Can you remove 2 cells from an 8 cell laptop battery and have it function off of the remaining 6?

[Spurst]

I have a dead dell laptop battery. After testing it, 2 cells are dead and it is causing some serious issues with the battery. Can I remove the 2 extra cells and have the battery still function as normal?

I am not worried about battery time, as long as it is greater than 10 minutes so we can move the laptop from one plug to another.

The model is a Dell 2600 / 2650.

 

[Tarrant64]

Not that I know of safely.

I've heard of people replacing all the cells, but...you have no other power supply to use?

 

[Spurst]

I guess im not following. The power supply works fine; the battery is dead.

They (Dell) sell a 6 cell version of this battery. The 8 cell gives longer life as it draws from more cells. However, I am asking if I can take an 8 cell battery and remove 2 dead cells in order to utilize it as a 6 cell battery without any negative effects other than shortened charge length.

 

[dahunan]

http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.aspx?catid=50 << those guys might give a better answer

 

[Spurst]

yeah I wasnt sure which to ask it in. ill try the other forum.