Weird battery problem with T30

[ndeans]

I have had a problem crop up in the past week or so.

I use two batteries, one main and one aux in the Ultrabay.

Now the main battery will not power the Laptop. It will charge and show that it is there, but If I unplug AC with the main battery in it turns off. I can't turn it on with the main battery in with no AC. But when I have the aux in it works just fine on it.

Also If I have both in, when the aux battery runs out the laptop just powers off.

Any ideas?

Note: The battery is aftermarket, I have had it for about 8 months or so with no problems.

[danage]

it looks to me like it's broken. charging and capacity indicators are often times wrong. do you have a means to measure the voltage? that way you could verify the cells still build up power.

after 8 months you might still have warranty. in germany for example, you do.

[ndeans]

it looks to me like it's broken. charging and capacity indicators are often times wrong. do you have a means to measure the voltage? that way you could verify the cells still build up power.

after 8 months you might still have warranty. in germany for example, you do.

Well, I know that I was able to use it on Main battery 2 weeks ago and was stuill getting about 2.5 to 3 hours of run time on it. So I'm not sure. I just can't think of why it would just stop working like that. I am going to try to find my older OEM battery and see if it will charge and run off of it.

[danage]

yeah good idea. have to say though that i've seen that behavior in batteries before. internal shorts of only one cell will render the whole thing useless. and they happen easily.

[lennonb]

I just got the exact same problem on my T30, and the battery is somewhere between 8-12 months old. Mine is also aftermarket, and got it off of ebay. It has worked fine up until a couple of days ago. Now the battery meter is locked at 91%, and the battery will not charge. If I remove the battery, the laptop dies immediately.

I'll chime in if I figure anything out. Good excuse for a new laptop.

[lennonb]

From my last reply, it should read "If I remove the power supply with the battery in, the laptop dies immediately."

I put the factory battery back in, which can now only hold 13Wh at full charge, and it charges correctly and can power the laptop when unplugged. So, it's definitely the battery.

After all these laptop war stories from the sony batteries, I am a little afraid of my non-functioning battery now. I'll keep it next to a fire extinguisher until I throw it away.

Brian