Rebuilding a Laptop Battery _ Linux Journal

Rebuilding a Laptop Battery

Oct 05, 2008 By Phil Hughes (/users/phil-hughes)

8

When your laptop battery is about to give up the ghost, you are probably thinking ofthe typical three alternatives. The most obvious, of course, is "wow, what a greatjustification for buying a new laptop". With laptop prices falling and no such luckwith battery prices, this almost makes sense. But, most of us will probably just bitethe bullet and buy a new battery. The third alternative would be to replace the cellsin the battery you already have.

This article is about the third alternative. If you are not fairly skilled in working onelectronics, this is not necessarily a good alternative. But, it is possible. Personally, Iwas inspired to do this the first time because the small (3-cell) battery for my ASUSlaptop was very ill and I couldn't find a replacement.

Financially, it also looked like a good choice. The out of stock new battery cost $129.I found the cells for a bit over $5 each. So, I ordered the cells and, expecting to havea success, ordered six more for a sick battery for one of my T23 ThinkPads.

The first trick is to open the old battery without destroying the plastic or anythingimportant inside. What you need to do is find where the two parts are glued togetherand work on the glue line with something sharp until you can open the battery.

In the case of ThinkPad batteries, there are labels over parts of the glue line. So, firstcut through the labels with a sharp knife. I then chose to use a wood chisel to firstfind parts of the plastic that will flex because there is open space behind them andthen start opening in these areas. You may have better luck with a utility knife.

Once you get the opening process started, a utility knife works best in some parts, thewood chisel in others. Just be careful not to cut too deep or you could damagecircuitry or wiring inside. Also, remember that the goal is to be able to glue thebattery case back together and have it fit in the laptop so cutting out a little plastic(possibly with a fine saw) may be better than an attempt to just open it up with theresult of warping or breaking the plastic.

Like Be the first of your friends to likethis.

Rebuilding a Laptop Battery | Linux Journal http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery

1 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

Once you have the battery pack open, it is analysis time. The most common batterypacks contain three, six or nine Li-ion cells of size 18650. Typically they are in stringsof three in series (that gives you about 11V) and then each string is paralleled. But,that may not be the case. Do a bit of analysis before you start cutting wires.

Note that the cell size is not something that indicates that there are at least 18,649other choices. It is actually the diameter of the cell in millimeters (18) followed bythe length in millimeters (650). The big advantage with this system is that if the cellisn't marked with a size, a metric ruler can help you out.

As Li-ion batteries need special "care and feeding", you will find a circuit boardwithin the battery pack, Wires will go from the circuit board to each cell junction sothat the voltages can be monitored. Also, there will be a thermistor and a thermalcircuit breaker within the pack.

There are lots of places that sell replacement Li-ion cells. One is Battery Junction(http://www.batteryjunction.com) . On their site you will find all the common battery sizes.They also have both PC boards to protect sets of cells and a special 18650 cell with abuilt-in protection circuit. Assuming you are replacing cells in an existing pack, youjust need to buy regular cells. One thing you do need to watch for, however, is tabs.Typically you can ask to have solder tabs spot welded to the cells. This is the rightway to go rather than trying to solder directly to the cell which could easily damagethe seals.


2 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

Once you have all the pieces, it is time to actually build the new battery pack. Icannot empathize enough that an error here can be dangerous. First, you are dealingwith batteries that if abused, can explode or burn. Additionally, the monitor circuit isalways active so you are working on operating electronics. Consider yourself warned.

I have found the best way to build the new pack is first take all the cells, the circuitboard and the connector out of the plastic case. Figure out how things are wired.That is, which cells are in parallel, which are in series and, most important, which isthe positive and which is the negative end of each cell. There is also usually athermistor (it looks like a little lump on the end of two wires) and a thermal breakerattached to the batteries. Figure this out and, better still, take a picture of it.

In the T2x series ThinkPad batteries, things are quite well organized. The black wiregoes to the negative end of the cell string. The red and orange together (one is thethermal breaker) go to the most positive. White goes to the 3.7V tap and yellow to the7.4V tap.

You are most likely going to have to solder the battery tabs together or connect themwith short pieces of wire. Try to make the connections as compact as possible. Whileeverything may appear fine, when you try to put the top on the battery pack you maydiscover you need to re-solder connections and/or file down any lumps.

I start building the new pack within one half of the battery pack case. Double-sticktape will hold the cells in place as you work on the battery. Hot glue can be used tostick cells together and hold down the thermal breaker and thermistor.

When you get all the cells in place, start soldering the wires from the circuit board.Once again, remember that the circuit is live so touching a wire to the wrong batteryterminal can mean so long circuit.


3 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

Once all the connections are made, it is a good idea to check the voltages to see ifthey make sense. Starting at the negative end, each cell or set of parallel cells shouldadd about 3.7 volts to the total. The exact voltage will depend, of course, on the stateof charge of the cells but a fairly fresh cell should read 3.5 volts or more with no load.

If everything checks out, put the top on the battery case. If it doesn't fit, file, adjust,re-solder and such until it does. It is then a good idea to test the battery in the laptop.A bit of tape can be used to hold the battery together for testing.

If all goes well, you need to glue the two battery halves back together. While modelcement can be used, I prefer a hot glue gun. Work slowly, preparing one side or partof a side, holding it together and let the glue set. Then move along until the entirebattery is sealed. Then, with a knife, cut off any glue that extends beyond the seams.

That's it. You just proved you could save $100 by spending half a day playing withhand tools and glue.

______________________

Phil Hughes


4 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

(/users/battshoping)

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

We ran a typical battery of tests (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-355897)

Submitted by jack (http://www.battery-mag.co.uk/) (not verified) on Wed, 09/15/2010 - 21:01.

We ran a typical battery of tests, including games, applications, and a couple other areas. Timeconstraints limited the amount of testing we could get done before the NDA lift (and it's alreadya few hours late), but we will be providing a follow-up article with further testing and information.That said, if there are any specific areas that you'd like to see tested, feel free to e-mail me orleave a comment.

anyway (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-353375)

Submitted by nb-4l (http://www.powerlinebattery.com/canon/nb-4l/battery+charger.htm) (not verified) on Thu,07/01/2010 - 22:27.

the 'memory' of the old, crappy cells appears to have lingered in the on-board electronics ofthe battery management. That is to say, the meter reports my battery as running down fast.Funny thing, though, when it gets to about 2 - 3%, it stays there for about 2 hours or morebefore the laptop finally cuts off. I hope that this situation will rectify itself after a few charge/discharge cyclesas the management circuitry 'learns' the new cells capacity

i think this will fix the memory issue (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-358741)

Submitted by Abz (http://abz2000.com/newworldorder.aspx) (not verified) on Mon,11/08/2010 - 22:34.

my vaio fz series was charging in a few minutes and losing charge in a few, i hadbought it not working and had it fixed - hence the battery must've remained dormantfor centuries. i took it apart to check the cell size and tested the cells with amultimeter to find that they were working fine, so i put it back together again and still had the sameissue.......it ran flat before windows finished loading.

so i put the charger in, started it, and pulled it out after 3-5 seconds, put it straight back in (1-2seconds)repeated the procedure around 5 times, and hey presto - it's charging up very very slowlynow which can only mean a good thing (i hope!), i'm not pulling it out again until i get a 100%charge, drain it 100% - and repeat the process 3 times to fix the memory.i believe the memory chip gets confused and resets or starts re-reading.

Try to re-calibrate your (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-355114)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/20/2010 - 22:13.

Try to re-calibrate your battery using the battery calibration feature in yourcomputer's bios. It will associate the proper charge level in your battery with thereading in your computer. Hope this helps.

i agree your mind (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-352992)

Submitted by battshoping (/users/battshoping) on Sat, 06/19/2010 - 05:10.

This is an awesome howto that shows just how easily these can be replaced,thanks!

replace the battery cell (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-352824)

Special New OfferFor Youwww.easy-forex.com/Special-For-You

If You Don`t Succeed - FullRefund If You Succeed - We`llDouble it.


5 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

Submitted by Jack (http://www.laptops-battery.co.uk) (not verified) on Mon, 06/14/2010- 03:49.

A good article about how to replace the battery cell inside the laptop battery. Ifyou can make a video about it, it is more great.

my hp 9000dv (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-352112)

Submitted by aussieOZ (not verified) on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 06:29.

if you add all the cells up that your buying it is more then what your paying for a new battery if ibuy all the cells for my battery it is $70 and for my battery on ebay its $50

yes, and... (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-353728)

Submitted by rhombus (not verified) on Tue, 07/13/2010 - 09:58.

...your $50 Ebay replacement is also junk.

Doing it this way, you can buy top quality cells. The stuff in those cheap aftermarketpacks is usually also cheap :)

And... (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-358869)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 11/10/2010 - 17:49.

Good point, and this needs to be hammered home: cheap ==old...those "value" laptop batteries can be very deceptive. A Li-Ion hasabout 3 years from birth before it starts to die, regardless of whether itsits in a warehouse or it sits in a laptop getting used regularly.Whenever you buy a battery you better be sure exactly when it was made.

Touch Screen LCD Monitor (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-351079)

Submitted by Anonymous (http://www.global-e-world.com/Touch-Screen-LCD-Monitor/) (not verified) onWed, 04/21/2010 - 02:23.

That is to say, the meter reports my battery as running down fast. Funny thing, though, when itgets to about 2 - 3%, it stays there for about 2 hours or more before the laptop finally cuts off. Ihope that this situation will rectify itself after a few charge/discharge cycles as the managementcircuitry 'learns' the new cells capacity.It's so easy to mock others not knowing what could be around the corner.

Rebuilt IBM A31 laptop battery pack... (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-350647)

Submitted by leccyrob (not verified) on Sun, 04/11/2010 - 16:50.

Hi,I've just purchased 6 x 18650 2.8Ah batteries and rebuilt my old A31 pack. I had alreadybought an 'after-market' replacement pack for $43AUD and so had nothing to lose by having abash at re-celling the old pack.I paid $20AUD for the 6 cells and spent about 1.5 hours doing the re-build (I'm a TV repair technician and sohave about 20 years experience with messing about soldering wires).As reported by others here, the 'memory' of the old, crappy cells appears to have lingered in the on-boardelectronics of the battery management. That is to say, the meter reports my battery as running down fast.Funny thing, though, when it gets to about 2 - 3%, it stays there for about 2 hours or more before the laptopfinally cuts off. I hope that this situation will rectify itself after a few charge/discharge cycles as themanagement circuitry 'learns' the new cells capacity.I have disabled the low-battery standby feature within XP to make sure that the cells become as discharged aspossible.I'll report back to this discussion any new findings.......

Re-calibrate your battery (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-355113)


I think you can recalibrate your battery using the feature in the bios setting of thecomputer. This feature allows you to calibrate the battery in association with thecharge circuitry. It will automatically discharge your battery then charge it again, as itassociates the proper reading of the charge level for the battery.

How to Increase 6 cells to 9 cells - Laptop Battery (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-350626)

Submitted by Khan (not verified) on Sat, 04/10/2010 - 19:02.

i hv a compaq 6710b as with many laptops you can buy them with 6 cell battery of if you addmore money, you get 9 cells

i was wondering if i could replace the batteries and make it a 9 cell battery

my question is wouldn't it add more volts to the battery if you add 3 more cells to an ordinary 6 cell battery?

anyone any idea about difference in 6 cell and 9 cell, how it is made to work with same laptop?would i be able to use the same chip board as 6 cell one with 9 cells?

my battery v10.8 55wh 6 cell


6 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

laptop batteries (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-350254)

Submitted by laptop battery (http://www.globallaptopbattery.co.uk) (not verified) on Fri, 04/02/2010 -21:01.

What the commenter before me doesn't realize is that some of these laptops have lost theirworth and wouldn't pull more than $300 - $400 on ebay. http://www.adapterlist.com(http://www.adapterlist.com) is a good laptop battery online shop.It's not viable to spend %25-30 ofyour laptops worth to replace the batteries. Now if it were a spanking new $2000 laptop by opinion would bedifferent, but then it would probably be covered by a warranty still.

Not worth the effort or price (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-349425)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 13:56.

I took my Lenovo X60 Tablet Pc battery appart. First I had to really mangle the case to get itopen. Second, mine had two different shaped batteries 4 where round 4 where rectangle.Finally, the model numbers on each battery where different and I was not able to find exactmatches or the rectangle ones at all. When I did find simular batteries they were $8.95 each x4$36 and I was only half way. Plus there were too many wires, solder joints and gluing I would need to put it allback together with no warranty if it didn't work. I found a complete battery alreay in the case fromgogo-power.com for $49 with free shipping and a warranty. So for me rebuilding my own battery was not worththe effort or price.

http://www.gogo-power.com/4000mAh-Laptop-Battery-ThinkPad-X60-X61-Tablet... (http://www.gogo-power.com/4000mAh-Laptop-Battery-ThinkPad-X60-X61-Tablet-PC-p/li35.htm)

X60 battery replacement (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-349445)


Thanks for the info on the X60 replacement try and the cheap alternative. whichbattery did you have on your X60? i have the large capacity (7-hr) battery, andwondering if that's the same one you have or the smaller, 3-hr battery. still great infothough, thnx again.

help me (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-348678)

Submitted by dida (not verified) on Sat, 02/27/2010 - 09:04.

hey, i have a IBM t20 and the batt is dead ... i do not know how to find tha battery cell model socan anybody help me pleae.. my email is [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

which battery to use (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-345683)

Submitted by Ramesh (not verified) on Wed, 11/25/2009 - 06:42.

please suggest me some nice battery brand of 3.7volts and 2500mAh. i also want to rebuildmy lenovo laptop battery pack.

Li-Ion cells (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-345856)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 11/29/2009 - 01:05.

I rebuilt my Dell E1505 6 cell battery yesterday. I used cells fromwww.batteryjunction.com (http://www.batteryjunction.com) 18650 cells 3.7V 2600mAh.The 6 cells with metal tabs welded on the ends were ~$52.00 including shipping.You can get cheaper cells with less mAh, but you don't want to put smaller capacitybatteries in your pack, for a number of reasons.

The battery works just fine and the battery meter on the computer seems to be adapting slowly tothe new higher capacity pack. The hardest part of the process is getting the battery case apart.

Good luck.

Awsome Post (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-344397)


Such a great idea... I'm definitely going to try replacing the cells in my wife's Dell D610 laptop.We got it 1yr ago as an off-lease system. I've already replaced the battery once (with an ebay"genuine" replacement) but it only lasted a few months. Now both batteries will only hold acharge for approx. 45min. I've got some experience working with electronics / soldering so thisprocess doesn't seem too daunting. If it works, it'd be a super economical way to breath new life into thelaptop.

Rebuilding a Laptop Battery (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-342631)

Submitted by Anthony (http://www.batterieswholesale.net) (not verified) on Sat, 09/05/2009 - 07:58.

It's good if you know how to or you have a knowledge in electronics coz if you try to risk yourlaptop it could be blown away. Some people are troubleshooting their laptop battery but thesuccess rate isn't good... If you want a risk then try it....

I replaced it, but charge AND discharge really fast (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-338142)


7 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

Submitted by diegugawa (not verified) on Wed, 06/10/2009 - 08:55.

I replace the old cells from my battery as well, but when I charge the battery it charges reallyfast, and later it discharges at almost the same speed.I put new 18650 with "2400ma" each, and the other cells were 1800ma. I wondering if thecircuit doesn't like this higher amount of amps in the battery.

How can I fix this?!?!

I am using a apple powerbook G4 with Leopard in it. I have 2gb of ram... (just in case someone wondered)

Thanks!!!

I think the circuit inside (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-339400)

Submitted by Cimo (not verified) on Wed, 07/08/2009 - 17:36.

I think the circuit inside the battery records the charge of the battery and when newcells are installed the charge and discharge cycles are as they were last recorded(this is a protection mechanism) - to be able to use the new batteries I think youhave to reset the microcontroller in the circuit.The higher mA is OK - the higher it is, more time you can get. But there is also a limitation circuitinside some batteries that won't allow more current to flow than designed for.

Hope it helps.regards.

I think the circuit inside (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-352785)

Submitted by leo hemmerly (not verified) on Fri, 06/11/2010 - 15:18.

I think the circuit inside the battery records the charge of the battery andwhen new cells are installed the charge and discharge cycles are asthey were last recorded (this is a protection mechanism) - to be able touse the new batteries I think you have to reset the microcontroller in thecircuit.The higher mA is OK - the higher it is, more time you can get. But there is also alimitation circuit inside some batteries that won't allow more current to flow thandesigned for.

Hope it helps

how do you reset the microcontroller... i have the same problem..???

FUJITSU FPCBP192 replacement Notebook Batteries (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-336075)

Submitted by battery (http://www.power-tool-battery.com/) (not verified) on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 10:00.

Do want to own some betteries which have more function , more economical and long life?Please visit the following Web site: http://www.power-tool-battery.com/notebook-battery/fujitsu-fpcbp192-1001... (http://www.power-tool-battery.com/notebook-battery/fujitsu-fpcbp192-1001721.htm) FUJITSUFPCBP192 replacement Notebook Batteries,it will help you find the ideal battery.

Oops (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-334102)

Submitted by Jerry Spoor (not verified) on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 10:00.

My previous message said to discharge the battery before hooking it up. This should not bedone with a lithium battery. You should leave the batteries charged up and then connect themcarefully as to avoid shorting anything out.

Once my project was completed the charging light on my notebook computer indicated everything was ok. SoI published the previous article. It was not OK. When I disconnected the external charging circuit the computershut down immediately.

I tried to charge the lithium batteries with an external charger and series resisters to limit the charge rate. Thebatteries appear to have an internal short and they will not charge up. Either an irreversible chemical changehas occurred or a disabling circuit in the battery has activated.

All I am left with is a good control circuit for future battery repairs.

Yes, I would still encourage battery repair but you really need to know what you are doing.

Please note the following information from Wikipedia and I would advise reading the full article at Wikipedia.

Li-ion batteries are not as durable as nickel metal hydride or nickel-cadmium designs, and can be extremelydangerous if mistreated. They may explode if overheated or if charged to an excessively high voltage.Furthermore, they may be irreversibly damaged if discharged below a certain voltage. To reduce these risks,li-ion batteries generally contain a small circuit that shuts down the battery when discharged below a certainthreshold (typically 3 V) or charged above a certain limit (typically 4.2 V).This circuit prevents deep discharge in normal use. However, when stored for long periods, the small currentdrawn by the protection circuitry may deeply drain the battery. Some applications attempt to recover deeplydischarged cells by slow-charging them.Furthermore, this circuit adds to the cost of lithium-ion batteries, which is usually higher than that ofcomparable-capacity NiMH or NiCD batteries.

I paid 400$ for this laptop (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-334076)

Submitted by Plasmatic (http://www.annihilation.info) (not verified) on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 22:07.


8 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

I paid 400$ for this laptop 2 years ago, and it still does everything I need it for. No way I'mspending $129 for a new battery. Thanks guys!

Additional notes (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-334075)

Submitted by Jerry Spoor (http://www.tkpro.com/) (not verified) on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 19:30.

This article has been incouraging and resulted in saving me a lot of money.

Before ordering new batteries you need to know if the batteries are bad or if it is the batterymodule electronics. If the batteries are very old and have gradually decreased in power thenthey should be replaced. If the problem occurred abruptly you may have one bad cell or a bad electronics chipin the battery pack.

Take a volt meter and check the voltage at each cell level of each parallel set of batteries. If one cell is shortedit will drain the voltage in all cells that are wired in parallel to it. If each of the 3 sets of series connections haveabout 4 volts each then there is a good chance the electronic circuitry is bad. It would be of no value toreplace the batteries unless you have the right electronic circuitry that works for your battery pack and yourcomputer. You do not want to blow out the charging circuitry of your computer.

My battery pack went bad abruptly and the computer will not accept it. Each bank of cells shows the same 4volts. The battery pack will light up some bright automobile 12 volt brake light bulbs for a long time.

There is nothing wrong with putting the lamps on the battery and draining it completely. Then you can tryrecharging it again in the computer. This may reset the electronics and reestablish operation with thecomputer. This did not work with mine.

While draining a battery with about 12 volts you can easily see if one of the 3 sections discharges faster thananother by measuring the voltage at each cell level. If there is an open battery in any section, that section orthat battery voltage will drop faster. That is because the current going through each series section is equal anda bad section will discharge faster.

I will not replace the electronics unless I have a complete electrical schematic of the existing and the newelectronic module. I must know they are compatible. Keep in mind that some electronic modules will lastlonger than others. The manufactures of computer batteries use sufficient technology to dissuade all but themost ambitious techies.

My old computer battery (3 years old) still runs the computer but the batteries are very weak. So I put the newbatteries from the defective battery module in the older battery pack. This worked fine. Keep in mind Icompletely discharge the batteries before doing this. I do not want to hook the battery wires up in the wrongorder or short things out.

The wire routing was different but the electrical connections were the same as viewed on an electronicschematic.

I test the battery before sealing the case and have not decided what type of glue to use. I want to be able tobreak it apart in the future if I need the electronics, the case or the batteries.

Now I need another spare battery. I have found the IBM $185 battery is good for 6.5 hours in my T41pnotebook.(When new) The $80 online purchase from Comptick.com is good for about 4.5 hours when new.This is with the same purchase rating specifications. The main concern is the short life span of the electronicmodule in the Comptick.com battery pack. I have no idea where to get a good battery other than IBM and thatmay not be a sure thing for a replacement battery.

I got the right info about (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-333604)

Submitted by Anonymous (http://www.adapterlist.com) (not verified) on Fri, 02/20/2009 - 20:27.

I got the right info about toshiba portege 4000 battery on http://www.adapterlist.com/toshiba/portege-4000.htm (http://www.adapterlist.com/toshiba/portege-4000.htm) toshiba portege 4000 battery ,isure it will fit my notebook .


9 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

What about 'blind' cells? (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-333449)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 23:12.

I have a pack with cells that look the same, but the strange thing is, there is nothing on the netabout the markings...

I have the in a red-translucent wrapping, with a big "B" on one side, and arond the other side itsays: HJMFHHRNow that's not a lot of information..

I tried to measure them, but all I get is 18 diameter and 62 in length. 18620 does not exist according togoogle..

The pack as 4 parallel cells, 8 in total.

It's rated 4000mA and 14.8v, now using that information, I think they should be 3.7v each, and have about500mA, right?If I just could find some cells that match the size.. What would cells with 2400mA do to the controller?I guess it'd fry and have me cook potatoes on it..

How right is my direction?

Sorry for trying to resurrect an old post in here..

You might be missing the (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-346448)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/16/2009 - 01:45.

You might be missing the "button" on the end of the cell when measuring its length -18mm X 65mm (18650) is pretty popular, my guess is this is what you have.

Also, your cells a probably setup like mine: two pairs in parallel inside of a pair ofseries.

(((b1)parallel(b2))Series((b3)parallel(b4)))in Series with(((b5)parallel(b6))Series((b7)parallel(b8)))

This would give you "2000"mAh @ 14.8V (or 3.7V*2*2)

Me too, me too! (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-333806)

Submitted by Jeremy (http://fixedd.com) (not verified) on Wed, 02/25/2009 - 16:42.

I was curious about adding cells that had more capacity then the originals as well.

Will the protection circuit be able to tell that there's a higher capacity, or will you belimited to the battery's original capacity? I found some that were rated WAY higherthan my stock cells and I'd like to use them if they'll work, but if it'll just default to it's stock capacitythen I don't want to waste my money on them.

I realize that nobody can/will provide guarantees that it'll work, anecdotal evidence is fine :) Thanks,in advance, for any help.

I'm a student in Computer (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-332198)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 23:01.

I'm a student in Computer Engineering, so things like this to me are a learning experience. I'llhave to look at doing this to my laptop as it only has 56% of its original battery life.

I would get about 3hr 20mins, now I get about 1hr 45mins. Doesn't even last me a whole classand many don't have plugs.

- (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-327052)

Submitted by Tomi (not verified) on Fri, 10/17/2008 - 19:21.

Thank You for this article, i was searching for a site where i can see that it's possible todisassemble a laptop battery without wrecking it.I succeeded to do it too.

Cool, Very Cool (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326977)

Submitted by ridshack (not verified) on Thu, 10/16/2008 - 12:25.

What! Come on you guys. One of the things that makes us geeks is our need and want tofigure out how things work. This is a great tutorial, thanks for sharing. I am shocked to see howsimple it is, +1 to Knowledge.

Ridshack

Careful (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326331)

Submitted by Freddy (http://www.barbaropoli.com) (not verified) on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 21:18.

Always ask to have the pads already soldered on the battery because applying excess heat while solderingyou risk an explosion.


10 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

(/users/waparmley)

(/users/tracyanne)

Also I would advise NOT to travel with such a battery unless you want to be questioned forhours at the airport (especially in the notsofreeanymore US and Aiiiih).

While you're on the (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326860)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 10/14/2008 - 09:03.

While you're on the fashionable anti-US bandwagon, you may want to includeBritain which has also has all the dystopian Orwellian goodness you could ask for.

Great Article (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326254)

Submitted by waparmley (/users/waparmley) on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 22:11.

I've rebuilt many NiCd and Nimh packs over the years -- looking forward totrying my first Li-ion pack sometime. Thanx!

Interesting... Thanks (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326240)


Thanks for the How-To. I found it interesting, and had no idea I could do this on my own.

nice tut (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326226)


you lot are getting off point and filling the comments page with rubbish.

point is, great tutorial for those interested.

will

Nice, but what about the memory chip? (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326219)

Submitted by cctsurf (not verified) on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 09:56.

I've done exactly this process, however, you missed one large problem, the memory chip inthe battery may (as it was in my case) be saying that the battery is too old to repair. Doesanyone have any thoughts on that problem? I've thought of hacking it, but I'm rather a noob athacking in that manner.

Poor measurements (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326215)


18mm diameter...OK. 650mm length = 25.5 inches...not likely. 65.0mm far more likely.Otherwise a nice tutorial.

Its not just $100... (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326208)

Submitted by Kumaran (http://www.susegeek.com) (not verified) on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 02:47.

Great article...

This isn't just about $100 but it is more about being eco-friendly and even more...u had the funof learing the trade..

Good Idea (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326200)

Submitted by tracyanne (/users/tracyanne) on Sun, 10/05/2008 - 22:54.

In fact there are several places here in Australia that rebuild laptop batteries. Infact I opted for that option fo a 6 year old Asus I had, I sent it to a friend, in SanAntonio Texas, complete with Mandriva Linux 2008.1, because she was out ofwork at the time and couldn't afford a computer. The only problem with thebattery rebuild was that the new cells have a higher charge density, so now the battery charge status readswrong.

Nice way to save money (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326199)


What the commenter before me doesn't realize is that some of these laptops have lost theirworth and wouldn't pull more than $300 - $400 on ebay. It's not viable to spend %25-30 of yourlaptops worth to replace the batteries. Now if it were a spanking new $2000 laptop by opinionwould be different, but then it would probably be covered by a warranty still.

This is an awesome howto that shows just how easily these can be replaced, thanks!


11 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

(/users/augmentedfourth)

Oh jeeze. You can't be (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326196)


Oh jeeze. You can't be serious, just spend the $100 to let someone else do the work for you.This way you don't short out your laptop because you did a terrible job rebuilding the battery.

I agree (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326201)

Submitted by augmentedfourth (/users/augmentedfourth) on Sun,10/05/2008 - 23:18.

"Half a day" to save $100? I'll bet your time is worth more thanthat. Even applying a discount for the fun hackiness of theproject, $100 is only worth it to me if the project only takes 4-5 hours.

8 hour work day * 1/2 = 4 (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-351434)


8 hour work day * 1/2 = 4 hours.

Obviously not a math major!

100 worth of who's time? (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326202)


When you live in the third world, 100dls a day means too much.

At the end of the day ... (/content/rebuilding-laptop-battery#comment-326262)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 10/07/2008- 05:39.

"When you live in the third world, 100dls a day means toomuch."

Exactly, and that is why augmentedfour's job could be outsourced to thirdworld country. LOL. Nothing to worry though, he could then start his ownbusiness repairing laptop batteries for, say, $20 a piece. Maybe then hewould appreciate this how2?

It's soooooo eeeeasy to mock others not knowing what could be aroundthe corner. OMG, at least think before you spit!

Seriously, I do appreciate this nice how2. I guess I'll give it a try with my oldG40.

White Paper More Resources (/whitepapers)

Migrating Middleware Applications

Using Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization(http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/download-migrating-middleware-applications-using-red-hat-enterprise-virtualization)

Consolidating older servers to newer Intel®Xeon® processor-based Dell platforms thatemploy power-saving capabilities and fasterprocessors with more cores can be an excellentstrategy for reducing data center costs. However,to realize these cost savings, application ownersmust limit the retuning and testing costs of portingapplications. Consolidating to a virtualizedenvironment that supports virtual machines (VMs)running the original operating system can be anideal and easy-to-implement solution.

Learn More (http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/download-migrating-middleware-applications-using-red-hat-enterprise-virtualization)

Sponsored by Red Hat

White Paper More Resources (/whitepapers)

Private PaaS for the Agile Enterprise(http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/download-private-

paas-agile-enterprise)

If you already use virtualized infrastructure, youare well on your way to leveraging the power ofthe cloud. Virtualization offers the promise oflimitless resources, but how do you manage thatscalability when your DevOps team doesn’t scale?In today’s hypercompetitive markets, fast resultscan make a difference between leading the packvs. obsolescence. Organizations need morebenefits from cloud computing than just rawresources. They need agility, flexibility,convenience, ROI, and control.

Stackato private Platform-as-a-Service technologyfrom ActiveState extends your private cloudinfrastructure by creating a private PaaS toprovide on-demand availability, flexibility, control,and ultimately, faster time-to-market for yourenterprise.

Learn More (http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/download-private-paas-agile-enterprise)

Sponsored by ActiveState


12 of 12 9/26/2013 5:38 PM

Rebuilding a Laptop Battery _ Linux Journal

Documents

Transcript of Rebuilding a Laptop Battery _ Linux Journal