Is there a battery cover?

[Dotcom]

After reading various posts on batter life, I realized I need to take the battery out since I mainly use the TP at home plugged in. But .. there is a big hole where the battery used to be, and some terminals are exposed. IS there a cover ? Can I make one with plastic? funny thought .. but I dont feel comfortable putting the laptop on my lap .. when theres exposure to the terminals and heat.

please advise!

[LtTPfan]

There are covers for some Thinkpads but you didn't specify what family/type you have. If there isn't a factory cover, you can easily obtain a bad bettery for very little, remove the cells and controller board and use it. They snap apart with a little coaxing. If you remove your battery for stoage, be sure to discharge it below 50% first. Remember, if a power outtage hits, even brief, you will lose any data not saved, and Windows sometimes does funky things when not shut down properly. You might consider buying a spare battery, even a used one with little charge left, and use that for normal use and save your good battery. Note that I have a 770 that has basically been on for several years 24/7 and my battery still works fine. It is only run on battery during power outages and when changing locations in the house. I had another battery that I stored and a few months later when I went to put it into a another 770 I pieced together it no longer worked.

[shirleywhite]

Reading the above posts reminded me that I'd got an old ( completely dead ) 600E battery. For about the last 6 months i've mainly been using ac power and thus keeping the newish battery I've got topped up at 100% almost permenently! Thinking that this might not be ideal - I split the old battery this morning - ran a sharp blade around the case and kinda twisted (?) and it came apart quite easily. Took the cells out and reglued. So now got a perfect battery "cover" while running on ac power. Will use battery power every couple of weeks or so and top up. I assume this will be best way to prolong the life of my ok battery!??

[LtTPfan]

@shirleywhite,

You should not "top off" your battery if storing. It's recommended that you store LiIon batteries with a charge of less than 50%.

[carbon_unit]

I have a couple of dead 600 series batteries that could be emptied out for this purpose if anyone wants them.

[pcnoob]

why is my battery keep losing power even when I am not using it? Also it seems to only charge to 99% and then just stops. I just got this battery for a few months.