Thinkpads Forum

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!

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.

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!??

@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%.

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

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.