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Thread: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

  1. #1
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    Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    Hi guys,

    Well with many laptops in the posession of friends and family, and as the resident tech expert, I often get asked why their laptop doesnt hold charge anymore and of course I launch into a long explaination about lithium cells and charge cycles etc which they interupt after about 5 seconds and say "How can I fix it?"

    Of course the answer is to buy a new battery, but I'm having real difficulty locating a reputable site for them to do this on. Obviosuly usually you can buy from the manufacturer, but its usually very expensive, and so I was looking at generic batteries.

    Trouble is, all the sites Ive found look like they were designed by my little brother in MS Frontpage,and although of course a flashy site can still be dodgy too, despite their UK domain name, and Union jacks all over the place they seem like their based in China. (often the same exact site can be found for US etc with just currency, domain, flags, replaced)

    Again I appreciate that generic batteries are going to be made in China, but I dont want to get stuck with import duty etc.

    Could anyone point me in the direction of a battery specialist they have uesd successfully before, and perhaps any they would recommend avoiding as well.

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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    I ordered something from here yesterday (it wasn't a battery).

    http://www.batterycity.co.uk/

    They operate out of Denmark I think, but I spoke to the manufacturer of the item I purchased and they have confirmed that they are a reputable company and recommended them to me.

    I have no idea whether the prices are competitive or not though.

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    Senior Member watercooled's Avatar
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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    If you're comfortable using a soldering iron you could pop open the dead battery, desolder the Li-ion cells (usually tagged 18650 cells) and replace them ones, noting where all the wires went beforehand of course. This way is usually far cheaper if you don't mind doing it.

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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    If you're comfortable using a soldering iron you could pop open the dead battery, desolder the Li-ion cells (usually tagged 18650 cells) and replace them ones, noting where all the wires went beforehand of course. This way is usually far cheaper if you don't mind doing it.
    not to mention dangerous... lithium cells explode if not treated carefully -.-

    I bought a big battery for my netbook from ebay.. yeah it's from china but it still works.

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    Senior Member watercooled's Avatar
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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    It's not dangerous, provided you know what you're doing, don't keep the heat on them for too long and put them in the right way. They're very unlikely to explode as, like pretty much all rechargeable batteries, they have safety vents - those exploding laptop batteries in the news were faulty, anyway they shouldn't explode/vent unless they're overcharged, shorted or get very hot and most cells have protection circuitry to prevent any of that.
    If you're not comfortable soldering then yeah ebay would be a good place to look.

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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    I don't think recommending *anyone* to solder batteries on the internet is a good idea no matter how you look at it -.-

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    Senior Member watercooled's Avatar
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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    You know I don't know why I bother trying to help people sometimes...
    Why not exactly? Plenty of people have done it successfully and saved themselves plenty of money in the process. And why exactly is soldering batteries a bad idea - that's how they are connected during manufacturing and if you're uncomfortable with it clamp a heatsink on the tab between the solder joint and the battery. And what about all the caps that get soldered daily? Putting a polarised one in the wrong way is very likely to make it explode - would you recommend everyone stop soldering them too? Just because you might be uncomfortable with soldering doesn't mean the OP is, and besides that's why I said "If you're comfortable using a soldering iron".
    Last edited by watercooled; 02-02-2010 at 10:56 PM.

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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    ebay tends to be the cheapest place

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    Re: Replacement Laptop Battery Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Blastuk View Post
    I don't think recommending *anyone* to solder batteries on the internet is a good idea no matter how you look at it -.-
    Not sure I understand the logic behind that - you might just as well say "I don't think recommending *anyone* to build their own compter on the internet... or do their own plumbing or any other activity that potentially carries sone risk.

    For electronics enthusiasts, using a soldering iron is an essential skill - so recommnding a course of action with the appropriate caveats (such as "if you are happy with a soldering iron") seems quite reasonable to me.
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