T60 won't run on battery

[TRS-80]

I just bought my first t60, been wanting one for a while. Yay!

It didn't come with a battery though, but many don't, so I didn't think much of it at the time. A couple days later and I found 2 barely used Anker batteries on Craigslist locally.

I got home, installed one of the batteries, if you mouse over the battery indicator tray icon, it says "78% available (plugged in, charging)." Battery and plug lights are green. But if I unplug the AC power cord, the t60 dies immediately. I tried the second of the two batteries, that one does the same thing.

I am suspecting something is wrong with my main board? Or is the power supply a separate component that can be replaced? And also, any way to test further (if needed) without having any other t60s to check the batteries out?

[brchan]

I have had similar issues with Anker batteries in both my T60 and T61. The battery would cut off power at random times (regardless if idle or heavy machine usage). Sometimes this would happen in 15 minutes, 45 minutes, or 3 hours later. I called customer service and got a replacement. Same issue again, but when I put back my original OEM battery, the issue is gone.

It is difficult to tell in your case if the problem is the batteries or the PS or laptop. Can you find an OEM battery and test to see if it gives you problems?

[ajkula66]

Can you find an OEM battery and test to see if it gives you problems?

^^^^^^
The only way to properly determine what the culprit is. My guess, however, would be the battery.

[TRS-80]

Really?

I'm not sure if I made this clear or not, but the T60 does run fine when plugged into the wall, whether there is a battery installed or not.

[ajkula66]

Really?

Really.

I'm not sure if I made this clear or not, but the T60 does run fine when plugged into the wall, whether there is a battery installed or not.

That's why I said:

My guess, however, would be the battery.

[TRS-80]

OK, just wanted to make sure.

I guess next step will be to find a known good OEM battery, maybe I can get lucky and find a computer shop locally that can slide one in for testing purposes.

Thanks for the super fast responses guys.

[Saucey]

Anker batteries can be bad?
I guess its just a stroke of luck they had their time...

I had a T61 that was completely unresponsive when it had an ultrabay battery hooked up.
Removed it, unit would power up like normal, it was nuts.
As a matter of fact, I think it killed my main battery on my X61T, or that unit failing was a coincidence.

[RealBlackStuff]

Does that machine boot on battery alone, if you remove HD, CD and any other attachments?
Anker batteries on average have a good reputation, so it could also be your motherboard.
Just in case: I have several T60 mobos for sale. PM me if interested.

[TRS-80]

Does that machine boot on battery alone, if you remove HD, CD and any other attachments?
Anker batteries on average have a good reputation, so it could also be your motherboard.
Just in case: I have several T60 mobos for sale. PM me if interested.

Haven't tried that yet, but maybe I will today.

I am not having much luck finding an OEM battery, I called a few computer shops yesterday, none of which happened to have any t60/1 or compatible batteries lying around for testing purposes. One guy suggested I try Batteries Plus, they have one in stock but of course it's not OEM.

One of the guys I spoke to was very familiar with ThinkPads, said he used to be a member here too. He suggested trying the Lenovo battery utility to check condition of the battery. So I downloaded and installed that program (Power Manager) last night. And it reports the following:

Remaining battery: 78%
Time required to fully charge: [blank]
The battery is in good condition.
65W AC adapter is attached

Battery Details
Status: Charging
Remaining percentage: 78%
Charge completion time: -
Remaining capacity: 58.11 Wh
Full charge capacity: 74.60 Wh
Current: 0.00 A
Voltage: 12.12 V
Wattage: -
Temperature: 30 C
Cycle count: 19
Manufacturer name: SANYO
Manufacture date: 2013-12-19
First used date: 2014-06
Serial number: 554
Bar-Code number: 1Z75M48TR4E
FRU part number: 92P1137
Device chemistry: Li-Ion
Design capacity: 71.28 Wh
Design voltage: 10.80 V
Firmware version: -

Also of note, there is a "Battery Maintenance..." button in that dialog, if you press it you are given some options to let the battery fully charge (start when below 96%, charge up to 100%) or to optimize for battery lifespan (automatically charge for you). I've read somewhere that latter option goes up to around 80% and then stops charging.

But then there is a "Battery gauge reset" section with a button "Perform Reset" below that. I press that and it says the following:

Battery gauge reset will automatically:
1.Fully charge your battery
2.Fully discharge your battery
3.Fully recharge your battery

This process may take several hours. You should avoid using the computer during this period.

Before continuing:
1.Close all open applications
2.Connect the AC adapter

Continue Cancel

So, I tried that last night before I went to bed, came back this AM to check on it, and it was still running the reset. I figured all night was enough time, so I cancelled out of it. Now I didn't write all these numbers down last night, but this morning it didn't look like anything had changed. I do know that the "Remaining battery" was at 78% last night, and still is this AM.

I hope some of this information is helpful, I will also continue to persue other avenues in diagnosing this problem. I may stop by Batteries Plus today, and/or do what RBS suggested.

[RealBlackStuff]

If your T60 has ATI graphics, you should use a 90W power supply.

[TRS-80]

No, it's Intel graphics.

But I recall reading somewhere that if you use the 65W instead of the 95W, that your CPU will automatically be throttled, or something to that effect? Is that true?

Also, I was hoping one of you gurus would see something in that report I posted that might help me with my power issue. Nothing jumping out at you RBS?

Any further shelling out of cash to solve this issue is temporarily on hold, as I got into some poison ivy this week and had an allergic reaction so bad that it necessitated a clinic visit and a shot of predisone. Between that, the prescriptions afterward, and other supplies (antihistamines, calamine, etc.) it cost me almost $300 this week, and I was already pretty tight on funds to begin with.

[dr_st]

But I recall reading somewhere that if you use the 65W instead of the 95W, that your CPU will automatically be throttled, or something to that effect? Is that true?

Yes, if you run without a battery. Not sure what happens if you run on a 65W PSU and a defective (but connected) battery.

[ajkula66]

Yes, if you run without a battery. Not sure what happens if you run on a 65W PSU and a defective (but connected) battery.

One should never run a ThinkPad with a defective battery installed since they're risking damage to the charging circuit.

On a different note, this piece of info:

Battery Details
Status: Charging
Remaining percentage: 78%
Charge completion time: -

leads me to believe that we're almost certainly dealing with a defective battery here.

[TRS-80]

That's sort of what I was thinking, too. But glad to have it confirmed by someone more knowledgeable.

So, I will remove the battery and just run on plug in power alone, until I get some funds to buy a new battery and continue testing.

I guess what was throwing me off was the fact that not one, but both of the Anker batteries were doing the same thing. Well, I didn't actually check the numbers on the other battery yet, let me do that and report back.

[TRS-80]

OK, here are the figures from the "second" battery:

Remaining battery: 82%
Time required to fully charge: 3:17 4:23*
The battery is in good condition.
65W AC adapter is attached.

Battery details
Status: Charging
Remaining percentage: 82% 83%
Charge completion time: 3:17 4:23*
Remaining capacity: 45.04 Wh (45.51)
Full charge capacity: 55.27 Wh
Current: 0.26 A (0.21 A)
Voltage: 11.93 V 11.95 V
Wattage: 3.07 W 2.43 W
Temperature: 24 C 28 C
Cycle count: 58
Manufacturer name: SONY
Manufacture date: 2012-11-15
First used date: 2012-11
SerialNumber: 1577
Bar-Code Number: 1Z7SS33C121
FRU part number: 93P5030
Device chemistry: Li-Ion
Design capacity: 71.28 Wh
Design voltage: 10.80 V
Firmware version: -

* Note: "Time required to fully charge" started out at 3:17, and steadily crept up to 4:23 in the few minutes it took me to transcribe this information. Other numbers in red also indicate changed values by the time I finished typing this.

[TRS-80]

OK, I was able to get by BatteriesPlus, and they had a battery in stock. We put it in and same thing. When I first put the battery in and computer was off, no lights, nothing. Then plugged it in, resumed/started, everything shows as fine, 50% charge, etc. but the second I unplugged it, it died. At this point I am really starting to think it's the power circuit or something on the main board?

I didn't say this before, but also the guy I bought the t60 from off Craigslist seemed shady. Originally he said it included a battery, but the battery was dead. I said fine, I use it as portable desktop anyway, have a power inverter in the car, etc. so that's not a problem for me. But when I got there, he changed his story and said no battery would be included. When I called him out on that fact, he got all bent out of shape. The t60 looked in good shape though, and I couldn't tell anything else wrong with it, so I bought it anyway.

So, yeah, I think it's the t60 power circuit or something. What would that be to repair? Main board? Or am I off base? What do you guys think?

[brchan]

The power circuitry is built into the mainboard, so you would have to replace the entire motherboard. A working one shouldn't be too expensive, especially ones with integrated graphics.