HELP please - Diagnose my T61

[ippirate]

After using my thinkpad in my room today, something went wrong with the battery. I have no idea what physical damage was done, but the worst that could've happened would be me rolling on the thinkpad after falling asleep on my bed.

So after I woke up, I plugged my thinkpad in, and the battery light is flashing an orange light. The battery status says I need to replace my battery, but it also says the battery is at 60% charge. I decided to test out the battery charge, but when I pulled the power cord away, my thinkpad just shut down. No power is transfered from the battery to the laptop; I cannot turn my thinkpad on without the power cord plugged in. There is no visible physical damage to the battery pack or the connectors. I feel like there's something wrong with my thinkpad and not my battery. Is this something I should contact Lenovo for?

[ippirate]

I just called support. They are sending me a new battery, but somehow I feel like the battery is not the problem. If there was something wrong with a hard connection in the battery, my battery information tab would've not detected the remaining charge on the battery. I dunno... I just feel really bad for the guy who was taking my call. It sounded like he was really bored being up this late taking calls for technical support.

[Brad]

You will certainly find out when you try the replacement battery. I have had batteries fail for no apparent reason. Hopefully that is all that is wrong.

That sounds like an easy call to Lenovo. My experience is that they are usually very helpful and end the call with the thought and question to you that have I provided excellent supporr today.

Brad

[rmendoza]

This very same thing just happened with my new X61. I thought it was something strange because the computer would shut down by itself (abnormally) when put in standby or left idling. Like you, I din't think of the battery but after Lenovo sent me a new one, problem solved. Good luck.

[stkris]

My previous lappie (a HP) would not start either - with or without battery/powercord, but did when I took out the battery, unplugged it, and let it rest for an hour. When plugging in the powercord it would start again. Perhaps some capacitor neede to be drained or something?

[davidhbrown]

I wonder whether you could have triggered a thermal fuse in one or more of the cells. You mention rolling over it in bed. Was it entirely powered off? I wonder whether reduced airflow could have led to increased heat that would make the battery permanently disconnect to ensure that cells don't do something dramatic.

[tockki]

I had the exact same thing happen to me 2 weeks ago. It all of the sudden started to blink Yellow... (after using the laptop, falling asleep and rebooting it in the morning...) I called tech support. Battery warranty is only for one year. Long story short, I bought a new battery.