Thinkpads Forum

I recently bought a TP 600X second hand. My problem is that the battery does not function any more, it simply refuses to recharge. Now, I suspect that one should not keep trying to recharge a faulty battery, so I would like to disconnect it. Or, I could remove it, but in this model it leaves an ugly hole at the downside of the laptop. The thing is, that I do not need a battery, and it seems stupid to buy an expensive battery just in order to cover a hole. So what I am asking is: Is there any way of keeping the old battery in its place, but stopping it from attempting to recharge?

You are correct that if the battery doesn't want to take a charge, you shouldn't keep trying. That is a recipe for damaging the charging circuit.

You could wrap paper or electrical tape around the contact pins on the computer and then re-insert the battery. Several folks have done this to the communications pins when their battery's smart circuit has started getting flaky. Alternately, you could try to open up and gut your battery so just an empty shell remains, but I can say that these packs don't come open too easily (got one I wanted to replace the cells in, still haven't gotten it open).

What do you consider to be expensive for a battery? I paid about $60 for my last one, and folks here have been saying Lenovo's selling them for a similar price. You could probably find good deals on eBay too, with a little looking.

I know you say you don't need a battery, but without one, you're completely dependent on the outlet and AC adapter being 100% reliable. I don't use mine on battery that often, but I personally wouldn't want to not have one ready in the slot.

Rob