Battery Warranty?

Message

shiyang · #1 Post by **shiyang** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:50 pm

Hey guys

Anybody know what are the terms of the battery warranty/accidental protection?

I have a 2668 and the 6-cell holds only about 28 out of the 50Whrs now, and only runs for about an hour on max batt, so i doubt it even has 28 left in it.

Is that normal? is there a way i can get a new batt out of IBM, or is that how much it's supposed to decrease over <a year of ownership.

Thanks!

DIGITALgimpus · #2 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 11:58 pm

Batteries do loose their ability to hold a charge over time... the amount varies based on use, age, and even temp that it's stored at.

Typically, unless it's way above average, it's not covered, as that's 'normal wear and tear'.

lithium726 · #3 Post by **lithium726** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:04 am

If its been under a year and it has already deteriorated that much, you might be able to get it replaced, they do have a year-long warranty and that does sound excessive. Give them a ring and see if they will do it, but they can just pin it on "wear and tear" and stiff you.

#4 Post by **bill bolton** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:47 am

shiyang wrote:Hey I have a 2668 and the 6-cell holds only about 28 out of the 50Whrs now

How many "cycles" does it show on "Battery Information"?

Cheers,

Bill

shiyang · #5 Post by **shiyang** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 9:10 am

111 and counting.

it's a lot worse than all my friends' 6-cells and 9-cells

thanks

chan_man · #6 Post by **chan_man** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:53 pm

If the battery is less than 1 year old, you can get a new one under waranty,otherwise, you will have to get a new one. A new 6 cell should run close to 4 hours if you have you power settings set to max battery, a 9 cell will be closer to 7 hours.

#7 Post by **bill bolton** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 10:00 pm

chan_man wrote:If the battery is less than 1 year old, you can get a new one under waranty

For 111 cycles of usage over a year, the remaining capacity is not that bad. So, I'm not sure that level of "wear and tear" would be covered by warranty.

Anyway, only IBM/Levono is in a position to make a definitive call on that.

Cheers,

Bill

okey2k · #8 Post by **okey2k** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:34 am

shiyang wrote:111 and counting.

it's a lot worse than all my friends' 6-cells and 9-cells

thanks

Woo,111 is quite a lot , I guess you didn't make a right setting in Power Manager software, poor settings can lead the battery a short life.The default set is starting charge the battery at 96% out of the total,the percent can be cut to 50% or adjust by the PM itself,then the battery will not to be charged too often:)

shiyang · #9 Post by **shiyang** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:30 am

Hey guys,

i don't know who read my mysterious battery being really shotty in flight post in the general questions forum.

but i called IBM, they asked if i did anything to it, and i said i took it on a flight, which is where i first noticed the problem.

and becuase of the involvement of the 'flight' the guy on the phone helped me blame it on the flight, and sent me a new one.

so... i think the key is to blame it on a flight.

now, for the new battery, what should my settings be?

i do use my battery daily during school, for about 2 hrs during class(es)

help?

thanks

NS · #10 Post by NS » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:43 am

Mine is also for school purposes...

My setting is: charging will start when below 50% & stop at 90%.

Dead1nside · #11 Post by **Dead1nside** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:55 am

I'd also like to know what are the best settings for the batteries. As the 9-cells cost so much, I'd like to keep it for as long as possible.

#12 Post by **bill bolton** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:11 pm

Dead1nside wrote:I'd also like to know what are the best settings for the batteries.

If you want maximum battery duration and, consequently lower numbers of full battery cycle equivalents (and therefore best battery "life") for your particular usage patterns....., then crank everything that consumes power down as low as you can tolerate.

There is a standard power setting which pretty much gives you the best profile (except it sets backlight brightness at 2 instead of 1) for truly minimal power usage, but that wont suit all users, or all conditions.

Cheers,

Bill

christopher_wolf · #13 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:38 pm

Do as Bill said if you want ultimate battery life; I do the same when it comes to really stretching the time I can get out of the battery. With a 9-Cell that is slightly older and has more than a few cycles on it, I can get 4:30 easily like that.

Dead1nside · #14 Post by **Dead1nside** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 6:54 am

Thanks for that tip. Do you know if I was replacing a 9-cell and I bought it from the US. Would it work on my model? Would I need a different AC adapter? Thanks.

#15 Post by **bill bolton** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:32 am

IBM/Levono branded ThinkPad T4x batteries are the same spec everywhere, so a US battery will work fine in the UK. If you have a standard 72W power supply for your ThinkPad T4x, it will handle charging a 9-cell battery with no problems.

Cheers,

Bill

kam_ · #16 Post by **kam_** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 7:51 am

If he uses his battery 2 hours a day isn't that pretty much a charge cycle every day? So then 111 cycles could be realistic.

On a side note, is the 9 cell battery the one thats physically bigger and stick out of the back? If not, anyone know if the t43p (model number/spec in signature) comes with a 9cell?
Anyone tried the extended drive bay battery?

I know my laptop sucks power like crazy with the 1600x1200 screen, even with top power savings, so i'm looking to somehow increase the 1.5 to 2.5 hours i'm getting at the moment.

PS.. my current battery
Design:
51.84 Wh
10.8V

Currently:
46.5 Wh
12.53V
27 charge cycles

simms · #17 Post by **simms** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:45 am

What are good start/stop charging limits for the T4x 6-cells? I have mine set with Power Manager to optimize, notify when thresholds change.

Dead1nside · #18 Post by **Dead1nside** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:56 am

kam_ if the 9-cell is 7200Mah, and the 6-cell is 6600Mah and I'm guessing the 4-cell is 4600Mah.

There are two types of Ultrabay Slim batteries. The Advanced Slim Battery and the Normal Slim Battery. The Advanced holds 2700Mah, whereas the Normal holds 2200Mah.

You could possibly get 2 hours off of the 2700Mah. I've seen some on eBay used, that still get 1hr 10min. For £10.

However, the impression I've got is that there is a fault where the ultrabay battery is drained before the main battery. Which is annoying, because ideally you want it the other way around. I'm not sure if there is a fix for this.

Hope this helps.

#19 Post by **bill bolton** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:00 pm

Dead1nside wrote:However, the impression I've got is that there is a fault where the ultrabay battery is drained before the main battery.

Power Management schemes involving multiple separate rechargeable batteries usually involve some level of design trade off between operational flexibility and "best care" of the batteries involved. IBM/Levono have perpetuated the battery charging and usage order arrangements across 4 successive models in the T4x range, so it is highly likely its a deliberate design trade off decision and highly unlikely its any sort of "fault".

Cheers,

Bill

Dead1nside · #20 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:54 am

Well you may be right, but the impression I have garnered is that this is a hinderance. What's the point in creating ultrabay devices if they aren't flexible to a user's needs?

#21 Post by **bill bolton** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 6:16 am

Dead1nside wrote:What's the point in creating ultrabay devices if they aren't flexible to a user's needs?

It depends on what you consider "flexibility" to be.

For instance, the strategy to discharge the battery in the Ultrabay first frees up the bay for other bay mountable devices once the battery is fully discharged, which is certianly one way of looking at flexible use of the bay!

Cheers,

Bill

Dead1nside · #22 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:26 am

Well true flexibility is empowering the user i.e. giving them the choice to change what device is discharged first. Is this possible?

#23 Post by **bill bolton** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:02 pm

Dead1nside wrote:Well true flexibility is empowering the user

Truisms are a dime a dozen, but in the pragmatic world of system design, trade offs between acceptable functionality and acceptable cost are a pernial aspect in the manufacturing of commercially viable technology systems.

Cheers,

Bill

christopher_wolf · #24 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 8:21 pm

bill bolton wrote: Truisms are a dime a dozen, but in the pragmatic world of system design, trade offs between acceptable functionality and acceptable cost are a perenial aspect in the manufacturing of commercially viable technology systems.

Cheers,

Bill

Bill, I am *saving that for a quote*; got that?

*fires up Vi and does a C&P*

Dead1nside · #25 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:16 am

Very impressive, but I don't think it would be _that_ hard to give the user choice. You talk about trade-offs. There should be no trade-offs for this class of laptop. It's not asking much to want the main battery drained before the ultrabay battery.

Either way difference of opinion will snag us again, I believe.

#26 Post by **bill bolton** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:44 am

Dead1nside wrote:but I don't think it would be _that_ hard to give the user choice.

A "think" is easy and inexpensive, but actually doing it in a way which is supportable over the long term, both as a cost in production, and in respect of the possible impacts on battery life and resulting warranty claims costs, is often far more tricky than just thinking what it should be like.

Cheers,

Bill

Dead1nside · #27 Post by **Dead1nside** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:21 am

You sound like you make them. A very politically correct answer from a system manufacturer in response to user demand for a feature.

Does this feature require new hardware? Or is it purely a BIOS programming job? If it is the latter then the expense really isn't that much. New features are added all the time to the BIOS, some features more unstable than others. But surely hot-swapping is harder to program than battery drain order.

Either way we'll have to agree to disagree. Although what we're disagreeing on is unclear to me.

#28 Post by **bill bolton** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 5:34 pm

Dead1nside wrote:A very politically correct answer

<sigh>

Cheers,

Bill

simms · #29 Post by **simms** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:41 pm

Thank you. is it recommended just to use the "optimized" settings and let power manager let me know when it's time for a reset, and to automatically adjust my thresholds?

What are the charging thresholds that you are using?

Battery Warranty?

Battery Warranty?

Re: Battery Warranty?

cycles

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