Bat Life drops from 50% to 4%

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wtkm · #1 Post by **wtkm** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 12:56 am

Hiz all,
I have been using T43 for over 2yrs. I unplug my bat and use ac power whenever i am at home. Recently when i plug in my bat (which i havent use for a long time) for use in sch, the bat works fine from 100 % to 51%. But once it reach 50%, it falls straight to 4%.

-I tested a few times reaping the same result
-I updated my power manager and Windows XP Update Module Q889816 - ThinkPad

Thanks.

#2 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:22 am

two years is pretty good for a battery..
you can let the power manager cycle (or reset) the battery but it probably won't do much good..

welcome to the forum..

frankiepankie · #3 Post by **frankiepankie** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 7:16 am

If you install IBM Battery MaxiMiser (the nifty program that resides on taskbar) you can view the battery health, how many cycles etc.

sktn77a · #4 Post by **sktn77a** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:42 pm

Sounds like your battery electronics may need calibrating. Use thinkpad configuration (or battery maximizer) to "improve battery health". This might help.

BillP · #5 Post by **BillP** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:57 pm

A six cell battery is composed of three parallel connected cell pairs all connected in series. A bad cell in any of the parallel cell pairs would cause the battery to behave just as described. I doubt that the battery pack can be salvaged and would not expect that the internal electronics is at fault.

joester · #6 Post by **joester** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:32 pm

An illustrious individual with a little knowledge and ability could open up the battery, identify the bad cell pair, and replace it.
BUT...
You would need to install cells of equal charge/discharge characteristics in comparison to the other remaining cells.

Failure to do this will cause the electronics to see a difference in charge rate, and the laptop would determine the battery to be defective. Therefore the battery would be useless.

So....

While possibe to do, replacing the bad cells isn't really worth the effort unless you have time to spend and equipment for measuring and calculating the abilities of the cells. Then all you have to do is find a replacement cell pair that matches.

By the time you do all this, you could have purchased a new battery and would have full capacity to work with.

The best you would have by replacing the bad cell pair is equivalent to a two year old, used battery.

Joe

Bat Life drops from 50% to 4%

Bat Life drops from 50% to 4%

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