[Thinkpad T40] Problems with battery

[The_Bash]

I'm trying to determine whats wrong with my thinkpad.

I started out with a full battery. The Thinkpad worked fine but when I shut it down, the battery led turned orange even though the thinkpad was not connected to the AC adapter. The next day I turned on the Thinkpad, started working on battery and then it switched off by itself... battery was empty!

I connected it to the AC adapter, but recharging takes ages. Its 2 days later now but its still not fully charged. It only went up to 59%.

Another strange thing is that Windows XP keeps claiming that the Thinkpad is connected to the AC adapter and charging while its not. Only if I turn off the computer, take out the battery and restart; it says its working on battery. But when I plug in the AC adapter sometimes the status stays on 'Running on battery' and sometimes it changes to 'Plugged in'

Some possibilities:

1. Battery is worn out
2. Loading circuit is broken
3. Something else?

[The_Bash]

*kick*

Anyone please?

[smc]

How long have you had the battery? How many charge cycles does it have? The most likely cause is the battery, if it's gone bad or worn out it can cause problems charging. Here's a good article as to how and why LiIon batteries wear out: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

Something similar happened on an old Dell of mine. If the battery bad you will have to buy a replacement one unless your battery is somehow under warranty (remember batteries are warrantied for 1 year regardless of system warranty).

If you don't think it's the battery the only way to check is to put it into another T40 series laptop. The other likely causes are the power adapter (do you have another one you can use?) and finally the system board. The adapter and board would be covered under any warranty.

[tselling]

Did you ever figure out what was going on with your battery? I recently picked up an as-is T40 with a non-oem 9-cell battery (not sure who makes it). The battery light stays on with the laptop unplugged and turned off and appears to indicate charge (orange when low, green when charged). When turned on, Battery Maximizer indicates it is plugged in whether it is or not. Shows charging at 1.33A 11.44V 18.54W. When actually plugged in shows charging but at 2.56A, 11.89V, 30.36W. It works ok... just a bit unusual and disconcerting to have battery light on when turned off and to show charging when there is no AC.

Very odd, wonder if the Battery or the systemboard that is flakey. Any one else have any insight?