Flashing Amber Battery Light on a T20 Thinkpad 2647-95U

[gytzsgb]

I have a T20 Thinkpad 2647-95U where the amber battery charging light( on the laptop cover right hinge) is flashing even when battery gauge indicates 100 %when connected to the AC outlet. Is there a solution to this problem ? I have had the laptop since October 2000.

Mike M.

[vanaya]

Usually if the amber light doesn't turn to green, the battery will not hold a charge anymore. You can check the health of the battery with batterymaximiser software which is available at lenovo.com. The program tells you the current health, capacity, and cycle information. Here is the LINK.

P.S. Welcome to the forum!!

[gytzsgb]

Thanks !! Per instructions, I am trying the re-conditioning battery option [ ie draining battery fully and recharging] to see if it will correct the problem. Right now after disconnecting power and recharging the light is solid green. The instructions say that the battery needs to be fully drained and recharged at least once a month. Hope this corrects the problem. [ However..the battery/laptop is over 7 years old

Mike M.

[BillD]

the battery/laptop is over 7 years old

7 YEAR OLD battery!?

I think I can speak for everyone here when I say congrats on having a 7 YO battery that still works at all...But also don't expect much more life out of it...

[RealBlackStuff]

This is an older article, which says it NOT advisable to deep-discharge Li-Ion batteries.
http://zurich.ai.mit.edu/hypermail/thin ... /0040.html

[joester]

I'll confirm that. I've had a few batteries that worked for the most part, but died after a complete discharge.
My thoughts are that there is too much charge/discharge rate disparity between the 3 pairs of cells. I've found that if I take a "completely dead" battery that wouldn't charge (constant blinking orange battery light)apart, I can meter and recharge the cell pairs to have the same voltages. Immediately reassembling the battery and installing it in the laptop will sometimes result in a battery that will recharge where it wouldn't before.
The capacity of the battery is always lower than the initial state prior to the complete discharge.

FOR THOSE THINKING OF OPENING UP A BATTERY:
Think twice on this. These cells are rather dangerous to mess with. A simple brief short circuit can cause the battery to erupt into a flame that will not go out until it completely burns the liquid from the cells. Flames can and have been reported to shoot several feet from the battery. One slip-up can literally burn down the house.

Don't say you weren't warned.

Joe

<EDIT> Oh, and no, I've never had the displeasure of experiencing one of those flames. I've considered an intentional flame-out and recording it to show the dangers. Maybe this spring. I'd rather not tempt fate with the box I made to work on these cells.

[gytzsgb]

Would you say its time to replace the laptop, considering that a new battery costs about $200...If so, which IBM Model would be a good replacement. I was looking at the SeriesX X61 which is a Lenovo with Vista since I am interested in something that's light-weight /portable.

Mike M.

[joester]

new battery costs about $200...

Where are you looking for a new battery?

THIS LINK is just a quick Google result. I'm sure looking around a bit and watching the "For Sale" section of this forum will turn up a better deal.

Joe

[gytzsgb]

Wow !! that is a huge difference in price [ 58.70 vs $189]. Thanks very much !! [ The price of $189 was from the IBM/Lenovo folks...to be expected of course ... but will continue to check some other sites before deciding .... Thanks once again !! [ Any thoughts about the new Lenovo XSeries : X61 with Vista as a replacement for the T20 ? ]

Mike M.

[beeblebrox]

Thanks !! Per instructions, I am trying the re-conditioning battery option [ ie draining battery fully and recharging] to see if it will correct the problem. Right now after disconnecting power and recharging the light is solid green. The instructions say that the battery needs to be fully drained and recharged at least once a month. Hope this corrects the problem. [ However..the battery/laptop is over 7 years old

Mike M.

Mike, I am having exactly the same problem with my father's old T23 which I have here for inspection.
Yellow blinking when the battery is fully loaded. The battery maximizer tells me 5 minutes battery time and 2Wh capacity. I thought the battery was dead and reconditioned it several times. No chance.

I then disabled the windows alarms and let the Thinkpad drain the battery to see if I get a few more minutes.
THE BATTERY LASTED 1.5 HOURS !!!!!

Now charging again, yellow blinking and Windows tells me 5 minutes.
Did you find out what can be done? Any help?

[Harryc]

Wow !! that is a huge difference in price [ 58.70 vs $189

For about the same price ($60 or so), get one of these T30 batteries for your T20 along with a 4.5Amp charger - it's way cheaper than $200 and lasts longer than a standard T20 cell -

T30 Battery

4.5A Charger

[DragonMaster]

I then disabled the windows alarms and let the Thinkpad drain the battery to see if I get a few more minutes.
THE BATTERY LASTED 1.5 HOURS !!!!!

Same thing happening here with my T22, my battery lasts 30 minutes before hitting 1% and I get a long extra period if I disable the alarms. The microprocessor in these batteries doesn't seem to reset itself with deep-cycling...