I've just gone through the hell of trying to find long-lasting power for my laptop. The prices I've found for extra batteries or an external power-pack are just crazy. Were talking $120 for a 3600mAH replacement battery at best buy. I know that the new D-cell NiMH batteries can hold up to 7500 mAH per battery. Would it be possible to use electrical components and a little soldering to create my own homemade battery pack for my laptop that is at least reasonably priced? I really have no idea what I'm talking about on this issue.....but I would like to learn. Thanks.
Using standard NiMH batteries to make laptop battery
- Thread starter shoeeater
- Start date
My laptop incorporates information about battery life, number of charge/discharge cycles and the like. There may be more to this than you think. If it were simple, there would be dirt cheap generic batteries for sale.
apoppin
Lifer
Do a "search". There was a recent thread here discussing the impracticality of using batteries for a laptop because of weight (alone).
And a hundred bucks isn't a lot to power a $1000+ machine . . . remember to REMOVE your battery FROM your notebook when it is on AC - that should extend it's useful life from about 1 year to over 3 years.
And a hundred bucks isn't a lot to power a $1000+ machine . . . remember to REMOVE your battery FROM your notebook when it is on AC - that should extend it's useful life from about 1 year to over 3 years.
I did not know this thanks for info. I usaully have my laptop plugged in anyway.
Whats sad about what you said is "useful life is about 1 year only" if you dont remove it? I thought they would last longer.
My camcorder battery (lithium) has been going strong past 3 years.
apoppin
Lifer
I'm just repeating info from a Senior Dell Tech (one that actually seemed to know what he was talking about). My own batteries have always remained in my notebook and - one of them - lost 80% of its capacity just over a year. He said that was not unusual and simply removing the battery when the notebook was on AC would triple its life.
Kinda makes sense . . . laptop battery warranties are only a year.
I've got a website for you.
www.bydusa.com
They are a Chinese battery manufacturer and they sell direct over the internet at the cheapest prices that I have ever seen. I have purchased from them several times. The batteries are good and the price is very good. They sell a "universal" laptop battery here You'll need to match the voltage and get the right connector to make this work, so make sure that the DC input coming from the power brick is the same as the output they sell. My IBM takes 16V and their 12V battery wouldn't cut it for me.
But you can buy their cells "loose" and then solder them together to make any size that you want. Using their tabbed C-cells you could create a laptop battery with longer power duration than a standard Li-ion pack for ~$40.
Speaking from experience, if you want to go the loose battery soldering route, get the tabbed cells and avoid the non-tabbed ones. It is vastly easier to create a pack with tabs than to muck around with soldering wires onto the non-tabbed version. You'll probably want some shrink-wrap as well - www.edogfight.com sells battery shrink-wrap cheaply. If you are planning on taking it onto a plane, you'll want to have the thing look like it's not a bomb - so duct taping it all together is probably not a good choice. Shrink-wrap and a little sticker on it that looks official saying that it's a "14V 4200mAh NiMH universal laptop battery" or something like that will save a lot of trouble at the airport.
This is what I would recommend. Buy 2 sets of these and you would have a 6 hour laptop battery (if your input voltage from the brick is 12V) - or 8 hours if you leave your current battery plugged in. Yes, it will weigh 4 pounds... but the price and the battery life are very good.
If weight is a concern, you could roll your own pack using the new Lithium-polymer cells. But this will add up to over $100 quickly to get the capacities you are talking about. www.b-p-p.com is a good place for Li-poly cells at a good price.
www.bydusa.com
They are a Chinese battery manufacturer and they sell direct over the internet at the cheapest prices that I have ever seen. I have purchased from them several times. The batteries are good and the price is very good. They sell a "universal" laptop battery here You'll need to match the voltage and get the right connector to make this work, so make sure that the DC input coming from the power brick is the same as the output they sell. My IBM takes 16V and their 12V battery wouldn't cut it for me.
But you can buy their cells "loose" and then solder them together to make any size that you want. Using their tabbed C-cells you could create a laptop battery with longer power duration than a standard Li-ion pack for ~$40.
Speaking from experience, if you want to go the loose battery soldering route, get the tabbed cells and avoid the non-tabbed ones. It is vastly easier to create a pack with tabs than to muck around with soldering wires onto the non-tabbed version. You'll probably want some shrink-wrap as well - www.edogfight.com sells battery shrink-wrap cheaply. If you are planning on taking it onto a plane, you'll want to have the thing look like it's not a bomb - so duct taping it all together is probably not a good choice. Shrink-wrap and a little sticker on it that looks official saying that it's a "14V 4200mAh NiMH universal laptop battery" or something like that will save a lot of trouble at the airport.
This is what I would recommend. Buy 2 sets of these and you would have a 6 hour laptop battery (if your input voltage from the brick is 12V) - or 8 hours if you leave your current battery plugged in. Yes, it will weigh 4 pounds... but the price and the battery life are very good.
If weight is a concern, you could roll your own pack using the new Lithium-polymer cells. But this will add up to over $100 quickly to get the capacities you are talking about. www.b-p-p.com is a good place for Li-poly cells at a good price.
apoppin
Lifer
They'd look like batteries under the X-ray. It's those searches right before you get onto the plane that I was thinking about.
Thanks. I use them to make R/C electric airplane batteries. Best prices that I've ever seen and they are nice people to deal with too. $15 for 4 AA and 4AAA high-capacity NiMH batteries and a wall charger. Their prices are amazing....
Wow. Thanks for all the info. I'm going to go ahead and do it this way. Weight really will not be too much of an issue as I will be taking it on trips and care more about the ability to work long periods without a power supply than lugging around a few extra pounds.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes + WCL Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 22K
-
News NVIDIA and Intel to Develop AI Infrastructure and Personal Computing Products- Started by poke01
- Replies: 384
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
Facebook
Twitter