is battery dead?

Hello:
my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

thank you

On 28 Mar 2015, Maurice SAAB wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

Possibly. But batteries don't usually fail catastrophically, they
usually go bad slowly over time. Did you notice that the battery
wouldn't hold its charge for as long lately, or that it couldn't be
charged to 100%?

Maurice SAAB wrote:
Hello:
my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

thank you


http://www.batteryuniversity.com/lea..._ion_batteries

Over-discharging Lithium-ion

Li-ion should never be discharged too low,
and there are several safeguards to prevent
this from happening.

The equipment cuts off when the battery discharges
to about 3.0V/cell, stopping the current flow. If
the discharge continues to about 2.70V/cell or lower,
the battery’s protection circuit puts the battery into
a sleep mode. This renders the pack unserviceable
and a recharge with most chargers is not possible. ---

So if the battery reads zero, the charger will refuse
to charge it. Apparently conductive whiskers can form
in the cell, if it is discharged too low.

Do not recharge lithium-ion if a cell has stayed
at or below 1.5V for more than a week. Copper shunts
may have formed inside the cells that can lead to a
partial or total electrical short. If recharged,
the cells might become unstable, causing excessive
heat or showing other anomalies. Li-ion packs that
have been under stress are more sensitive to mechanical
abuse, such as vibration, dropping and exposure to heat.

HTH,
Paul

In article , says...

Hello:
my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

thank you

Probably, laptop batteries never last as long as the laptop under normal
usae. Couple of years max seems typical before they fall off recharging
considerably. Problem is the cost of replacement makes just buying a new
laptop attractive.

Thing is can still use them for things like connected to stereo and tv
for music and videos, add a desktop monitor, keyboard and mouse also
works well enough etc. and so what if it needs power cord for that.

Hi, Maurice.

This is NOT guaranteed to work, but...

When my 5-year-old, lightly-used Acer netbook's battery failed slowly a few
months ago, I considered replacing the battery - or buying a new notebook.
But I half-remembered some advice and decided to try it.

I let the battery run down so far that it would not even light up the ON
LED. Then I left it turned on but unplugged overnight to be sure it was
really exhausted. When I plugged it in the next morning, it started
charging and fully recharged. It's still discharging and recharging as it
should, weeks later. ;)

Try it. If it doesn't work, you've lost nothing because the battery is
dead, right?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2012 (Build 16.4.3528.0331) in Win8.1 Pro w/Media Center


"Maurice SAAB" wrote in message ...

Hello:
my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

thank you

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 18:14:44 -0000, Paul wrote:

Maurice SAAB wrote:
Hello:
my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

thank you


http://www.batteryuniversity.com/lea..._ion_batteries

Over-discharging Lithium-ion

Li-ion should never be discharged too low,
and there are several safeguards to prevent
this from happening.

The equipment cuts off when the battery discharges
to about 3.0V/cell, stopping the current flow. If
the discharge continues to about 2.70V/cell or lower,
the battery’s protection circuit puts the battery into
a sleep mode. This renders the pack unserviceable
and a recharge with most chargers is not possible. ---

So if the battery reads zero, the charger will refuse
to charge it. Apparently conductive whiskers can form
in the cell, if it is discharged too low.

Do not recharge lithium-ion if a cell has stayed
at or below 1.5V for more than a week. Copper shunts
may have formed inside the cells that can lead to a
partial or total electrical short. If recharged,
the cells might become unstable, causing excessive
heat or showing other anomalies. Li-ion packs that
have been under stress are more sensitive to mechanical
abuse, such as vibration, dropping and exposure to heat.

I removed whiskers in a NiCad pack by blasting it with 4 times the rated voltage for several seconds. Not sure if Lithium likes that though.

--
Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and newsgroups are nothing like Shakespeare

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:40:53 -0000, Tough Guy no. 1265 wrote:

I removed whiskers in a NiCad pack by blasting
it with 4 times the rated voltage for several seconds.
Not sure if Lithium likes that though.

The fun thing about batteries is that whatever you learned about one
type probably can not be applied safely to another.

Well, OK, that's really an opinion, but to some extent it seems to be
reasonable advice.

No citations, just my impression from general reading over the years

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:57:10 -0000, Gene E. Bloch wrote:

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:40:53 -0000, Tough Guy no. 1265 wrote:

I removed whiskers in a NiCad pack by blasting
it with 4 times the rated voltage for several seconds.
Not sure if Lithium likes that though.

The fun thing about batteries is that whatever you learned about one
type probably can not be applied safely to another.

Well, OK, that's really an opinion, but to some extent it seems to be
reasonable advice.

No citations, just my impression from general reading over the years

It also only gave it a small amount of life. Generally once a battery's tired, it's best just to throw it away. I only did it to resurrect a very old laptop to get data off it.

--
A patient tells the Doctor, "I've been going to a faith healer, but wasn't getting any better."
The Doctor smiled and said, "And what dumb advice did this phony give you?"
"He told me to come see you." replied the new patient.

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:40:53 -0000, Tough Guy no. 1265 wrote:

I removed whiskers in a NiCad pack by blasting it with 4 times the rated voltage for several seconds. Not sure if Lithium likes that though.

Lithium loves that so much it tends to explode or burst into flames.

--
Faster, cheaper, quieter than HS2
and built in 5 years;
UKUltraspeed http://www.500kmh.com/

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 16:35:56 -0500, "R. C. White"
wrote:

Hi, Maurice.

This is NOT guaranteed to work, but...

When my 5-year-old, lightly-used Acer netbook's battery failed slowly a few
months ago, I considered replacing the battery - or buying a new notebook.
But I half-remembered some advice and decided to try it.

I let the battery run down so far that it would not even light up the ON
LED. Then I left it turned on but unplugged overnight to be sure it was
really exhausted. When I plugged it in the next morning, it started
charging and fully recharged. It's still discharging and recharging as it
should, weeks later. ;)

Try it. If it doesn't work, you've lost nothing because the battery is
dead, right?

My cousin claimed that putting the unit (in my case an electric
toothbrush) in the freezer overnight would reactivate the battery. I
tried it. It seems to me it made no difference.

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 22:07:22 -0000, Tough Guy no. 1265 wrote:

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:57:10 -0000, Gene E. Bloch wrote:

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:40:53 -0000, Tough Guy no. 1265 wrote:

I removed whiskers in a NiCad pack by blasting
it with 4 times the rated voltage for several seconds.
Not sure if Lithium likes that though.

The fun thing about batteries is that whatever you learned about one
type probably can not be applied safely to another.

Well, OK, that's really an opinion, but to some extent it seems to be
reasonable advice.

No citations, just my impression from general reading over the years

It also only gave it a small amount of life. Generally once a battery's tired, it's best just to throw it away. I only did it to resurrect a very old laptop to get data off it.

Same with my battery. A 50% or 100% improvement when tripling or
quadrupling the battery life would be more appropriate.

For my use, I just keep it plugged in, or else recharge it when I'm
planning to use it (but if I do the latter I have to anticipate).

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 22:15:51 -0000, Rodney Pont wrote:

On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:40:53 -0000, Tough Guy no. 1265 wrote:

I removed whiskers in a NiCad pack by blasting it with 4 times the rated voltage for several seconds. Not sure if Lithium likes that though.

Lithium loves that so much it tends to explode or burst into flames.

If you did it for a long time, yes.

--
What does a married man say after sex?
Don't tell my wife.

Maurice SAAB wrote:

my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

Details required:
- Laptop's make and model.
- How old is the battery? It's chemical based so it's not eternal.
- Have you left the laptop in storage for months months, maybe
years, with no charging cycle during that time?
- What's the chemistry of the battery? NiCAD, Lithium (which type)?

Vague questions elicit vague responses. Without any details, my guess
is the battery is too old or has not been properly stored.

Tough Guy no. 1265 wrote:
On Sat, 28 Mar 2015 18:14:44 -0000, Paul wrote:

Maurice SAAB wrote:
Hello:
my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

thank you


http://www.batteryuniversity.com/lea..._ion_batteries


Over-discharging Lithium-ion

Li-ion should never be discharged too low,
and there are several safeguards to prevent
this from happening.

The equipment cuts off when the battery discharges
to about 3.0V/cell, stopping the current flow. If
the discharge continues to about 2.70V/cell or lower,
the battery’s protection circuit puts the battery into
a sleep mode. This renders the pack unserviceable
and a recharge with most chargers is not possible. ---

So if the battery reads zero, the charger will refuse
to charge it. Apparently conductive whiskers can form
in the cell, if it is discharged too low.

Do not recharge lithium-ion if a cell has stayed
at or below 1.5V for more than a week. Copper shunts
may have formed inside the cells that can lead to a
partial or total electrical short. If recharged,
the cells might become unstable, causing excessive
heat or showing other anomalies. Li-ion packs that
have been under stress are more sensitive to mechanical
abuse, such as vibration, dropping and exposure to heat.

I removed whiskers in a NiCad pack by blasting it with 4 times the rated
voltage for several seconds. Not sure if Lithium likes that though.


I wouldn't try that on Lithium.

*******

I've recovered a couple NiCd cells that way,
and really it's a waste of time, because the
cell ends up with reduced capacity, and no
longer matches the discharge curve of the
other cells in the pack.

And to recover NiCd, you do it at the
cell level. Don't connect your "giant" power
source to the whole pack. It's to be applied
to an individual 1.2V cell. On packs covered
with shrink wrap plastic, you can cut back
the plastic to get at the welded contacts you
need access to. You need to check the cell
voltage on each cell, and only blow out the
whisker on the ones that read "0.0" volts.

Paul

On 3/28/2015 1:58 PM, Maurice SAAB wrote:
Hello:
my laptop battery is not charging even when it's shutted down
does that means that the battery is dead?
I tried removing and re-inserting it, nothing changed

thank you

The battery or the laptop charger circuitry is suspect.
Older laptops seem to cost as much to repair as a newer replacement
might cost. Do I buy a new battery for $100+, or spring for a new laptop?

Beyond that - - -
If the battery is a Lipo, it should be kept/stored at 50% charge for
longevity.
Laptops have a lot of variations. Some use a battery that has a built in
battery protector and memory. There may be a reset process for the
battery monitor. When the monitor prevents charging, it may be possible
to circumvent it. Exactly how depends on how that particular one works.
For instance, An "Aspire One" laptop battery refused to charge.
using an external charger allowed the battery to charge. (I have
chargers that will properly charge just about any chemistry rechargeable
battery.

But, the Laptop still refused to operate with that battery fully
charged. Using an inexpensive DVM in voltage measurement mode from one
of the battery power pins to one of the other pins reset the monitor,
allowing the laptop to work again with that battery. Some of the HP
laptops use a similar scheme.