What's the best way to recondition an IBM Thinkpad Li-polymer battery?
Oct 26, 2006, 6:18 am
#1
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What's the best way to recondition an IBM Thinkpad Li-polymer battery?
I have a T43 with a Li-ion battery in the standard slot and a Li-polymer battery in the CD-drive slot; I'm using Win XP.
According to the Battery monitoring program, my Li-po battery needs to be reconditioned. I've done that from the battery monitoring program but it doesn't seem to have any effect - the full charge capacity is about 1/2 the design capacity even though the battery is less than 9 months old.
Is the built-in reconditioning the best way to recondition Li-po? Does anyone have any advice on how to extend the life of my battery?
I already have the recharge threshold set at 33% to reduce the number of charging cycles and as the battery is in the 'spare' slot, the laptop fully discharges that first so it's getting fully discharged more frequently than my Li-ion battery.
According to the Battery monitoring program, my Li-po battery needs to be reconditioned. I've done that from the battery monitoring program but it doesn't seem to have any effect - the full charge capacity is about 1/2 the design capacity even though the battery is less than 9 months old.
Is the built-in reconditioning the best way to recondition Li-po? Does anyone have any advice on how to extend the life of my battery?
I already have the recharge threshold set at 33% to reduce the number of charging cycles and as the battery is in the 'spare' slot, the laptop fully discharges that first so it's getting fully discharged more frequently than my Li-ion battery.
Oct 26, 2006, 9:41 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2001
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Unfortunately it's likely toast. I've never had luck 'reconditioning' li-ion cells. I've heard that exercising them (running them down completely and recharging them fully) can help them 'remember' their capacity and you might try that, but I've never had luck with it. Li-ion and li-ion polymer cells are inherently unstable and age very poorly when subjected to high heat. In notebooks, that's exactly what they face on a daily basis. So it's not outside the realm of reason for a notebook that runs quite hot to have ruined a cell, especially if this is one that fits in the drive bay and is near the processor, etc.
Here is a great resource. Li-ion technology is great and has given us huge reductions in the weight of devices we carry around, but it ain't perfect and has it's own downsides. The basic rule with Li-Ion? Charge early, charge often. DO NOT run 'em all the way down if you can help it and NEVER store a li-ion battery empty.
Here is a great resource. Li-ion technology is great and has given us huge reductions in the weight of devices we carry around, but it ain't perfect and has it's own downsides. The basic rule with Li-Ion? Charge early, charge often. DO NOT run 'em all the way down if you can help it and NEVER store a li-ion battery empty.
Oct 26, 2006, 9:45 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Don't know if this will help, but here's the instructions to "re-condition" a NH battery from IBM
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-50943
Is it possible that your battery is covered under the recent ibm recall?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-50943
Is it possible that your battery is covered under the recent ibm recall?
Oct 26, 2006, 9:48 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: A Southern locale that ain't the South.
Programs: Bah, HUMBUG!
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Originally Posted by husker267
Don't know if this will help, but here's the instructions to "re-condition" a NH battery from IBM
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-50943
Is it possible that your battery is covered under the recent ibm recall?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-50943
Is it possible that your battery is covered under the recent ibm recall?
Oct 26, 2006, 11:22 am
#5
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Woodside, CA, USA
Programs: United Platinum
Posts: 517
only real solution is to replace it
I've had numerous thinkpads over the years (currently I'm typing on a T41) and I've found that at best I get 18 months or so before the battery is shot and needs to be replaced. The good news is that if your battery is less than a year old it may still be under warranty, so you may be able to get it replaced for free depending on how bad it is. My 2 year old T41 came with a 3 year warranty EXCEPT for the battery, which was 1 year. I think the T43s are all one year warranty, but I don't know if they shortened the battery warranty as well.
Bob
Bob
Originally Posted by grahamb
I have a T43 with a Li-ion battery in the standard slot and a Li-polymer battery in the CD-drive slot; I'm using Win XP.
According to the Battery monitoring program, my Li-po battery needs to be reconditioned. I've done that from the battery monitoring program but it doesn't seem to have any effect - the full charge capacity is about 1/2 the design capacity even though the battery is less than 9 months old.
Is the built-in reconditioning the best way to recondition Li-po? Does anyone have any advice on how to extend the life of my battery?
I already have the recharge threshold set at 33% to reduce the number of charging cycles and as the battery is in the 'spare' slot, the laptop fully discharges that first so it's getting fully discharged more frequently than my Li-ion battery.
According to the Battery monitoring program, my Li-po battery needs to be reconditioned. I've done that from the battery monitoring program but it doesn't seem to have any effect - the full charge capacity is about 1/2 the design capacity even though the battery is less than 9 months old.
Is the built-in reconditioning the best way to recondition Li-po? Does anyone have any advice on how to extend the life of my battery?
I already have the recharge threshold set at 33% to reduce the number of charging cycles and as the battery is in the 'spare' slot, the laptop fully discharges that first so it's getting fully discharged more frequently than my Li-ion battery.
Oct 29, 2006, 12:33 am
#6
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Originally Posted by husker267
Is it possible that your battery is covered under the recent ibm recall?
Thanks all for the advice. I think I'll check what the warranty deal on the battery is as even if it's only a 1 year warranty, it's newer than that.
Oct 30, 2006, 4:31 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Washington, DC
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Originally Posted by kanebear
Unfortunately it's likely toast. I've never had luck 'reconditioning' li-ion cells. I've heard that exercising them (running them down completely and recharging them fully) can help them 'remember' their capacity and you might try that, but I've never had luck with it. Li-ion and li-ion polymer cells are inherently unstable and age very poorly when subjected to high heat. In notebooks, that's exactly what they face on a daily basis. So it's not outside the realm of reason for a notebook that runs quite hot to have ruined a cell, especially if this is one that fits in the drive bay and is near the processor, etc.
Here is a great resource. Li-ion technology is great and has given us huge reductions in the weight of devices we carry around, but it ain't perfect and has it's own downsides. The basic rule with Li-Ion? Charge early, charge often. DO NOT run 'em all the way down if you can help it and NEVER store a li-ion battery empty.
Here is a great resource. Li-ion technology is great and has given us huge reductions in the weight of devices we carry around, but it ain't perfect and has it's own downsides. The basic rule with Li-Ion? Charge early, charge often. DO NOT run 'em all the way down if you can help it and NEVER store a li-ion battery empty.