CF-18 will not run on batteries - usually

My CF-18 (model B/mk1) can see and will charge a battery, but most of the time it will not run from one.

When on AC it works as normal but - even if the battery claims to be at 100% - it will almost always fail instantly when disconnected, making the normal power-off click sound. Even on the occasions it does stay running, this rarely lasts more than a few minutes.

On the battery it will refuse to boot, showing no lights. If I keep (and keep!) trying it will occasionally spring to life, but again never for long.

It seems to make no difference whether the batteries were charged internally or with the external charger.

I've tried four batteries: Two are old but were still working recently, two new but re-celled. (I bought these because my first idea was that it was a battery problem.) I can't be certain that any one of them is good therefore, but as I get the same result with all four I strongly suspect that the problem is elsewhere.

Poor connection? Failing component? I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me what was going on here.


Edit to add: I've found suggestions that these symptoms could mean a damaged battery connector, but to visual inspection at least there's no sign of any damage.

 

You COULD have a bad battery connector or dirty connections but it sounds like bad batteries to me.

Who recelled the battery? If not done professionally it really cannot be done successfully. The chip in the battery pcb needs to be reprogrammed. Once the battery "knows" it is bad... It doesn't matter if you put in new cells... The chip will still tell it that they are bad batteries.

One thing.... Are you seeing an orange charging light or a flashing red light? Or even a green light?

Please advise...

 

Thanks. The re-celling was done by a guy who trades on Ebay as forrestg222, if anyone knows his work. He says the batteries were tested before they were sent.

The lights behave as normal: orange when charging, green when done - or when it thinks it's done - both in the computer and external charger. I can't say if either of the re-celled ones will go into red as they haven't run down that far yet... I've never seen one get lower than about 45% so far.

One of the re-celled ones did flash red on a couple of occasions, but this ceased when I removed and replaced it.

I did get about an hour and a half from one of the re-celled ones when I first got it a few days ago. And if my notes are correct I once actually got almost 5 hours out of the other, though only with coaxing - that is, rebooting after it failed.

I put this down to the new cells not having being cycled sufficiently yet - vendor said they'd need about 5 cycles before they produced full power - but if anything they seem to have gotten worse since then instead.



(Oh, another oddity I've just noticed, but from one of the old rather then re-celled batteries: It charges even though the meter says it's already at 99%. IIRC, it isn't supposed to charge until it drops below 95%.)

 

I would ask the guy if he resets the chip in the battery. If he doesn't.... You are buying used batteries, regardless.

 

(I really should find out how to reset them myself. I have a lot of used batteries now.)

There have been developments...

1 - I've gotten both batteries to discharge fully. (That is, to automatic hibernation at 5%.) Both failed and had to be rebooted at least once along the way, but it seems like progress.

2 - I noticed that a mild jolt, even setting the computer down sometimes, can cause power failure. A similar jolt has no effect when running on AC, so it looks very much as if a battery connection is loose.

I'm guessing now that these symptoms are the result of a poor battery connection causing spontaneous failures, which in turn is impeding the calibration of the new cells. I think tomorrow I'm going to have to strip it and look more closely at the connectors.

 

The cf-18 is known to have battery connector issues, basically, replacing the battery connector is just about the only fix. you could try to reflow the solder for the connector and see if that fixes it.

 

Well now it's stopped running from batteries entirely - any batteries. Even though it still charges them. So I guess, definitely the connector.

I'll get to dismantling it tomorrow. Thanks for your help, Toughbook and TBtech29. I'll let you know what transpires.

 

Well I'm writing this on battery power.

Feeling a fix was so close I couldn't wait until the morning. It turned out that the solder joint between the positive connector terminal and the motherboard was broken. A fairly easy repair, thank goodness.

I suspect the damage was caused a couple of months back when the metal ring from a broken pen became caught on the terminals of a battery and so got forced onto the connector. Looks like the terminal was held in contact only by the grip of the surrounding plastic, which would explain why power failed unpredictably.

It's 3 a.m., but my faithful ol' Toughbook is happy again, and that makes me happy! Thanks again for all your help.

 

Hello!!!

Following the smashed on the pavement incident (and the broken screen) I have had EXACTLY the same problem as mentioned in this thread -- but the SOLUTION has not worked for me.

When I unscrewed all the weird bits on the back of my CF-18 and pulled the battery out - I noticed that the connecter was... loose. (There was also a crack on the battery).

This obviously happened on impact.

We have soldered all the little connectors back, but, I STILL HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM:

Machine won't run on battery, despite battery being FULLY CHARGED.

(Just to say, I have tested my battery in another machine, and it works perfectly fine. And is fully charged.)

Also - WHEN I PUT A FLAT BATTERY IN THE MACHINE - IT SEEMED TO CHARGE IT (light orange, then finally green.)

But STILL IT WONT RUN OFF BATTERIES.


Thing is -- although I nicknamed my CF-18 "My Kitten" (coz its so cute and friendly and helpful)....

I REALLY DONT FANCY TAKING IT AROUND ON A LEAD ALL DAY LONG....


Pleeeze help!!!


DO I NEED A NEW CONNECTOR???


Or did I just do a crappy soldering job. (Actually, I left the soldering to a MALE friend... what with men being so good at everything.)

 

Well, sounds like the soldering still isn't perfect. Different contacts are used for charging and discharging, so it appears a discharging one is broken - as happened to me. I'd go over it again.

I can't look at it at the moment - I'm using it! - but if I recall correctly the battery contacts are soldered to connector legs which in turn are soldered to the motherboard. So there are a lot of joints to check. (Pay attention to the longer contacts first, I think those are the discharge ones.) And I don't like the sound of the connector coming loose... I hope you don't have to replace the motherboard entirely, but it is an option. I just got one for $120.

(Surprised a CF-18 would be so badly damaged by a fall onto pavement. I've dropped mine... more than once (I pretty much carry it everywhere), without any harm at all.)