Laptop Computer Batteries

[clyst]

The onboard laptop ( presume that satisfies the forum policemen that it is not non boaty

)
Battery has given up the ghost after stirling service .
Has anyone dismantled and replaced the guts of the battery with a made up a pack with chargable cells from the likes of Maplins?
In the past I have done similar to cordless drills battery packs but the computer one looks a bit more "up market "

Cheers

 

[alteredoutlook]

Most computer batteries are Lithium Iron (L-ion) for max power - You will have a great deal of difficulty getting NCd or NmH batteries to fit in in the same space with anywhere near the same power/capacity - dont even bother going there ! Computer manufacturers dont!

Just buy a new proper battery from ebay.

Alternatively and probably more economical in the longterm sell your current machine on ebay and buy a more upto date spec computer.....

 

[noelex]

They are usually 18650 lithium batteries. Lithium batteries need careful management if you make a mistake you can have a serious fire or explosion. I would recommend unless you are very experienced sending the battery pack away to be rebuilt or buying a new one.

 

[chewi]

The onboard laptop ( presume that satisfies the forum policemen that it is not non boaty

)
Battery has given up the ghost after stirling service .
Has anyone dismantled and replaced the guts of the battery with a made up a pack with chargable cells from the likes of Maplins?
In the past I have done similar to cordless drills battery packs but the computer one looks a bit more "up market "

Cheers

try the power wizard from www.cpc.co.uk
http://wizard.2-power.com/index.html?id=4166

 

[macd]

Most computer batteries are Lithium Iron (L-ion) for max power

Most Li-ion batteries have no iron in them, not even iron ions, ironically (although some contain lithium iron phosphate). "Ion" is not a corruption of iron although it might be regarded as the corruption of an atom.

 

[TQA]

EBAY is your friend. Just replaced mine O/E price $129 ebay $22

 

[TopDonkey]

I put new cells in my dell xps laptop 3 months ago, it had 9 x 18650 li-ion batteries in it, before i replaced them i was getting about 20-30 minutes runtime on the battery, after replacing them i am back to near 8-9 hours again which is what it was when new

I used ultrafire brand batteries that i got off ebay for £1 each, they are the same batteries that i use in my torches and have always given good service in them and they appear to in my laptop too.

Your soldering skills have to be pretty good to solder batteries as they dont like lots of heat, but a big watt iron (mines 60 watt) should have wires attached in 2-3 seconds without damaging the batteries and if you have done them before then it shouldnt be too difficult

 

[ghostlymoron]

try the power wizard from www.cpc.co.uk
http://wizard.2-power.com/index.html?id=4166

Thanks for that link - I've just ordered a new laptop battery for £48. This is to replace the one recently bought from a Chinese supplier on ebay for £27 - it lasted for about a month - just long enough for me to have no redress on that site. The supplier has not replied to my emails. Cheapest is not always best!

 

[electrosys]

The onboard laptop ( presume that satisfies the forum policemen that it is not non boaty

)
Battery has given up the ghost after stirling service .
Has anyone dismantled and replaced the guts of the battery with a made up a pack with chargable cells from the likes of Maplins?
In the past I have done similar to cordless drills battery packs but the computer one looks a bit more "up market "

Cheers

Having considered this myself, the problem you face is that Li-ion cells are not that cheap to buy; not readily available (so there will be postage costs to add); and there's also the element of 'unknown quality' when buying stuff from China. And unlike 'lower-tech' battery packs, Li-ion packs usually have a microprocessor card included, which you'll need to work around when repacking. Which, all-in-all, is not good news for the DIY-er.

As someone has already said, fitting enough NiMH cells into the same space is highly unlikely to be successful, plus there's the problem of the laptop charging circuitry being geared-up for Li-ion, not NiMH technology. (different charging algorithms)

So - if you're staying with this laptop, it would appear that you have two options:
1) bite the bullet and buy a new battery - preferably from a reputable dealer.

2) if it's a genuine 'on-board' laptop, then investigate whether it is feasible to run said laptop directly from an on-board 12v source.
I do this very successfully with Thinkpad 600's (which have a well-known and infamous history of creating duff batteries), but it may not apply to yours.

 

[clyst]

Having considered this myself, the problem you face is that Li-ion cells are not that cheap to buy; not readily available (so there will be postage costs to add); and there's also the element of 'unknown quality' when buying stuff from China. And unlike 'lower-tech' battery packs, Li-ion packs usually have a microprocessor card included, which you'll need to work around when repacking. Which, all-in-all, is not good news for the DIY-er.

As someone has already said, fitting enough NiMH cells into the same space is highly unlikely to be successful, plus there's the problem of the laptop charging circuitry being geared-up for Li-ion, not NiMH technology. (different charging algorithms)

So - if you're staying with this laptop, it would appear that you have two options:
1) bite the bullet and buy a new battery - preferably from a reputable dealer.

2) if it's a genuine 'on-board' laptop, then investigate whether it is feasible to run said laptop directly from an on-board 12v source.
I do this very successfully with Thinkpad 600's (which have a well-known and infamous history of creating duff batteries), but it may not apply to yours.

I run it off a 300w inverter sometimes but it plays up summin cronic (its a maplins special

). The battery is 14.8v so difficult to run off boats supply . Looks like a new battery it is then but sods law the thing will totally pack up once bought rendering the battery useless .

Thanks for allyour replies chaps .

 

[electrosys]

The battery is 14.8v so difficult to run off boats supply.

Not necessarily ...

Li-ion cells are nominally 3.7v - which means that your pack has 4 cells (or 8, or 12, suitably paralleled). But Li-ion cells are charged to 4.2v and can be discharged as low as 2.3v (although that's pushing 'em to the limit)
So your computer must have a full operating range of 9.2 to 16.8 volts. Which of course means that a lead-acid source of 11 to 14(ish) volts would work fine.

The ThinkPad 600's batteries are 3-cell packs (actually 6, paralleled) so to run 'em off a lead-acid source, I've stripped the cells out of the packs, and run a lead to the terminals inside, via a couple of 'dropper' diodes (to keep the voltage below 12.6), with some ferrites and back-to-back zeners to clip-off any spikes. Works a charm - but then, they're only 30 quid computers.

If yours has any value, you may feel happier simply replacing the battery.

 

[Ruffles]

...
So your computer must have a full operating range of 9.2 to 16.8 volts. Which of course means that a lead-acid source of 11 to 14(ish) volts would work fine.
...

I doubt very much that the battery connection and the external power supply input have much in common. There will be DC to DC converters between the battery and the motherboard. And a lot more besides.

 

[billskip]

The onboard laptop ( presume that satisfies the forum policemen that it is not non boaty

)
Battery has given up the ghost after stirling service .
Has anyone dismantled and replaced the guts of the battery with a made up a pack with chargable cells from the likes of Maplins?
In the past I have done similar to cordless drills battery packs but the computer one looks a bit more "up market "

Cheers

there was a thread somewhere.... I think in the lounge... about freezing and thawing these battery..and the poster seemed successful with the results new lease of life.

 

[electrosys]

I doubt very much that the battery connection and the external power supply input have much in common. There will be DC to DC converters between the battery and the motherboard. And a lot more besides.

Sure. But I've never made any reference to an external power supply input.

What I had hoped to convey was that the circuitry inside the laptop already functions adequately with a battery voltage which swings from a maximum of 16.8v (fully charged) down to 9.2v (fully discharged) - so that providing a voltage within that range is connected to the terminals inside a stripped-out battery pack, the computer should continue to function ok, just as if there was a battery in place. At least that's been my experience with ThinkPads.

 

[ghostlymoron]

there was a thread somewhere.... I think in the lounge... about freezing and thawing these battery..and the poster seemed successful with the results new lease of life.

Tried it on my drill battery (not Li-ion) it doesn't work - urban myth.

 

[billskip]

Tried it on my drill battery (not Li-ion) it doesn't work - urban myth.

Urban myth....

Ive done a search and cant find any posts or anybody
on the forums by that name.

Dont think it was him

 

[Burnham Bob]

even though my laptop is new and the battery is fine, i invested in a 12 volt car charger for around £17 off ebay. a small 12 volt cigar lighter socket running stright off the domestic battery now runs the lap top fine. total cost around £25 and no worries about discharging the battery when we watch movies, use wifi or the Imray chart plotter which we use as a back up. ideal solution!