HELP! Battery Confusion over Acer 5315-2153

:confused2:Let me first apologize if there is another thread that could have solved my problem, but I have been searching this forum for a couple of months now trying to learn how to fix a broken ACER Aspire that I bought, and I just can't waste any more time trying to figure out the right search terms for my battery issue.

I have no idea if I'm headed in the right direction getting this thing to work, but I'm at a troubleshooting point where I'm speculating I need a new battery. I'll be asking for more help later on if the battery isn't the issue, but for now my main question is:

"WHICH IS THE BEST BATTERY MANUFACTURED TODAY THAT WILL WORK IN AN ACER 5315-2153???"​

In trying to research an answer for that, everywhere I look raises other questions I need answers to in order to choose a battery:

• "Can the Acer Aspire 5315-2153 use a 14.8 V Battery"
• "Where does the laptop indicate what battery voltages it is capable of supporting?"
• "Can I use an 8-cell or a 9-cell or a 12-cell??"
• "Can I find a battery with a higher mAh (ie. 5200, 7800...) that will work with my model?"

Explanations I find regarding 11.1 volt versus 14.8 volt is, putting it mildly, whacked. Nobody is clear on how to ascertain what voltage battery your particular laptop can handle or how the voltage amount makes a difference or the kinds of problems encountered using one where the other should be used. Battery sale sites list the 5315 as compatible under 3 different voltage amounts. I cannot find anywhere on the laptop itself or in it's specifications and manuals an indication of the battery voltage amounts it is capable of supporting. Even Acer's specs do not make that clear. The back of the laptop references 19V as does the AC charger, but I'm pretty sure that does not have to do with the batteries voltages; or does it?

The battery it came with is one indicator (11.1 volt 4000 mAh - provided it's really the original one) but in 2010 batteries are far better than that one and I was hoping to upgrade to one that lasts longer or is more powerful.

Battery sale sites list the 5315 as "compatible with" so many different batteries, sizes, shapes and voltages I could just scream. Some aren't even the proper shape in their pictures! I thought I could trust their expertise where they indicated "guaranteed to work with the following models" and I even went the extra step of emailing them first to be certain it would work. The reply I received was "Yes, this battery will work with your model." The battery they shipped me was a 9-cell, 7800 mAh, 14.4v battery that was the wrong shape and had the connection on the wrong side! I've returned it for a refund and they apologized saying all their boxes in the warehouse were mislabeled and all their battery descriptions and photos on their site were in the process of being updated. Today I don't trust what any sale site says and they all imply different things. Many claim certain 8-cell, 14.8 volt batteries are compatible replacements for the part number AS07B41 or the SKU LC.BTP00.008 (the 5315's orig. battery numbers.) Yet half the sites add a comment after the voltage saying (warning - not compatible with 11.1 v battery) whah? The sites that refer me to an 11.1 v alternative link me to a 4000 mAh 6 cell which is the original one. I found "11.1 V 4800 mAh Acer Aspire AS07B32 AS07B41 5310 5310 5315 Laptop Battery [Acer AS07B32]" which states it's an 8-cell but I'm afraid to trust sale sites again and waste more time.

All the forums I've researched don't have many posts regarding compatible batteries for the 5315 and don't answer my above questions.

Can somebody please help me answer my questions? I would so greatly appreciate understanding this better

Thank you!
Judy

 

Can't answer all your questions but some thoughts,

You say you are trying to get it to work ? It should work with the battery removed and running on AC I would have though. If not disconnect all power and press and hold the power button for 20 seconds or so and then try again.

The output voltage of the charger has no relation to the battery as such... and neither does the output current available. The battery is charged at a constant current (way below what the charger can supply) and the battery terminal voltage is also monitered. During charging this voltage will rise and when the designed level has been reached and the current has fallen to a predetermined value, the charge is terminated. Li-on cells are never trickle charged either, that destroys them. They are fully charged to the correct voltage and then cut off.

More cells in a battery mean the terminal voltage is higher. That requires the charging circuit in the laptop to be able to detect that and alter things accordingly... whether the 5315 does that I don't know.
Many batteries have onboard electronics built in... they are more than just cells connected together and this is one reason many cheap generic types fail to work... the laptop is expecting to "talk" to the battery and nothing is there

tbh I would have thought emailing Acer to ask about buying a new battery and whether any higher capacity ones were available would be the safest option... or have you checked there websites... do they have an accessories section/shop that might show the options available ?

 

Hi

This is one of those areas where the manufacturer doesn't help too much as if you stay unclear you may just pay them $120 for an original battery

First tactic, See what the current battery says and google to understand if that part is 'right' for your laptop.

Second, order a compatible one from a trustable site with a return policy (!)

Third, if going for more capacity :
Many compatible batteries state a higher capacity than they should to try to swing the sale, then they use chap cells that deliver 70 - 80% of the originals capacity. You laptop plus HW-Info etc has all the tools to evaluate and report capacity though so if a battery is not value for money (vs as claimed) then send it back !

If going for more cells /volts to get more WattHour capacity :
This is a riskier option. Try to determine if the laptop was offered with a high capacity battery option and if that involved the pack hanging out of the bottom/back. Can you live with this ? If so get an original or compatible version of the long life battery. Makers rarely list these but you can ask e-bay laptop sellers or forums if anyone with this option can tell you number.

Why the incompatible worry? . Non technical explanation.

Laptops convert the battery voltage for internal use by taking pulses of current out of the battery to keep pace with the internal demand. In reality laptops consume Watt Hours of energy from their batteries more than volts and amps. So if putting more cells and therefore more volts into a longer life battery pack adds to the total Watt hours (volts x Ahours) the the laptop will last longer on the 'bigger' pack. The battery voltage does not directly matter (see later) - just the ability to push current pulses into the laptop voltage regulators. HOWEVER
It is only true if
1) The highest battery voltage is within the laptop regulators specification
2) The charging circuit can charge at the higher voltage
3) The battery and the charging circuit can agree on what charged looks like
4) The laptop battery meter and firmware can agree what DISCHARGED looks like - or you can wreck a pack by over discharge or see the laptop shut down too soon.
5) Nothing operates directly from the battery supply.

SO really unless the manufacturer has approved a higher voltage pack it is high risk to use one. Some Laptops that use a particular battery pack may use that particular (e.g. 6 cell 11v) as as the lowest cells/ voltage option or as the highest voltage option. You might imagine if it fits its fine but life is not always that simple. Battery suppliers declaim all responsibility for everything as a starting point so saying a 14v battery is incompatible with an 11v battery is sensible for them . . but it still might be fine .

 

Thank you for timely replies.

Mooly - Thank you!
As per trying to get it to work, I purchased it "broken" cheaply on ebay because the seller was not technical, couldn't get it to boot anymore and just opted to sell it and buy a better laptop. My first and main goal was just to reformat the harddrive and start fresh, following this site's downgrade to XP steps given so wonderfully by BigOZone. But in order to do that, I first had to be able to get to the screens that allow me to reformat the partitions, etc. I started with the DVD containing the operating system it came with (Vista) figuring it was the safest way to just get back to the beginning and access "repair" options. Tons of surprises since.

The previous owner said someone told him he needed a new battery and the cost of $128 led him to just sell it. I'm pretty sure this is the battery included with it when he purchased it from Walmart so it most probably is too old. I did the reconditioning cylcle to it 4 times when I received it and it now holds a charge for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Every attempt to boot yields something different:

1. a prompt to "complete installation of Vista 7?"
2. BSOD twice with no real helpful details at bottom
3. "Windows is completing the XP Installation...."
4. "Please install the original Windows Vista installation disk"
5. And other various random results.....
6. (I hit F2 for BIOS) I get in, select F12 to allow boot from DVD so I can just work with my UBCD disc, take a moment to write down specs from main menu and during that time, the laptop locks up, does not respond to keyboard or anything - then after about 15 minutes, the screen starts to get bizarre red or white pixels along various lines all over and the laptop just stalls/locks up.

Most common occurrence is the locking up of the computer after 2-5 minutes powered up, usually during the DVD loading, or during BIOS access, or during "Windows is now installing files......" type messages. Once it was about 30 minutes into the installing from CD process for Windows Op System and the distorted pixels slowly started escalating and the lockup happened. All reboots after any outcome fail by first starting to "churn" for boot and within 5-10 seconds all indicator lights are off and the churning stops and the screen remains black - even if I hold the power button down; I have to let the computer stay off for about a day and try again. Sites like this one have warned not to do a repair to the operating system or try to downgrade to XP unless both the battery is installed and the AC is connected, so that's what I usually do. I have tried it with only the battery and only AC though. I can always eventually get it to "start" booting after a resting period, but the lockups always happen. I'll will try the disconnection of all power sources and holding the power button down for more than 20 seconds - not sure I tried that yet.

As per contacting Acer:
Can't troubleshoot on their support site because they don't find the serial number in their database. It is the actual serial number from the BIOS main screen though, and that matches the sticker on the back that it came with when it was purchased. Other upgrade info on their site was last updated May 2008 and just shows the battery that comes with each system and it doesn't show any battery upgrades for any of them except the 6920 and the 8920 in case they were purchased with the 5315's battery; they show an 8-cell option.

Contacting them on the phone yielded "it's gonna cost you to talk to me..." but I was told they don't provide support for this model and I should consider the more recent offerings..... Once I was told that they won't bother spending time detailing what batteries can be used with the 5315 because they don't recommend that model anymore and focus their time on the newer ones. He said they would only recommend the original battery for any of the outdated models for support efficiency's sake.

BruBoo- Thank you!
As per "current battery":
The one in it is it's current/original - but that model is so outdated and weak I thought it was a waste of money if I'm going to have to replace it again in a year and if it's not going to give me that much life each cycle.

As per compatible: I did order from a trusted seller on ebay who had a separate battery sales site as well. They nor two other ebay sellers could answer any of my questions. Well, they sort of could - they all said "if our description lists it under the compatible models, then the battery will work..." but that ended up not being true. They don't seem to be "experts" in the areas that would answer what the highest battery voltage is within the 5315 regulators specification, what higher capacity batteries are compatible with the 5315, or where I can look to find the voltage specifications for this laptop.


*You guys are great. I'm looking forward to any responses, any other questions, or other ideas you may have. Maybe others will see this post too???

Sincerely,
Judy

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Hi.

I think that any battery more than 3 -4 years old can be called suspect in the case of laptops . . (Yes I know someone will have a good one from 1963 . . .but) not sure how old yours is . . 2 - 3 years ?

I think that one thing at a time is a good rule:

The laptop should work ok even with a dodgy or missing battery if powered from the adapter (this situation is normal when the battery is dead flat and you plug in the adapter and boot.)

I guess it is too late to throw it back at the seller. ?

The Boot problems you report are probably NOT battery related. The mention of Vista AND XP suggests an upgrade was in progress or a parallel installation tried before it was sold . .

We could try to unpick the mess but if you can't return it I would be doing the following.

If it ever gets to a loaded OS see if it was registered and if so save the license information for the OS that loaded. See websites around the place for key revealers like SIV or if you find an OEM product key one of the OEM licence back-up tools. (I am assuming you got no disks / codes and that at some point you would like to reinstall an OS)

However the failure to work properly using the UBCD is telling us a format and reinstall on the HDD is not the solution. The Laptop should sit happily all day in DOS or other bootable operating systems.

If you are familiar with Laptop innards I would suggest removing the back, de-dusting the fan, heatsinks etc, removing and re seating the RAM and trying again. While there look for any signs of liquid damage, burst /leaking capacitors etc. Then try again with your boot CD

If still no luck have a careful look at every connecting cable and plug you can see and make sure the cooling systems (plates over the processor etc ) are not loose or tampered with.

A quick google suggests that temperature related shutdowns were an early problem with these but a Bios update (unwise to try this now !!!) helped. I am assuming the laptop was working ok until it's owner did something regrettable though.