New 9 Cell Battery but already on 91% of max capacity

Hello people,

I've got T60P noteboook which came standard with a 6 cell battery. This battery los all his capacity in less then 60 cycles which frustreded me a lot.
After using the laptop for a while on only AC I started searching on the internet for more information about the battery lifespan and found this website. On this website is really a lot of usefull information (thumbs up for the owner and moderators of this website) which did me decide to give a new battery a try. This because i think killing my previous battery with the wrong power settings and having it connected to the AC in most cases.

Last monday i've received my newly 9 cell battery which i'm very happy with, but the power manager is telling me that it only can hold 91% of its maximum power. I hope this isn't true and that the powermanager has it all wrong or the battery is going to perform better after a few cycles.

I've search on the forum for what to do when starting to use a new battery but that was nothing special just use it.

The actions that i've done with this new battery is:
I've charged it the first time to 100% and used it till it dropped under the 20%. Recharged it back up to 100% percent again.

I hope somebody has a good tip because a battery which is brand new and already lost almost 10% is really not acceptable.

Thank you very much for you information.

With kind regards,
Patrick

 

check Battery thresholds in power manager

 

That's a bad battery. Send it back for a replacement, especially if you bought it direct from Lenovo.

Here's a suggestion: If your battery is IN your laptop, it still gets more heated up throughout a given timespan than say if you store it in a fridge. Heat is the #1 killer of batteries.
I gave this tip to my dad after he had the same problem you are having with short battery life. Keep the 6-cell battery. If you anticipate being mobile for the life of the 9-cell battery, swap it out. if you're tethered to the AC adapter, keep the 6-cell in. In general storing a lithium battery in the fridge in an airtight container gives them the best life. At the very least, keep the 9-cell out of the laptop, and say store it in your laptop bag at room temp.

 

The T60s seemed to have all defective batteries. Everyone I know with one had the battery failed.

 

Mine is pushing 2.5 years and has dropped from 84Wh original to 67Wh with 612 cycles. My sisters T61 has something crazy like 1400 cycles and still works pretty well last time I checked. (she is in Belgium, hard to find out what exact reading is )

 

Thank you for all you answers.

@hceuterpe
I've contacted the comany which delivered the battery what to do. I don't want a battery which decreased a lot already.

I was planning to do what you advised. use the 6 cell when using AC power for long a long time and the 9 cell when i'm on the go. This way I really hope to achieve a nice long battery lifespan.

@ millermagic:
Everyone that started there master at the University could buy a lenovo T60p for a nice price and some still have no problem with their battery. But there is quite a large percentage with problems. I think this is because the standard power setting is charging it always to 100%.

@ Kevin
I really hope to achieve the same results as you. May I ask you how often you use your battery? And do you store your battery in the fridge?

1400 cycles and still pretty well thats really amazing. Belgium isn't that far away from me . I live in the Netherlands another small country just above Belgium.

BTW:
I saw that the batteries are coming from different manufacturers:
My 6-cell battery is build by Sony and my 9-cell is build by Panasonic. Both original batteries.

Is one manufacturer better as the other?

 

I will personally never trust a Sony lithium ion battery pack, but that is just me Sanyo or Panasonic all the way. My 9-cell is a Panasonic BTW

 

Btw, you want to cycle it from 100% to 0% at least once a month, probably once a month is good. You don't want to leave it around for months unused. Also leaving it in the fridge in an airtight container is a good idea.

Heh, I remember my 6-cell T41 battery. it went through 110 cycles and went "red"... And then the D600 battery, right before the battery recalls. I somehow managed to leave the laptop on, while laying in bed..UNDERNEATH the sheets in the summer. I came home from work in the afternoon (about 8 hours later), the low orange battery light was blinking and I could barely touch it. I'm surprised it didn't melt. It also was a recalled Sony battery!!
I sent in for a new battery though I didn't return the recalled one. Good timing, considering that battery had about 20 minutes of battery life. However, I figured if it could sustain that, it wasn't gonna catch on fire. i use that as the AC adapter battery and have 4 for traveling (3 module bay batteries and 1 main).


Yeah I need a new laptop, just waiting for the new T-series after the Calpellas come out, probably in early 2010...

 

I've contacted the company who had sold the battery and the sended me a new one. Which does hold 100% of its original capacity.

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you.

 

actually how to check the battery cycles on vista ?