Laptop Battery Issues

[ArchStudent]

Hello people,

I have a Twinhead VXe Laptop that I recently purchased a battery (Li-Ion)
for. I have
used the battery, charged it and used the laptop on battery power.

Suddenly I can not turn the laptop on with just the battery, I need to have
it plugged into the wall.

Here is the strange thing, in Windows it shows that the battery is fully
charged!

Go figure!

The laptop's BIOS has a program that will fully drain the battery, and then
fully charge it. Should I attempt to use that to solve the problem?

If that does not work, any other suggestions? Could something be loose, or
not making contact? Once it seemed to go on, then it stopped... am just at a
loss

Thanks,

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: ArchStudent
The laptop's BIOS has a program that will fully drain the battery, and then fully charge it. Should I attempt to use that to solve the problem?

That is battery calibration, and should be done with Twinhead and WinBook as a periodic maintenance requirement. It is also a requirement when the laptop was new, and sometimes users ignore it.

Does the Twinhead start up with the battery physically removed?

 

[ArchStudent]

Yes it does.

I've just done the calibration, and now am trying to run the laptop off of the battery alone.

Will see how long it lasts.

 

[ArchStudent]

okay, it lasted less than a minute, and shut off...

perhaps the battery is dead?

What I do not get though, is that while in Windows the battery icon is in the system task tray, and shows the battery as being 100% fully charged.

Is there a way to short the battery? If I left it unplugged for a week, would there be some discharge over time?

Any ideas?

thanks

 

[ArchStudent]

Any ideas?

Has to be at least one (other than the battery is dead).

 

[Bglad]

Use a volt meter and see what is actually going on with that battery.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Most LiON batteries have Thermal protection circuits
incorporated in them to prevent overheating and possible fire hazards
(DELL learned the lesson the hard way. They had to replace 500K+ defective batteries).
That is probably what you are experiencing. Thermal shutdown.
More than likely the NEW Battery is defective.

Its unlikely to be worth the time to measure the voltage with a volt meter
without the battery being under a load.

If by "short the battery" you mean DISCHARGE, the correct method would be
to put a load on the battery. A 1156 Automotive Bulb soldered with +/- leads works great.

LiON batteries do not discharge are quickly as NiCAD batteries, so a week sitting idle
would very likely show little (2%) drain, which most monitoring software will not see.