How to Fix a Dead Laptop Battery

By Jacob Stover, eHow Contributor

Print this article

Though it can be difficult, it is possible to modify an

existing battery to give it new life.
Laptop computers are valued for their portability and usefulness on the go, but a failing
battery can quickly strip the device from any sort of portability or extended usefulness.
Unfortunately, like all rechargeable batteries, your laptop's battery will lose its ability to hold
a charge over time and repeated use. Eventually a battery that could once last for 5 to 6 hours
may only be able to hold a charge of twenty minutes or so. There are a few options for
squeezing more life out of your batteries, though eventually your best option may simply be
to replace them.
Related Searches:

Battery Li Ion
Laptop Batteries

Difficulty:
Challenging

Instructions
Things You'll Need

Screwdriver
Lithium-ion batteries
Soldering iron
Safety goggles

1. Modifying your Existing Battery

o

1
Remove the battery from the back of your laptop.

2
Open up the battery by carefully unscrewing any screws found on the casing.

3
Locate the small lithium-ion battery cells inside. They should be about the
same size as a double-A battery. These are the cells that provide the power to
your computer. Over time, the chemicals in these batteries become less
efficient at conducting electricity as a result of repeatedly receiving and
discharging an electrical current. Carefully remove these batteries, taking note
of their voltage.

4
Locate a suitable vendor for replacement lithium-ion cells. You may choose
cells of a higher milliamp rating for increased battery life, but remember that
the batteries must be of the same size and voltage.

5
Remove the old cells from the battery, and place the new cells in the same
casing. Ensure that the battery polarity is the same as the old cells.

6
Solder the new cells to the connective wiring of the battery. Use caution when
soldering these cells, as it is possible for batteries to explode when exposed to
high heat, or when their casing is ruptured. Once the cells are properly
soldered, you may close up the casing of the battery. If this procedure is
performed correctly, the battery should now function like new. Consult the
"Laptop Battery Hack" video in the resources section for more information.

Sponsored Links

3.6V 1/2AA size batterywww.whforte.com

3.6V 1/2AA size ER14250 1/2AA size lithium battery

Power Inverters S.Africawww.sinetech.co.za

Power Inverters: Cotek,Powermaster Sole distributor and service centre

Christie Electric Corpwww.christiecbs.com

Charger/Analyzer Products Distribution, Service & Support

VTE Incwww.vteworld.com
Terminal Insulators & Covers Huge Selection, Low Prices

Read more: How to Fix a Dead Laptop Battery | eHow.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_6153309_fix-dead-laptop-battery.html#ixzz1joYlbFlK

How to Repair a Laptop Battery

Most laptop batteries are smart. This means that the pack consists of two parts: the chemical
cells and the digital circuit. If the cells are weak, cell replacement makes economic sense.
While nickel-based cells are readily available, lithium-ion cells are commonly not sold over
the counter, and most manufacturers only offer them to authorized pack assemblers. This
precaution is understandable given liability issues. Read also about Safety
Concerns and Protection Circuits. Always use the same chemistry; the mAh rating can vary if
all cells are replaced.
A laptop battery may have only one weak cell, and the success rate of replacing the affected
cell depends on the matching with the others. All cells in a pack must have a similar capacity
because an imbalance shortens the life of the pack. Read more about Can Batteries Be
Restored?. Furthermore, the state-of-charge of all cells being charged for the first time should
have a similar charge level, and the open-circuit voltages should be within 10 percent of each
other. Welding the cells is the only reliable way to get dependable connection. Limit the heat
transfer to the cells during welding to prevent excess heat buildup.
The typical SMBus battery has five or more battery connections consisting of positive and
negative battery terminals, thermistor, clock and data. The connections are often unmarked;
however, the positive and negative are commonly located at the outer edges of the connector
and the inner contacts accommodate the clock and data. (The one-wire system combines clock
and data.) For safety reasons, a separate thermistor wire is brought to the outside. Figure 1
illustrates a battery with six connections.
Figure 1: Terminal
connection of a typical
laptop battery
The positive and negative
terminals are usually
placed on the outside; no
norm exists on the
arrangement of the other
contacts.
Courtesy of Cadex

Some batteries are equipped with a solid-state switch that is normally in the off position and
no voltage is present on the battery terminals; connecting the switch terminal to ground often
turns the battery on. If this does not work, the pack may need a proprietary code for
activation, and battery manufacturers keep these codes a well-guarded secret.
How can you find the correct terminals? Use a voltmeter to locate the positive and negative
battery terminals and establish the polarity. If no voltage is available, a solid-state switch in
the off position may need activating. Connecting the voltmeter to the outer terminals, take a
100-Ohm resistor (other values may also work), tie one end to ground, and with the other end
touch each terminal while observing the voltmeter. If no voltage appears, the battery may be
dead or the pack will require a security code. The 100-Ohm resistor is low enough to engage a
digital circuit and high enough to protect the battery against a possible electrical short.
Establishing the connection to the battery terminals should now enable charging. If the charge
current stops after 30 seconds, an activation code may be required, and this is often difficult if
not impossible to obtain.
Some battery manufacturers add an end-of-battery-life switch that turns the battery off when
reaching a certain age or cycle count. Manufacturers argue that customer satisfaction and
safety can only be guaranteed by regularly replacing the battery. Such a policy tends to satisfy
the manufacturer more than the user, and newer batteries do not include this feature.
If at all possible, connect the thermistor during charging and discharging to protect the battery
against possible overheating. Use an ohmmeter to locate the internal thermistor. The most
common thermistors are 10 Kilo Ohm NTC, which reads 10k at 20C (68F). NTC stands
for negative temperature coefficient, meaning that the resistance decreases with rising
temperature. In comparison, a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) causes the resistance to
increase. Warming the battery with your hand may be sufficient to detect a small change in
resistor value when looking for the correct terminal on the battery.
In some cases the chemical battery can be restored, but the fuel gauge might not work, is
inaccurate, or will provide wrong information. After repackaging, the battery may need some
sort of initialization/ calibration process. Simply charging and discharging the pack to reset
the flags might do the trick. A flag is a measuring point to mark and record an event.
The circuits of some smart batteries must be kept alive during cell replacement.
Disconnecting the voltage for only a fraction of a second can erase vital data in the memory.
The lost data could contain the resistor value of the digitized shunt that is responsible for the
coulomb counter. Some integrated circuits (IC) responsible for fuel gauge function have wires
going to each cell, and the sequence of assembly must to be done in the correct order.
To assure continued operation when changing the cells, supply a secondary voltage through a
100-Ohm resistor to the circuit before disconnection and remove the supply only after the
circuit receives voltage again from the new cells. Cell replacement of a smart battery has a
parallel with open-heart surgery, where doctors must keep all organs of the patient alive.
Anyone repairing an SMBus battery needs to be aware of compliance issues. Unlike other
tightly regulated standards, the SMBus allows some variations, and this can cause problems
when matching battery packs with existing chargers. The repaired SMBus battery should be

checked for compatibility before use. More information on SMBus is available on www.sbsforum.org and www.acpi.info.

Simple Guidelines when Repairing Battery Packs

Only connect cells that are matched and have the identical state-of-charge. Do not
connect cells of different chemistry, age or capacity.

Never charge or discharge Li-ion batteries without a working protection circuit

unattended. Each cell must be monitored individually.

Include a temperature sensor that disrupts the current on high heat.

Apply a slow charge only if the cells have different state-of-charge.

Pay special attention when using an unknown brand of cells. Some may not contain a
high level of intrinsic safety features.

Li-ion is sensitive to reverse polarization. Observe correct polarity.

Do not charge a Li-ion battery that exhibits physical damage or has dwelled at a
voltage of less than 1.5V/cell.

When repairing Li-ion, assure that each cell is connected to a protection circuit.

Laptop Battery Problems

Laptop batteries can be one of the most frustrating parts of an older laptop. They only last 15
minutes, or maybe only 2 seconds, perhaps explode, etc. I created this site to try to document
and analyze these problems.

How notebook batteries work

The battery consists of a plastic outer case, metal electrical contacts, an inner metal case filled
with a chemical and special electrical contacts called electrodes, and lastly, perhaps some
control circuitry.
Note that the actual charging circuit is usually part of the laptop mainboard.
Battery chemistry

Lithium Ion (LIon)

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)
Others...
Control circuitry

Different batteries may have none, some, or all of these circuits.

Overheat protection: A themal sensor and circuit cuts off charging and/or usage if the
battery gets too hot.
Over-current / short-circuit protection: Like a circuit breaker, if the current is too high this
will cut off the electricity coming from the battery to prevent explosion or fire.
Over-discharge protection: Certain battery chemistries, such as Lithium Ion, will break
down if the battery gets discharged below a certain point. This circuit cuts off usage just
before this point is reached.
Status meter / battery tester: Many modern battery have a button you can push, and a meter
of LEDs will show you how charged the battery is.

Reconditioning
Sometimes, battery performance can be improved through a process called reconditioning.
This is usually a special pattern of charges and discharges designed to get the chemicals back
to their original state. I suppose shaking might also be involved, as certain substances may
build up near the electrodes inside.

Case Studies & Anecdotes

Gataway Solo 5300

Once fully charged, the charging circuit will not reactivate until after you have used the laptop
under battery power. However, the battery slowly drains itself over time. The result is that if
you have had the laptop plugged in to the AC for too long, the result will be a dead battery.
The solution? Unplug the laptop from the AC for just a minute, and then reconnect. The
battery will recharge.
Additionally, when using the battery, the power level detected by Windows when the
computer first comes on sometimes is very low, such as 5%, causing Windows to
automatically go back into standby. However, by turning it on again, you discover that now
the battery is almost fully changed.
HP Pavilion N5000 series (N5430)

By the end of the first year of use, the battery charge ended up only being good enough for 30
seconds of operation. :-/ Warranty service would have been a good idea.

Other Web Sites