# Can I rejuvenate my dead laptop battery?



## Davis Goertzen

Hey all,

I've got an HP Compaq 6830s laptop (17" screen) that will be two years old to me in about a month or so, and the battery's gotten so bad that I can't even get 10 minutes battery time.  (It's a Lithium-Ion battery, if that make any difference).  That just plain nullifies the whole purpose of having a laptop in the first place, and before I blow a bunch of cash on a new battery I'd like to know if I can "fix" this one.  I've mainly had it on my desk, although I've taken it places of course.  I have heard that heat is really bad for Li-Ion batteries, and my laptop fan runs pretty much steady, but I don't really know what I can do about that.  Any ideas anyone?  Thanks.

Davis


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## lion149

If the laptop does not have any issue other major besides the battery...get a new one. At least that way it will have some value when if you decide to upgrade and sell that system.

If it is a laptop that you are bascially using at a desktop (bad idea) then get a laptop cooling fan base. This will help remedy the heat situation, also do not leave the system on 24/7 that was not its intended use in the first place.


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## tremmor

Ya have to pay attention how to take care of it.
You can boil the battery plugged in constant.
Highly suggestions you read the instructions for maintaining.
Unplug to long no good like not used for 6mo and run down not good. 
Outside in extreme cold not good. Never let it deplete completely.

get another. take care of it.


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## flanker

Messing with a Li type battery may end up in a fire for your laptop and your home.


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## Dngrsone

flanker said:


> Messing with a Li type battery may end up in a fire for your laptop and your home.



IN other words, don't attempt any kind of repair-- get a replacement battery and learn how to maintain it correctly.


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## New Orleans PC

Dngrsone said:


> IN other words, don't attempt any kind of repair-- get a replacement battery and learn how to maintain it correctly.



What if he wants to learn the art of refurbishing batteries?
I didn't know this was a _"is the computer plugged in?" _forum, I thought we were supposed to be the tech savvy ones who break barriers... The ones who mod systems and overclock our CPUs... In my country, burning your hand on the soldering iron or blacking out a whole city block is a right of passage! 

​ Now, who wants to go home...?





















  





























_AND WHO WANTS TO GO WITH ME!_



​


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## Davis Goertzen

Okay, thanks the replies, guys.

The feedback I'm getting is that replacing a laptop battery is a better option than trying to take any sort of corrective action; is that correct?  I'm not interested in getting into the battery refurbishing business, I just don't want to spend more cash than necessary.

If it's not good for the battery to have my laptop plugged in all the time, what is recommended? Run strictly on AC whenever I'm at the desk and only have the battery in for when I need it mobile and then afterward to charge up again, taking out the battery upon full capacity?

I don't leave the system on 24/7, it's just throughout the day, during the week.  A laptop cooling base would probably still be good, though.

How do you recommend to take care of the new battery?

Thanks for the replies, fellows.


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## Dngrsone

New Orleans PC said:


> What if he wants to learn the art of refurbishing batteries?
> I didn't know this was a _"is the computer plugged in?" _forum, I thought we were supposed to be the tech savvy ones who break barriers... The ones who mod systems and overclock our CPUs... In my country, burning your hand on the soldering iron or blacking out a whole city block is a right of passage!



Ah, good old redneck philosophy... thought I'd left that behind when I graduated high school.

Batteries are little more than cans full of chemicals, which means that unless one is a chemist with a nice little lab worthy of a B movie, opening one up will accomplish nothing useful.

Now, a battery pack for a laptop has a few things in addition to the good old chemical batteries, but again, little can be gained by opening one up unless you want to say, 'ooh, neato!' and throwing the lot away.  And, as was mentioned previously, there is a potential for doing oneself great harm in messing with these things.

As a tech-savvy person myself (with, I might add, fresh soldering-iron burns on my hand), I can understand the desire to 'push the envelope' and all that, but I also know when I am out of my own depth.

Additionally, I am well-acquainted with computer help forums and can readily identify those who would be much safer not prying open things better left undisturbed.



Davis Goertzen said:


> Okay, thanks the replies, guys.
> 
> The feedback I'm getting is that replacing a laptop battery is a better option than trying to take any sort of corrective action; is that correct?  I'm not interested in getting into the battery refurbishing business, I just don't want to spend more cash than necessary.
> 
> If it's not good for the battery to have my laptop plugged in all the time, what is recommended? Run strictly on AC whenever I'm at the desk and only have the battery in for when I need it mobile and then afterward to charge up again, taking out the battery upon full capacity?
> 
> I don't leave the system on 24/7, it's just throughout the day, during the week.  A laptop cooling base would probably still be good, though.
> 
> How do you recommend to take care of the new battery?
> 
> Thanks for the replies, fellows.



Different battery technologies require different maintenance practices.  My HP laptop recommends I drain the battery about every 30 days to keep it in good shape.  If I need to store the battery, then I need to deplete it to about 30% before putting it in storage.


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## Davis Goertzen

lion149 said:


> If the laptop does not have any issue other major besides the battery...get a new one. At least that way it will have some value when if you decide to upgrade and sell that system.
> 
> If it is a laptop that you are bascially using at a desktop (bad idea) then get a laptop cooling fan base. This will help remedy the heat situation, also do not leave the system on 24/7 that was not its intended use in the first place.



Can you elaborate on why it's a bad idea to use a laptop basically at a desktop?  Cooling issues, what do you mean?

I've heard that it kills batteries to be plugged into the charger too much, can somebody comment on this?

One other thing I forgot to mention. Several months ago we were on a trip and throughout a bit of the trip I used my laptop plugged into a cigarette-lighter type power inverter, while in the vehicle.  Is this bad for the battery?

Thanks for the input guys.

Davis


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## Dngrsone

As I mentioned earlier, batteries are chemical devices.  When you discharge a battery, what is happening is chemical reaction (actually a type of controlled corrosion) which causes current to flow out of the battery, through your computer and back into the battery.

Recharging the battery causes that chemical reaction to work in reverse.  However, constant charging does several things-- if the battery is already charged to capacity, then there are no chemical reactions of the proper sort to feed and the excess electricity can cause unwanted reactions to take place which would degrade the battery's functioning.  Excess heat (and sometimes cold) can also degrade the chemicals and make them less effective.  So a battery naturally loses effectiveness over time, and abusing it by not discharging it in the proper manner, overcharging it, and overheating it will severely decrease its useful lifetime.

... and there are the extreme instances where high-current discharges or/and poor material choices have resulted in actual fires.


Oh, and a decent inverter should not have any more detrimental effect on your battery than regular charging.


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## powerpack

You cannot overcharge a Li-Ion battery unless there is a failure of the charge circuit. You cannot run a Li-Ion down to zero once again unless some kind of failure. Or you run down as much as you can usually about 3% and leave uncharged for an extended amount of time. There is a natural dissipation of charge and the safety circuits can't do anything about it.

Yes get a new battery. Remember no matter what you do all Li-Ion batts have a finite lifespan. The main factors are time and charge cycles. Yes heat and charge level are things you can control to try and squeeze a longer life. This needs to be done from the beginning or early on it is not for when issues arise. But alas it only slows the inevitable does not stop it.

Good luck.


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## Troncoso

I just learned something today. Gateway suggests conditioning any new batteries you get:

put the new battery in and charge completely, without turning the pc on
once it's charged, unplug the laptop, turn it on and completely drain the battery
repeat this process 2 more times.

and also, like they said, if you are using your pc near an outlet use the power supply and take out the battery. when you charge it, turn the pc off.


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