Thinkpads Forum

I was very unlucky in purchasing a T61 6459-CTO since it had failed video
(I knew this but was hoping a "bake" or reflow would fix it) and also a
defective 9 cell battery, the 42T4511 as described here:
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T61-and-pri ... d-p/110428

There are several FRU numbers for the 9 cell battery that fits this system and
I'm wondering how to determine the best one. The 42T4620 is mentioned in
that thread, post #6, but I'm wondering if anyone has a better suggestion.

Any way to determine what cells are used? Sanyo, Sony, Panasonic, etc from
FRU or some other identifier?

What does the 41++ designation mean:
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/itemdetails/4 ... B52CC4F8E9

I want to purchase a used Lenovo battery and not a generic for safety reasons, then
have it refilled with new and higher capacity cells if it turns out to be bad.

Thanks in advance for any help.

AFAIK, there's no sure fire way to tell what cell you are getting especially from an EBay purchase. Some vendor will open up the battery, put whatever cell they want in there and resell to you as genuine.

The best way is to contact TuuS. He test everything that he sells to you and honestly describe exactly what are getting. Compare his prices to Ebay, after sale support and very very helpful advice and it's a no brainer as far as I'm concern.

I am agree with Cigarguy's comment.
Just contact Mr. TuuS for the genuine battery and there goes your problem

I'd rather buy a used genuine battery for my old T61 than buy "original/genuine" battery from ebay

Thanks for the tips, true I do not generally trust much of anything on
ebay, but the pictures look fine and the battery was very inexpensive.

I will certainly consider TuuS in the future or if this one doesn't workout.

Pete B wrote:What does the 41++ designation mean:

It's Lenovo's way of saying that it's an improvement over the 41+ (6 cell) battery .

Hi Pete, I have some genuine 6 and 9 cell batteries if you're interested. If you want a working battery to refurbish with new cells I have some starting at $20. If you want some failed batteries to work with I can send you a large box full of them for $5 plus postage, probably 10-15 batteries many with good cells you can harvest.

Be careful buying batteries on ebay, there are many fake lenovo batteries that look real. These are the most dangerous because anyone who would fake a lenovo logo would not have an ethical problem faking the RoHS or UL labs certifications too, in fact they would have to fake them because no counterfeit battery would be certified. An attempt to save a few dollars could cost you your laptop, your house, or your life if it catches on fire.

Regarding the failed nVidia chip. Baking or reflowing the board won't fix it, at best it "may" get it to boot up, but the fractured circuits will still be fractured and will have excess resistance causing excessive heat and repeat failure. It's not a question of "if" it will fail again, but "when"... usually in weeks or less. There is no viable way to fix these boards so the only alternative is an original board form an 08/08 system or one with Intel graphics.

Thank you TuuS, I purchased a 42T4620 battery used on ebay and will see how
that goes. I didn't know that they were counterfeited to that degree but it was
sold as a single from a seller with good ratings - I hope it works out. I will certainly
keep you in mind for the future especially if I go for the cell refill with new cells. I'm
looking at this company but have no experience with them:
http://www.batteryrefill.com/index.phtml

TuuS wrote: Regarding the failed nVidia chip. Baking or reflowing the board won't fix it, at best it "may" get it to boot up, but the fractured circuits will still be fractured and will have excess resistance causing excessive heat and repeat failure. It's not a question of "if" it will fail again, but "when"... usually in weeks or less. There is no viable way to fix these boards so the only alternative is an original board form an 08/08 system or one with Intel graphics.

Yes I learned this about baking or reflowing here after I bought it.
I was also not aware of how expensive DDR2 RAM is when I bought it.
Several surprises but now I know, it is a learning process and I do
enjoy some of the work in fixing it up.

Finally figured out that what I probably want is a Frankenpad - we'll see.