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Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

About a year ago, my old Dell laptop battery died on me...  I researched prices on the net, and decided it wasn`t really worth spending that much on a new battery...so gave the old Dell to the missus and bought myself a new one.... meanwhile, I also researched how to "re-build" the battery, and found out how to "break open" the battery pack to check the state of the cells inside... they all checked out as fully charged !... one of the things I found, was that if you put the battery pack in a plastic bag, and placed it in a fridge overnight, then it was supposed to re-vitalize the battery !... huh... never heard so much rubbish in my life..... UNTIL....
I left the old Dell in my car overnight, and this morning decided to put some progs on it, that I may want to use when I am "out and about"... plugged in the normal mains adapter supplied for the laptop, and WOW... got a notice
The battery on this machine needs to be re-calibrated Press F1 to continue..this will take about 3 to 4 hours.
pressed F1 and got a blue screen with a pic of the battery and charge state, and it has been plugged in for just over an hour, and now showing 15% charge !...
so maybe the fridge idea really will work.... Cheesy
7 REPLIES 7
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

Awesome. Both the missus and I have laptops with dead batteries, I'll try this out Smiley Thanks Shutter!
Not applicable

Re: Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

Presumably after a night in the refrigerator you have to allow the battery to get back to room temperature or does it not matter?
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

Here is a short video .....


which answers Poppy`s question.... Wink
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

If it doesn`t work.... here is an alternative.... but you must be careful to source the correct type, voltage, and ampage.

Not applicable

Re: Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

That first link doesn't work but I found what is possibly the same or similar one and it was advocating the use of the freezer for 14-15 hours (not the refrigerator). The maker of the video recommended that this should be done three times, each one allowing the battery to return to room temperature.  Also said to discharge it completely before putting it in the cooler. 
Wouldn't like to attempt the hack in the second link.
The freezer idea worked for some, not for others - someone said it doesn't work with Ni-Cd cell batteries.  Anyway, here's the search page.  Batteries on my laptops aren't holding charge as well as they should but am going to wait for Matt to try it first so hope that he does and that he reports back.
itsme
Grafter
Posts: 5,924
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎07-04-2007

Re: Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

Quote from: shutter
The battery on this machine needs to be re-calibrated

Got the same message on my HP PDA this week and it has not left the house and the minimum temperature it would have seen would be 15.5C. Use it nearly daily but the battery did go flat the week before and normally I would have placed it on charge that day but left it for a week.
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Laptop Battery - resurrected from the dead !

Just to confirm.... IT WORKS.... I put my battery in the freezer overnight... about 16 hours... took it out,... let it "warm up" to room temp... inserted in the laptop, and it worked... without charging it !... so plugged in the mains, and it "appears" to be charging...
I say "appears"....because the laptop states "no battery fitted"... however the (normally) flashing orange light, for the battery  (next to the power light) has remained "out"  whilst the power is plugged in... and later on, the laptop was left "on" battery power for over 1 Hour.... proving to me that it does indeed work... Smiley
Has anyone else tried it? and what results do you have ?