Battery problem

I bought a new battery for my CF-28 in Feb and it worked great. I have not used the laptop in about a month or so and when i turned it on, battery does not charge at all?
It does not do anything but bling the red charge light. I looked and it shows nothing. Like the battery is not even there?

Any ideas what happened?

Kevin

 

Your battery died... VERY common on CF-28s that are aging...

 

This brad new battery, was it a Panasonic brand battery, or perhaps one of the Chinese off-brand ones? I have read similar stories about short life on the generic replacement batteries on newer machines as well.

 

I have several batteries.... Brand new in the box that blink red.... If they are used too long... They die... If they are not used at all... They die. It's all that Toughbook goodness in the middle we all enjoy!

The blinking red light is one of the biggest bummers about Toughbooks....

 

Same thing happen to my 28. When I got my 29 I never used my 28 for about a month . Went to charge it , red light . I was told if it goes to far dead that you can not bring it back to life .

 

So how do we prevent this from happening? I was under the impression that by using the computer on battery power will also recondition the battery??

 

The IC chip inside tells it how to wear evenly and is the controller for the battery. It can partially help make up for ways we abuse them.... Leaving them on the AC adapter all the time or running them down to zero and leaving them uncharged and sitting... But CF-28 batteries are getting VERY long in the tooth... These things don't last but for a few years and then they are gone. You can try a couple of battery recalibrations to see if that helps... But it will only help a little if at all.

 

Exactly, any battery even the Panny brand batteries have a certain shelf life REGARDLESS of usage. The chemicals break down over time no matter what. So if the "new" unused battery one is buying was made 5+ years ago it is still nearing the end of its useful life.
Regular charge/discharge cycles will help to get the maximum life out of any given battery.

 

I would be interested in seeing the circuit out of a Chinese battery as well! They might even sell them separately...

 

I recently had a new rayovac battery go bad on me, the guy said it had developed a dry cell, and it was not the IC chip, or whatever rayovac had as an equivalent. But hey, that's what warranties are for.