T21 With "Marginal" Battery Gone Dark

[oldbob]

My T21 has a battery that will only charge to 46%. This afternoon I turned it on [on battery power] to check something on the internet.

I walked away and left it on, later when I returned the screen was dark so I assumed the battery had run down. The battery symbol on hinge was orange.

When I plugged in the AC power supply, the orange symbol started blinking but I could not get the screen to power up. I swapped to my "better" battery and the notebook fired right up.

I know the first battery is on its "last legs" but is it normal to fail so abruptly ?? Is there anything I can do to revive it ??

[oldbob]

Dumb luck strikes again !!

This moring, with the Thinkpad still setting on the kitchen table, I reinstalled the "first battery" [that failed yesterday] and this time it fired up with the same 48% battery reading.

Have no idea what changed, but then there is a lot about computers I don't understand.

Anyhow, problem solved.

[skygodtj]

48%? If you unplug the charger, turn off all alarms and power saver settings, and let the battery run down until it shuts off (deep cycle the battery), then with the laptop OFF! plug the charger back in (and do that a couple of time) you should get some increase in battery life/capacity.

Make sure you d/l and install the BatteryMizer utility... gives you an better batt managment, an instant glance at battery charge status, plus give you an inside look at capacity, charge rates, etc.

TJ

[betabill]

Your battery ran down until PM shut down the cpu.

Obviously the battery has shorted cells, cycling will not help it then and in the long run you may ruin the AC adapter by overloading it. OEM batteries can be bought for less than $70.

I have the latest bios and Lenovo PM upgrade running on my T-20, the battery idiot light never works consistantly, I blame that on registry conflicts between the software and bios PM.

[Guest]

Thanks for responses,

Bought my T21 "refurbished for about $530, came with battery of course.

About 6 months later saw T21 batteries at local computer show for $20.
Seemed like a bargain at the time. Was at 2% when I brought it home and never has charged to more than 45 - 48%.

I have "heard" that deep-cycling DOES NOT work with Lith-Ion batteries ???

I have battery mizer installed and it indicates "Not Charging" at 48% [and battery symbol on hinge is "steady green"]
So I don't "think" any damage to charger will occur.

QUESTION: I also heard a T30 battery [longer life] will fit into a T21, is this TRUE ??

FYI - skygodtj

Pilots get paid by those "flight hours" - retired Pan Am Flight Engineer

[oldbob]

guest = oldbob

Clicked directly from Email link and did not pick up I was NOT logged in !!

[betabill]

Deep cycling does work somewhat on Lith-Ion batteries, I improved run time from 14 to 34 minutes on the 4 year old battery that came with my T-21. IBM warrants the batteries in T-series notepads for only 1 year and thats not nessessarily the battery's fault.

[oldbob]

betabill,

My 48% translates to 1:15 to 1:30, so $20 investment still seems a bargain.

From what litte research I did - Lith-ion batteries "start dying" from the day they are manufactured !!!
And both of mine are 5+ years old !!
The battery that came with Thinkpad still charges to 100%, so I keep using the 48%'er until it's "stone dead".

[tfflivemb2]

QUESTION: I also heard a T30 battery [longer life] will fit into a T21, is this TRUE ??

Yes, the T30 Batteries work in a T20-T23, but the T20-T23 Batteries will NOT work in a T30 (without cosmetic work). There is a notch in the battery to help it fit into the T30. The notch in the battery doesn't effect T20-T23 at all....there is just a small opening, where the T30 casing would have filled it in.

[oldbob]

tfflivemb2,

Thanks for info on T30 batteries. When I buy another battery it will be a T30.

guest AKA oldbob