Looks like I need a new battery for my t61. It's completely dead. 0%.

   What's the skinny on getting a replacement battery? I see they have 
different number of cells as well as different mAh as well as Whrs.

  Are all the different number of cells the same voltage? (I can't 
figure that out!)

   How about ordering 3rd party batteries? How about the ones from Hong 
Kong?

   I guess what I'd really like is someone to say, this is a great 
battery at a good price, buy it here!

   I've done a bit of searching in this group, perhaps I haven't gone 
back far enough as it seems this might be a FAQ.

   Jeff

On 2008-10-17, Jeff <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote:
>    Looks like I need a new battery for my t61. It's completely dead. 0%.
....snip...
>    I guess what I'd really like is someone to say, this is a great 
> battery at a good price, buy it here!

Check eBay seller sib-usa.  We've bought a number of batteries from
them for my wife's R51 and my T40.  Both standard capacity and
extended.

Quick shipping, good prices, and what seems to be a good product.  No
affiliation, caveat emptor.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Battery-for-IBM-Thinkpad-R60-R60E-T60-T60P-T61
-Z60_W0QQitemZ250300588991QQihZ015QQcategoryZ14298QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
QQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262

-- 
email: echo "sbs@sbsrearg.pbz" | sed 's/s/o/g' | rot13
All posts from Google Groups are auto-killed.

Jeff wrote:
>   Looks like I need a new battery for my t61. It's completely dead. 0%.
> 
>   What's the skinny on getting a replacement battery? I see they have 
> different number of cells as well as different mAh as well as Whrs.
> 
>  Are all the different number of cells the same voltage? (I can't figure 
> that out!)
> 
>   How about ordering 3rd party batteries? How about the ones from Hong 
> Kong?
> 
>   I guess what I'd really like is someone to say, this is a great 
> battery at a good price, buy it here!
> 
>   I've done a bit of searching in this group, perhaps I haven't gone 
> back far enough as it seems this might be a FAQ.
> 
>   Jeff

How long have you had this battery?  It's kind of early for a battery to 
be completely dead, they can last for years (depending on use, of 
course).  And a T61 is pretty recent, but of course it depends on when 
you got it.  (I got mine in August 2007 and the battery still holds 95% 
of original charge.)  What makes you think it is dead?  Did this happen 
gradually over a period of heavy use (lots of charge-discharge cycles)? 
  If it happened all at once then you're (probably) looking at a 
different problem.  Just trying to save you money.

If it is indeed dead, the case is this.  More cells means longer battery 
life.  More cells also means more laptop weight.  The 4-cell battery 
sits flush with the back edge of the laptop, but anything bigger will 
stick out, about an inch or so (depending on which you get).  So if 
you're hauling it around a lot but you don't need more than an hour or 
so of battery, the 4 cell is the way to go.  If you need to run it on 
battery for longer periods of time, get more cells, but be aware this 
will increase the weight of the laptop.

If you *never* use it on battery, you can get a dummy battery pack that 
goes in the bay and looks pretty but serves no useful purpose.

Newegg has some batteries, and you've already got another suggestion 
from another poster in this group.

Best of luck.

Trent

In article <8rOdncYvxtsYGWXVnZ2dnUVZ_uidnZ2d@earthlink.com>, Trent Josephsen <tjkk9008@peoplepc.com> wrote:
will increase the weight of the laptop.
>
>If you *never* use it on battery, you can get a dummy battery pack that 
>goes in the bay and looks pretty but serves no useful purpose.
>
Trent, could you elaborate on this a little?  A Google search and an eBay 
check didn't show anything obvious.  Such a gismo would be personally quite 
useful.

Art

Arthur Shapiro wrote:
> In article <8rOdncYvxtsYGWXVnZ2dnUVZ_uidnZ2d@earthlink.com>, Trent Josephsen wrote:
> will increase the weight of the laptop.
>> If you *never* use it on battery, you can get a dummy battery pack that 
>> goes in the bay and looks pretty but serves no useful purpose.
>>
> Trent, could you elaborate on this a little?  A Google search and an eBay 
> check didn't show anything obvious.  Such a gismo would be personally quite 
> useful.
> 
> Art

Let's see...  I found a few references to FRU 91P9719, but only with 
relation to the T43 and similar.  The only one of those I could find for 
sale was $90.00 at:

http://yhst-45841675211853.stores.yahoo.net/91p9719.html

I originally found the reference to such an item at

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=55308

Perhaps I spoke too soon.  But if you want one, e-mail Lenovo and let 
them know.  I know there's a market for them, and they may have 
something in the works.

Apologies.

Trent

"Trent Josephsen" <tjkk9008@peoplepc.com> wrote in message 
news:8rOdncYvxtsYGWXVnZ2dnUVZ_uidnZ2d@earthlink.com...

> How long have you had this battery?  It's kind of early for a battery to 
> be completely dead, they can last for years (depending on use, of course). 
> And a T61 is pretty recent, but of course it depends on when you got it. 
> (I got mine in August 2007 and the battery still holds 95% of original 
> charge.)  What makes you think it is dead?  Did this happen gradually over 
> a period of heavy use (lots of charge-discharge cycles)? If it happened 
> all at once then you're (probably) looking at a different problem.  Just 
> trying to save you money.
>

I honestly don't know what the deal with these batteries is. Some last 
forever, some a year.

The battery has a 1 yr warranty. Even if you have a 3 year on the device, 
the battery is only one year.
I replace a few of these each year for my users and I always buy them at 
http://www.thinkpad-parts.com/.
This is the 9 cell for your T61
http://www.thinkpad-parts.com/92P1131-ThinkPad.html

Trent Josephsen wrote:
> Jeff wrote:
>>   Looks like I need a new battery for my t61. It's completely dead. 0%.
>>
>>   What's the skinny on getting a replacement battery? I see they have 
>> different number of cells as well as different mAh as well as Whrs.
>>
>>  Are all the different number of cells the same voltage? (I can't 
>> figure that out!)
>>
>>   How about ordering 3rd party batteries? How about the ones from Hong 
>> Kong?
>>
>>   I guess what I'd really like is someone to say, this is a great 
>> battery at a good price, buy it here!
>>
>>   I've done a bit of searching in this group, perhaps I haven't gone 
>> back far enough as it seems this might be a FAQ.
>>
>>   Jeff
> 
> How long have you had this battery?  It's kind of early for a battery to 
> be completely dead, they can last for years (depending on use, of 
> course).  And a T61 is pretty recent, but of course it depends on when 
> you got it.  (I got mine in August 2007 and the battery still holds 95% 
> of original charge.)  What makes you think it is dead?  Did this happen 
> gradually over a period of heavy use (lots of charge-discharge cycles)? 
>  If it happened all at once then you're (probably) looking at a 
> different problem.  Just trying to save you money.

  I bought it from a friend who had upgraded (you know, latest 
greatest). It had been sitting for a while, perhaps a few weeks. It 
wouldn't power up without the charger. After several charge cycles it 
still shows 0 on the battery monitor and is completely dead sans 
charger. A voltmeter shows nothing.
> 
> If it is indeed dead, the case is this.  More cells means longer battery 
> life.  More cells also means more laptop weight.  The 4-cell battery 
> sits flush with the back edge of the laptop, but anything bigger will 
> stick out, about an inch or so (depending on which you get).  So if 
> you're hauling it around a lot but you don't need more than an hour or 
> so of battery, the 4 cell is the way to go.  If you need to run it on 
> battery for longer periods of time, get more cells, but be aware this 
> will increase the weight of the laptop.

GF likes to sit out by the lake on nice days. I'd like to still get some 
work done!
> 
> If you *never* use it on battery, you can get a dummy battery pack that 
> goes in the bay and looks pretty but serves no useful purpose.
> 
> Newegg has some batteries, and you've already got another suggestion 
> from another poster in this group.


It appears that the t61 14.1  battery is a bit different. Near as I can 
tell it has a latch in the middle (right next to the power connector) 
that the others lack. At the moment I'm a little irritated that every 
Think Pad has a different battery.

   Jeff
> 
> Best of luck.
> 
> Trent

Jeff wrote:
> Trent Josephsen wrote:
>> How long have you had this battery?  It's kind of early for a battery 
>> to be completely dead, they can last for years (depending on use, of 
>> course).  And a T61 is pretty recent, but of course it depends on when 
>> you got it.  (I got mine in August 2007 and the battery still holds 
>> 95% of original charge.)  What makes you think it is dead?  Did this 
>> happen gradually over a period of heavy use (lots of charge-discharge 
>> cycles)?  If it happened all at once then you're (probably) looking at 
>> a different problem.  Just trying to save you money.
> 
>  I bought it from a friend who had upgraded (you know, latest greatest). 
> It had been sitting for a while, perhaps a few weeks. It wouldn't power 
> up without the charger. After several charge cycles it still shows 0 on 
> the battery monitor and is completely dead sans charger. A voltmeter 
> shows nothing.

I see.  When the battery is completely discharged, as might happen if 
left on a shelf for a while (a few weeks probably wouldn't do it unless 
it was discharged to a few percent already), what can happen is that the 
ThinkPad will refuse to charge it, despite the fact that it's perfectly 
all right.  If that's the case, you want to use a "stupid" charger to 
get it back in the range where the ThinkPad will charge it for you. 
I've never done this myself, but you can find more info on 
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=43498

The other possibility, which is just as likely if not more so, is that 
your battery just died suddenly (it happens).  Then the only thing you 
can do is buy a new one.

Trent

Trent Josephsen wrote:

   Hello Trent,

> Jeff wrote:
>> Trent Josephsen wrote:
>>> How long have you had this battery?  It's kind of early for a battery 
>>> to be completely dead, they can last for years (depending on use, of 
>>> course).  And a T61 is pretty recent, but of course it depends on 
>>> when you got it.  (I got mine in August 2007 and the battery still 
>>> holds 95% of original charge.)  What makes you think it is dead?  Did 
>>> this happen gradually over a period of heavy use (lots of 
>>> charge-discharge cycles)?  If it happened all at once then you're 
>>> (probably) looking at a different problem.  Just trying to save you 
>>> money.
>>
>>  I bought it from a friend who had upgraded (you know, latest 
>> greatest). It had been sitting for a while, perhaps a few weeks. It 
>> wouldn't power up without the charger. After several charge cycles it 
>> still shows 0 on the battery monitor and is completely dead sans 
>> charger. A voltmeter shows nothing.
> 
> I see.  When the battery is completely discharged, as might happen if 
> left on a shelf for a while (a few weeks probably wouldn't do it unless 
> it was discharged to a few percent already), what can happen is that the 
> ThinkPad will refuse to charge it, despite the fact that it's perfectly 
> all right.  If that's the case, you want to use a "stupid" charger to 
> get it back in the range where the ThinkPad will charge it for you. I've 
> never done this myself, but you can find more info on 
> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=43498


   From using LiIon batteries in cameras, I've known that there was a 
minimum voltage and that cameras will shutdown to prevent the voltage 
from falling too far. My understanding was that once it fell below that 
level it was no longer chargeable. I thought it had to do with the 
chemistry. The circuitry with the Laptop batteries is different in that 
it has circuitry embedded in the battery instead of all being in the 
powered device.

   With all that said, and with the fact that the best deal I could find 
was $100+ (t61 14.1 batteries have a different latch than others in the 
related family), I've decided to give it a shot before it hits the trash 
can.

   I have it charging at 66 mA and will let it go for a while until the 
voltage gets close to 10v.
> 
> The other possibility, which is just as likely if not more so, is that 
> your battery just died suddenly (it happens).  Then the only thing you 
> can do is buy a new one.

   Thanks.

   I'll post up with the results, good or bad, when I have them.

   I suspect that I'll be buying one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220297127653&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_RCRX_Pr3_PcY_BIN_IT&refitem=320310151545&itemcount=3&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget&_trksid=p284.m183&_trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26its%3DS%252BI%26itu%3DUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D3

  Jeff
> 
> Trent

Jeff wrote:
> Trent Josephsen wrote:
> 
>   Hello Trent,
> 
>> Jeff wrote:
>>> Trent Josephsen wrote:
>>>> How long have you had this battery?  It's kind of early for a 
>>>> battery to be completely dead, they can last for years (depending on 
>>>> use, of course).  And a T61 is pretty recent, but of course it 
>>>> depends on when you got it.  (I got mine in August 2007 and the 
>>>> battery still holds 95% of original charge.)  What makes you think 
>>>> it is dead?  Did this happen gradually over a period of heavy use 
>>>> (lots of charge-discharge cycles)?  If it happened all at once then 
>>>> you're (probably) looking at a different problem.  Just trying to 
>>>> save you money.
>>>
>>>  I bought it from a friend who had upgraded (you know, latest 
>>> greatest). It had been sitting for a while, perhaps a few weeks. It 
>>> wouldn't power up without the charger. After several charge cycles it 
>>> still shows 0 on the battery monitor and is completely dead sans 
>>> charger. A voltmeter shows nothing.
>>
>> I see.  When the battery is completely discharged, as might happen if 
>> left on a shelf for a while (a few weeks probably wouldn't do it 
>> unless it was discharged to a few percent already), what can happen is 
>> that the ThinkPad will refuse to charge it, despite the fact that it's 
>> perfectly all right.  If that's the case, you want to use a "stupid" 
>> charger to get it back in the range where the ThinkPad will charge it 
>> for you. I've never done this myself, but you can find more info on 
>> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=43498
> 
> 
>   From using LiIon batteries in cameras, I've known that there was a 
> minimum voltage and that cameras will shutdown to prevent the voltage 
> from falling too far. My understanding was that once it fell below that 
> level it was no longer chargeable. I thought it had to do with the 
> chemistry. The circuitry with the Laptop batteries is different in that 
> it has circuitry embedded in the battery instead of all being in the 
> powered device.
> 
>   With all that said, and with the fact that the best deal I could find 
> was $100+ (t61 14.1 batteries have a different latch than others in the 
> related family), I've decided to give it a shot before it hits the trash 
> can.
> 
>   I have it charging at 66 mA and will let it go for a while until the 
> voltage gets close to 10v.

   I let this run overnight and boosted the charge to about .2A.

   The verdict?

   Still dead!

   Jeff

>>
>> The other possibility, which is just as likely if not more so, is that 
>> your battery just died suddenly (it happens).  Then the only thing you 
>> can do is buy a new one.
> 
>   Thanks.
> 
>   I'll post up with the results, good or bad, when I have them.
> 
>   I suspect that I'll be buying one of these:
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220297127653&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_RCRX_Pr3_PcY_BIN_IT&refitem=320310151545&itemcount=3&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget&_trksid=p284.m183&_trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26its%3DS%252BI%26itu%3DUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D3 
> 
> 
>  Jeff
>>
>> Trent

Jeff wrote:
>   I let this run overnight and boosted the charge to about .2A.
>   The verdict?
>   Still dead!

	I had a horrible such experience wit a SONY VAIO a couple of yers sgo. 
I had at least two batteries do that kind of thing. I gave up on SONY, 
and bouth an R40 which ran like a dreamin comparison.

	Now I have a T43 and am having similar good luck. Along the way, IBM 
(Lenovo) swapped out the battery due to suspeced fire vulnerability. In 
that bru-aha, I ended up with two batteries from them, so I am now 
swapping them everey few months to keep a good outlook. My experience 
with rechargable batteries (cars included since 1944), batteries go only 
one way; downhill. The best you can hope for is to keep them charged per 
the charging circuit on board the laptop. That way you should be able to 
get past the warranty by about a year or so.

	(My record was 9 years in a 1972 Chevvy w/o a/c). If, after reasonable 
a charging regimen it fails to perform up to snuff, immediately pitch it 
and buy a new one of reasonable quality (Sears cheapo always did fine 
for me). Save the grief and gray hairs. Life's too short for any such 
salvage nonsense.

		Angelo Camapnella