Lenovo...grrrrr

[Gibson486]

My gf has gone through two batteries on her t60. There was a recall....but her batteries. were not part of it. Her third one failed today. WTF!!!!! Lenovo says, "Nope, you have to buy a new battery".

 

[IlllI]

NEVER BUY LENOVO !!@! #

hmm.. so thats dell, hp...i wonder who is next

 

[corkyg]

Sheesh! My T60 batteries were never recalled and are going on 2 years old with no sign of a problem.

When I replace the T60, it will likely be a Lenovo.

 

[Oil]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
My gf has gone through two batteries on her t60. There was a recall....but her batteries. were not part of it. Her third one failed today. WTF!!!!! Lenovo says, "Nope, you have to buy a new battery".

Ouch, that sucks. I have a T61 and haven't had any problems with the battery (knock on wood).

Do you have a link to the battery recall?

 

[Gibson486]

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=BATT-LENOVO

 

[corkyg]

OK - I went to that link using the T60 and the Lenovo automated procedure. My battery is not affected by the recall. I guess that's why it keeps on keeping on. :}

Good luck!

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Gibson, does your GF have the battery conditioning program activated? It in the little green battery monitor on the taskbar. It greatly helps to preserve your battery life and condition. Ive had the same 9cell in my T43 for 4.5 years of heavy abuse and it still lasts about 4-4.5 hours.

 

[Itchrelief]

Even if her battery were covered in the recall, I kinda suspect the replacement would have died in the same timeframe, as I would tend to believe that the problem causing dying batteries is probably not related to the safety recall on the battery pack. Heck, with your gf's luck with batteries, if she were included in the recall she probably would had her laptop incinerated.

 

[corkyg]

PhoKingGuy makes some good points. Battery life is greatly affected by how the laptop is used. Every recharge shortens the life of the battery - eventually all batteries will die.

 

[WackyDan]

First of all... It is not a recall, but a service extension. A recall implies a safety issue, which there is none currently.

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: IlllI
NEVER BUY LENOVO !!@! #

hmm.. so thats dell, hp...i wonder who is next

sony, apple, toshiba, asus?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: WackyDan
First of all... It is not a recall, but a service extension. A recall implies a safety issue, which there is none currently.

yet Lenovo calls it a recall....

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: PhoKingGuy
Gibson, does your GF have the battery conditioning program activated? It in the little green battery monitor on the taskbar. It greatly helps to preserve your battery life and condition. Ive had the same 9cell in my T43 for 4.5 years of heavy abuse and it still lasts about 4-4.5 hours.

yes, she uses it. That is what tells her that her bateery is dead. it comes up with a message that the battery can no longer be charged.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: PhoKingGuy
Gibson, does your GF have the battery conditioning program activated? It in the little green battery monitor on the taskbar. It greatly helps to preserve your battery life and condition. Ive had the same 9cell in my T43 for 4.5 years of heavy abuse and it still lasts about 4-4.5 hours.

yes, she uses it. That is what tells her that her bateery is dead. it comes up with a message that the battery can no longer be charged.

You have to go into options and select the tick box that says "optimize battery charging to prolong life"

 

[WackyDan]

From Gibson:
"yet Lenovo calls it a recall...."



Really? Pants on fire much?

http://download.lenovo.com/len...82009/LandingPage.html

http://www.engadget.com/2009/0...r-six-thinkpad-models/

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: corkyg
Sheesh! My T60 batteries were never recalled and are going on 2 years old with no sign of a problem.

When I replace the T60, it will likely be a Lenovo.

I certainly wouldn't blame Lenovo for your gf's battery problems. I'm tapping on my T60 right now, running on the original 6 cell battery. Got it in Nov. 2006. Thing is, 99+% of the time I run on the adapter and the battery is in the fridge. I drop it to ~40% charge, put it in a plastic bag and into the fridge. Don't use it for portability for the most part. Lithium ion batteries are subject to deterioration and the rate depends on how they are treated. A couple of years is typical, but if you treat them really well they can last much much longer. Mine's OK AFAIK.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Oil

Originally posted by: Gibson486
My gf has gone through two batteries on her t60. There was a recall....but her batteries. were not part of it. Her third one failed today. WTF!!!!! Lenovo says, "Nope, you have to buy a new battery".

Ouch, that sucks. I have a T61 and haven't had any problems with the battery (knock on wood).

Do you have a link to the battery recall?

Battery recall by Lenovo

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: PhoKingGuy
Gibson, does your GF have the battery conditioning program activated? It in the little green battery monitor on the taskbar. It greatly helps to preserve your battery life and condition. Ive had the same 9cell in my T43 for 4.5 years of heavy abuse and it still lasts about 4-4.5 hours.

OK, help me here. On my T60 I see a little battery in the taskbar, can't say it's green (I'm "total green blind"!). When I click that I do not see "battery conditioning program." I see around 15 choices and the closest to that would be "Max battery." Is that what you are referring to?

 

[Muse]

In my T60 they have something called Tips for Maximizing Battery Lifespan in the Power Manager Help. I suggest you look for that. I just changed my charging scheme from full charge to maximize battery life span. The computer will automatically adjust the threshholds to accommodate this strategy. I was trying to do this by myself before. I tried to not charge to 100%, for instance. Now the computer will do this for me and presumably choose the optimal maximum charge, something well below 100%. My concern is certainly not maximum running time on battery, it's battery longevity.

The tips say something like this:

Your ThinkPad battery is a consumable component that decreases in performance over time. Here are some tips to help you maximize the lifespan of your battery:



Make sure you are using the correct ac adapter for your ThinkPad model. Using the wrong adapter will prevent the battery from charging fully and may cause the battery gauge to be inaccurate.
Do not place your battery or your ThinkPad computer in a high temperature environment.
When you store your battery outside of your computer, store it with a charge of less than 50% to reduce the battery deterioration.
If you primarily use your computer with the ac adapter attached and only infrequently use battery power, battery deterioration may occur faster when the battery is constantly charged at 100%. Lower the charge thresholds of your battery if you use your ThinkPad computer often while on ac power. Learn about changing the battery charge thresholds.
If you have a Li-Ion or Li-Polimer battery, learn about resetting the battery gauge.
If you have a NiMH battery, learn about conditioning the battery.
Use Power Manager to select the best power scheme for you. Learn about using Power Manager.





Note: If it has been a long time since you last charge your battery, it will take longer to charge.



Note: Battery performance will be temporarily be degraded if the battery is used in a cold environment.



Note: When the computer uses a large amount of electricity from the battery (for example, for intensive calculations or high-end graphics applications), the temperature of the battery and the computer may rise. In this case, the battery might automatically stop charging to so that the battery operates at a level that ensures comfortable usage and normal battery life. When the battery is restored to its normal temperature, the battery will start to recharge.




Links (in the actual help)

Battery characteristics

Checking battery health condition

Changing battery charge thresholds

Resetting the battery gauge

Conditioning a NiMH battery

Using Power Manager

- - - -

----> The default charging scheme is not to maximize the battery life but to charge the battery to the max. I suggest changing it like I just did to the self-adjusting scheme that maximizes battery life.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: Oil

Originally posted by: Gibson486
My gf has gone through two batteries on her t60. There was a recall....but her batteries. were not part of it. Her third one failed today. WTF!!!!! Lenovo says, "Nope, you have to buy a new battery".

Ouch, that sucks. I have a T61 and haven't had any problems with the battery (knock on wood).

Do you have a link to the battery recall?

Battery recall by Lenovo

That was the 2006 Sony Cell Recall for the same fires that Dell and Apple were having. Doesn't apply here.

 

[corkyg]

If you go back to the Gibson386 reply and my first, you will find the correct Lenovo link. The automated battery checker only works if you are using a Lenovo laptop.

Here is the link Gibson486 provided days ago.

Link

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: corkyg
If you go back to the Gibson386 reply and my first, you will find the correct Lenovo link. The automated battery checker only works if you are using a Lenovo laptop.

Here is the link Gibson486 provided days ago.

Link

Well, those recalls and previous service extensions aren't relevant at this point. I'm sorry I missed that post he made. He should be focusing instead on the link I provided which is the most relevant link to try those batteries with today.

Still, some good advice was given here about the battery charge thresholds. I've got an R61 I've run since May of 2008 that only has 91 charge cycles on it with the threshold set at 50% and 99%.