Complete battery failure in HP Pavilion zx5170

Dear fellows,

My girlfriend has a HP Pavilion zx5170 bought about 2 and a half years ago. About 8 months ago, the battery on that laptop just stopped working -- it barely holds for one minute. Ever since, the laptop has to be used while on AC power.

Unfortunately, the warranty was already over and she couldn't afford a new battery. While this is not a serious limitation for her (she wouldn't buy that beast if mobility was a serious issue), we've been wondering what happened and if it can be reversed, even if only partially.

Please bear in mind that this is not the usual and inevitable gradual wear of the battery. It happened abruptly (almost overnight) and it completely killed the battery (I consider a one-minute batter a dead battery).

Anyone has any clue of what happened or had anything similar happening?

Thanks in advance,

HerrKaputt

 

That can happen if you use a 3rd party or damaged charger. It's also possible that the ion concentration in the cells dropped below the level necessary to produce enough voltage to power the laptop. It's not really reversible, though if you have some basic electrical circuit and/or chemistry knowledge, you can rebuild the battery with new cells.

 

Battery's wear out and while a lot of people have theirs last longer 2 years is not all that bad. I would strongly discourage against rebuilding for two reasons 1st the battery MFG's are having some trouble building ones that don't catch fire and not just the danger aspect but if anything happens you are on your own not worth the risk.
2nd you do not know why it failed, if you replace cells and the problem is with the circuits that prevent overcharging and over discharging it will fail again.