd appreciate any further explanation you could provide.

#19 Post by **carbon_unit** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:13 am

It is the really dead one one with the blinking amber light that never stops that will damage things. With this battery there is a current flow that never ends and it will damage your charging system. The good as dead ones where you can pull them out and put them back and they turn green are not quite as bad because you can manually stop them from charging.
Still, why not split the battery case and cut the connections? Then you get the support you need and do not risk damaging anything. It's not a complicated procedure.

vanaya · #20 Post by **vanaya** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 8:32 am

You could also use electrical tape and tuck the tape to cover all the contacts. I used a toothpick to tuck the tape in between the contacts and then cut off the excess with an x-acto blade.

T30 wont sit still

T30 wont sit still

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