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Battery repair, cell replacement...

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:48 am
by ivan_zg
Started a new topic because i haven't found (maybe i just don't know how to use search option) a topic about this problem...

A year ago, my t61p battery died (if i had unplugged it from the wall it would turn of within 15 seconds) and as i have had problems with "non Thinkpad batteries" i decided to replace the 18650 cells inside the battery but the problem was (i think) that new cells "didn't work" because there is some kind of memory (eeprom, flash or whatever - i'm not so familiar with tat terms) where last "state" is recorded...And in that "state" my batteries were dead so now "new cells" weren't "recognizable". Tried to find a solution for "reflashing" the battery memory (to reset it) but without success.

I have tried disabling "battery driver" from device manager and it helped a little - i could somehow charge it to a capacity which allowed more than one hour in working state....but then after it was drained the same thing happened - "battery low" and i couldn't use it over 15 minutes...
In a meantime i bought t60 which had good battery so i used it for both laptops as one was always "docked"...

A month ago suddenly t60 turned of while battery was about 40% (40 minutes more)...And it died (totally-while it is turned off and plugged into a wall "battery is blinking"). So is there a way to "revitalize" the battery? Or to replace the cells and to "reset" the battery to a new state? Or new "non thinkpad" battery is the only option...

Re: Battery repair, cell replacement...

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:17 am
by RealBlackStuff
If you replace individual cells, you need to keep the electronics circuit of the whole battery 'closed' at all times.
I.e. solder the new one in first, parallel to the old one, and only then do you remove the old one.
Repeat with every cell.

Re: Battery repair, cell replacement...

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 4:22 pm
by ivan_zg
Never heard for that solution but it seems a little bit complicated (although the procedure is completely clear)...And in each battery there are always 3 couples (2 parallel cells) in series....so it should make the replacement easier but....if i try - definitely will report....

Re: Battery repair, cell replacement...

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:19 pm
by cadillacmike68
But what if the electronics already think the battery cells are dead?

I have a bunch of T20 & T30 batteries that I'd like to re-cell, if its possible.