Jump to content

Dead Laptop Battery Question


Monroe

Recommended Posts

I couldn't figure exactly where to put this question so it's under this topic for discussion. Please move it if necessary. I bought a new battery around 5/6 years ago for a Dell Latitude Pentium 3 notebook. The battery that was in the notebook still had some life in it ... maybe 15 - 20 minutes, so I decided to not use the new battery and just continue to use the older battery for a few more months. I fully charged the new battery and wrapped it up and placed it in the refrigerator for storage. Well, over the last few years I used the Dell notebook very infrequently and left the older battery in the notebook, it still had that 15 - 20 minute charge. I pretty much just forgot about the battery wrapped up in the refrigerator. About a week ago I decided to get rid of the old battery and finally put this "new" 5yr old battery into the notebook. It had no charge left and after having it in the notebook for several hours ... of which the notebook said it was charging but the percentage just stayed at 0%. I search around to see if there was anyway to "revive" it but I really didn't find any hints or information on the subject ... it seem to be considered a dead battery.

So my question to the gurus here ... the battery was perhaps dead for good? ... the cells maybe dried out even with it wrapped and sealed in plastic? I have since got rid of the battery ( a few days ago) and ordered a new one but for my own curiosity (after the fact) ... was there anything that might have been done to revive the battery or is there some kind of internal clock that after so many years, new battery or not, it will be a "dead" or "weak" battery? I also wondered at the time if I should store it in the refrigerator or freezer but could not find anything definite on that so I chose the refrigerator ... it was a Lithium-ion battery and the new battery just arrived today with a little instruction booklet. I did use that new battery for a few weeks before I decided to just store it and use the old battery for a few more months, which turned out to be around 5 or 6 years.

The booklet that came with the new battery says on storage:

Storage of Battery

"If the battery is stored for a long time in the closed-circuit mode the battery is damaged. If the battery needs to remain idle in a month or a longer time, remove the battery out of the computer, charge it to 60% to 80% and store it in a dry, cool and clean place. If the battery remains idle for a long time the electricity of the battery is ultimately lost and the battery may be damaged. Therefore, after the battery is stored for a time period, it is necessary to perform an effective charging and discharging cycle for the battery. By performing a complete effective charging and discharging cycle for the battery every month, you can ensure a proper storage status for the battery."

... so I guess I should have probably put the battery back into the computer every so often to give it some use but I still wonder if there are any suggestions from anyone about bringing the battery back to life. I did try at least three times to charge it ... left it in for over 6 hours one day but it always said 0%.

thanks ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Well, first thing you need a dictionary :w00t::unsure: : "dry, cool clean" does not mean "inside a fridge"

ONLY the "clean" - hopefully ;) - applies, otherwise a fridge is "freezing cold" AND "very humid" and wrapping something in plastic and putting it into a fridge, unless it is a ziplock kind of bag or perfectly sealed/airtight AND at the time of sealing whatever you put in it was completely dry AND additionally the percentage of humidity in the air when the bag was sealed was very near to 0%, wrapping something in plastic and putting in a fridge is what in highly technical terms we call "moisture condensation machine" :ph34r: .

Apart from this, laptop batteries are one of those "non-end-user-serviceable" parts that are (mostly) actually "non-end-user-serviceable" and may contain every possible "trap" (and one more).

Look - as an example - on how it was well possible to have an Acer One battery (perfectly good) NOT charging, the culprit being .....

.... the stupid BIOS of the laptop :w00t:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-technology/891164-battery-not-charging-acer-aspire-one-6-cell.html

jaclaz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks jaclaz for the links ... the Acer link was interesting read with the BIOS thing. I remember the battery that I stored was wrapped in plastic and inside a ziplock bag but I'm sure there was some deterioration of the bag overtime. I didn't make it clear enough when I posted before "The booklet that came with the new battery says on storage" ... I was talking about the "new" battery I just got today ... if the "new" battery from 5 yrs ago had a booklet enclosed, I don't really remember. It may have had a paper or booklet enclosed. I'm still thinking there could be a very good chance that the cells could have just dried out. I also remember reading years back that Dell batteries are good for so many charges and then will not charge or be as good, even if the battery is still new or something ... some program inside that says you need a new battery, whether you need one or not. Not sure about that, but there was something somewhere about a Dell notebook battery at the time.

...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are several technologies used in batteries over last years (besides main "families" of metals used in them), it is very difficult to say what is actually "inside the box", so not only it is difficult to say IF something can be done to revive a given battery pack but even IF it is possible WHAT to do specifically is even more elusive.

Take some time here, interesting stuff:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/

jaclaz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...