Thinkpads Forum

I hope someone can help with a charging problem. I have recently bought a 600E and it will not charge the batteries. I have checked the voltage across the terminals that connect to the battery and there is very little current present. What is the likely cause and do you think this is a DIY, home fix for an enthusiastic amateur?? Many thanks, Colin Mark Smith

My suggestion is to get a new battery. It's really not worth it to open it and try to change the cells. This is especially true now that these batteries are on sale and the best deals right now on OEM batteries are on the IBM website. I know there was another thread concerning this only a few days ago.

Thanks but I already have a new battery. The problem is that I am not getting any current through to charge the battery.

There are basically 4 parts to the battery charge system

1: power supply, it is possible you have the wrong one, the 600 will opperate on a much lower voltage than is required to charge You need 16 VDC at a bit over 3 amps per the label on my brick (16 v 3.3 a)

2: The charging circuit in the computer

3: The battery

4: The battery monitor (part of the battery assembly)

Is your battery a "Genuine" or a "Generic", Generic's may have bad monitors. Now there is more. If you are testing for voltage and current output at the battery terminals, you might notice there are more than two terminals, the remaining terminals are "Sense" terminals, they sense the state of sensors inside the battery These are there because if you charge these batteries it either takes about 2 days, or 2 hours, but if you use the 2 hour method they can overheat and go BOOM (well pop) Not a good thing cause they make a big mess (I've never personally had the pleasure but I've seen what others have expirenced after the fact)

Your test may have tripped the "too hot" sensor thus shutting down charging