Thinkpads Forum

I have a T60 for two years, and now the battery can only last about 10 minutes or so. The charging capacity (5.82Wh) is shown to be about 1/10 of the design capacity in power manager. The cycle count stands at 325.

I heard about the battery recall. Unfortunately, the automatic tool said that my battery wasn't affected, although the serial number does match in the list. Make me wonder if the detection was accurate. I'd like to hear about other people's experience so as to help me assess if this is typical for a T60.

Thanks in advance!

xinhua wrote:The cycle count stands at 325.

Time to buy a new battery.

Cheers,

Bill B.

xinhua wrote:I have a T60 for two years, and now the battery can only last about 10 minutes or so. The charging capacity (5.82Wh) is shown to be about 1/10 of the design capacity in power manager. The cycle count stands at 325.

I heard about the battery recall. Unfortunately, the automatic tool said that my battery wasn't affected, although the serial number does match in the list. Make me wonder if the detection was accurate. I'd like to hear about other people's experience so as to help me assess if this is typical for a T60.

Thanks in advance!

Your problem with '10 minutes battery' is very common but strongly depends on the user.
In my old HP DV4000 (bought 3,5 years ago) I use two batteries (6 cells and 12 cells). I can still use 12 cells battery for about 5 hours and 6 cells for about 2 hours.
Reasons of that?
I never charge the battery if it's not completely discharged (I use it until Windows shut's down) and I never use the battery before it charges completely (I don't disconnect my laptop from the power source if the battery is not completely charged).
Two simple rules and ... both batteries work really fine.
My friend bought exactly the same model of laptop and his batteries (he has two 6 cells batteries) don't work well - just because he's been using them in a different way (charging and discharging the battery in any moment).

I suggest you buying a new battery - generic battery for T60 can be quite unexpensive.
I've recently bought 6 cells battery for my T61p (I use 12 cells battery) from this guy : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0298048163 .
6 cells battery for T61p with shipping to US costs exactly 55,99 USD. I haven't received it yet but before the purchase contacted ebay users who had already bought batteries from him and they are really satisfied with it.

Thanks to Bill and Wojtek for confirming my suspicion. In the spirit of sharing with other users, I want to say that my nearly constant docking of my Thinkpad might have shortened the life expectancy of the battery. I heard that there is a setting to charge the battery only when it's completely drained even when keeping the battery in the laptop all the time, but I can't seem to find out how to set this up on mine though I remember seeing it a long time ago. Maybe someone can share tips on using this utility.

Yes, it's time to buy a new battery. some suggested not to buy anything other than the genuine Thinkpad batteries in this forum. Does that advice still hold?

xinhua wrote:Thanks to Bill and Wojtek for confirming my suspicion. In the spirit of sharing with other users, I want to say that my nearly constant docking of my Thinkpad might have shortened the life expectancy of the battery. I heard that there is a setting to charge the battery only when it's completely drained even when keeping the battery in the laptop all the time, but I can't seem to find out how to set this up on mine though I remember seeing it a long time ago. Maybe someone can share tips on using this utility.

Yes, it's time to buy a new battery. some suggested not to buy anything other than the genuine Thinkpad batteries in this forum. Does that advice still hold?

Run Lenovo's "Power Manager" and select "Advanced mode". Choose "Battery" and then "Battery Maintenance". In "charge thresholds" section you will find wanted option.
I don't have a battery inside of my laptop in this moment (I left it in my girflriends house) so I can't really check it - but power manager's help says:
"You can also create your own stop and start thresholds by selecting the Custom setting and entering your preferred values".
I suppose you can enter these values (although I'm not 100% sure if it's allowed):
- Laptop starts charging the battery when the remaining capacity of the battery is below 2%.
- Laptop stops charging the battery when the remaining capacity of the battery is above 98%.

One of actions that can reduce battery's lifetime - if you turn off your computer using "standby" and unplug it, the battery is being discharged (very slightly) for the whole time. When you plug it - the battery is being charged.
The whole 'process' worsens battery's condition.

I have no idea if it's a good or a bad idea to use generic batteries.
I would not buy the mentioned one if I didn't hear positive opinions about it from T61x users (who bought it from the same seller).
For me the price was decisive (39 USD is 4 times less than price of the original battery).

xinhua wrote:I want to say that my nearly constant docking of my Thinkpad might have shortened the life expectancy of the battery.

The T61 I am typing this message on is rarely run on its 56Wh battery power which is always in the laptop. The battery has 3 full cycles on it and was first used 1 year ago. That battery has lost about 2% of its design capacity.

You have 325 full cycles on your battery. There is simply no way that you could have ever achieved that if you have your T60 constantly in a powered dock.

Cheers,

Bill

I have my thresholds set to start charging on 30%. However, I've noticed that this doesn't apply if the laptop is shut down or hibernated (i.e. Windows isn't running). In that case, if the battery isn't full and the laptop is connected to the mains, it will charge. Haven't tested it on standby.

Is this by design?

Right now if I know the battery isn't full and I want to work on AC, I start it up on battery and plug it in when the system is up and running.

Bill, I do have my T60 plugged in most of the time, as it's used mostly as a desktop replacement. I'm wondering how 325 cycles were from myself.

That's why I wanted to check my battery charge threshold setting. I can't seem to find the setting in Power Manager. I don't see "Advanced Mode". And, there is no "battery" tab either. I'm beginning to think I may be missing some software/driver.

Also, I do leave my T60 in the dock when it's shut down or in hibernation. As Yak said, this might have killed the battery?

It appears to be under "Battery Information" and then click on "Maintenance". Mine seems to be set to 96%, which is completely wrong. I don't remember setting it myself, maybe it's the default? No wonder it's killing my battery.

xinhua wrote:It appears to be under "Battery Information" and then click on "Maintenance". Mine seems to be set to 96%, which is completely wrong. I don't remember setting it myself, maybe it's the default? No wonder it's killing my battery.

Location of this option depends on the version of power manager - that's the reason.
As far as I know - setting mentioned option to 100% affects badly battery's lifetime if you use AC input for the whole time.
It should be at most 98% to save the battery a bit.
I suggest you reading that : http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

Thanks, wojtek! That's good read. I should have known better, as I'm in engineering after all Now, I'm paying attention and I'm ordering some extra battery from the source you recommended. So, thanks again.

xinhua,
Only the 9cell batteries were in the 2006 recall and 2 years of life is not unusual.
If you're interested I have a brand new 9cell battery from Lenovo(one left) which I am selling for $85 shipped (Fedex ground). That's less then half of what Lenovo sells it for.
See: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=68706