CF-29 Battery / Charge odd behavior

OK,
When I got my cf-29, the battery said something like 4hrs remaining (most of the time), and that wasn't true, it was actually like 3 hrs. So, I recalibrated, and now it says something close to 3 hrs ramaining at %100 charge.

But now, it has a funny behavior. When the battery is low (orange light), I'll plug it into my charger, and a couple hours later, both lights are green, and icon says %100.
I'll unplug it, use it for 10 or so minutes, and then it's at %5 and shutting itself down.
I'll plug it back in, and it'll say that it's charging and already at %90 (or somewhere in the 90's). I'm not sure what the result is when I unplug it from the charger at that point.
Just now, I unplugged it, and it said it was at %6. restarted it right then and after it boots back up, it says %99 charged (4hrs remaining).

WTH is going on?

I downloaded the freeware of battery bar, but I'm not sure how to get it (or get to) the logs.

I can say that the charger that came with the unit is an IBM 16v 4.5A charger, and that I have a Lind 1540 in the car for my web273 dock (the only things plugged into the dock are power and sound). I know that neither put out the recommended watts, but that has never been an issue with any other laptop I've owned.

Please help.

 

I think your battery is dead

Try BattStat
http://users.rcn.com/tmtalpey/BattStat/

 

I don't think it is, because it will actually run for quite some time; not the 4hrs it says, but for a few hours at least (I'm going to go test that out, right now).

I just installed battstat. Is there a way to save the log?
Thanks!

 

At a estimated 72 Vs. 75 Amps for the OEM? You will never know the difference!

 

Power was at %99 , i shut the lid to go to the car, the TB suspended.

Woke it up in the van, the power was now at %6. Plugged it in- after 15min it said %100. Unplugged it and after 10 min and it almost immidiatelly it went back to %6. Plugged it in for an hour and a half and it said %100. Unplugged it and watched it. It was good, until I shut the lid (I disabled the auto sleep or hibernation, the TB was still on, but with the lid shut). When I opened the lid back up right then (just to check), it said %7.

I'm recalibrating the battery now. It's charging the battery from the %7 mark. I'll keep an eye on it and report.

 

You should change your name to "InterestingBattery"

Sounds like it is starting to go bad.... This hapens sometimes. Also watch how many programs you have in your startup folder and kill non-essential XP crud...

I can do the same thing.... lower the brightnes of my screen and it shows I have 5 hours left... Take it up a notch or two or change the keyboard illumination and it will throw it down to 3 hours...

But yours is wacky and, I think, going bad...

 

Dunno.... battery recalibration elapsed time is 2.5 hrs, and it's now about %5 discharged. I hope this straightens it up.

I think I might post a thread for dead battery donations... that way we can examine the battery pc board and systematically find a (an affordable) solution to repacking battery packs.

 

OH, TB,

that's one of the first things I do when I get a pc, do a fresh install, or go to diagnose/repair/speed up someone elses' computer:

I went to write a short blurb about that, and it was really long, so I posted it here, since that thread was more appropriate.

 

I.F. ..... You need to do a lot more reading. You can't simply refresh with new batteries. Been there, done that, still have the dead batteries.

You must have the proper software to talk to the chip in the battery PCB to tell it that it is okay to have new batteries and that you are starting fresh again. Otherwise.... You will rebuild your battery pack with brand new, state-of-the-art, batteries and it will STILL show the flashing red light.... Or it will revert to whatever it was doing before. The IC chip needs to be reprogrammed to tell it that it has new batteries again and can be trusted.

Now... If you can find THAT software and/or can write your own and can spell out a tutorial for us all.... That would be GREATLY appreciated as for the 5 years I have been doing this... Nobody has been able to.

 

That's what I was trying to say:

Get my hands on some corpses so I can autopsy them, and find a way to Frankenstien them back to life (hey, that analogy really works here).

I'm thinking jtag.

 

You cannot "Frankenstein" them back to life without the proper software to reset the battery IC chip. Anything else and you are risking fire hazard. Just a friendly warning... If you can break the code... Please let us know...

 

Pictures. Does anyone have any pictures of the board from the inside of a CF-29 battery pack?


Alright, I recalibrated, it's charged %100 and Battstat says I've got about 3:22hrs to go. Unplugged @ 2134 GMT-5.

 

TB: is the "proper software" a mythical like beast, or actually known to exist? (I know the answer, but a guy can hope).

Getting some carcasses in my hot little hands will be the first step in disseminating the code used, and thusly, how to reset it. If I can't do it, I know a couple guys that can help.

 

G*@Da#&!tSo#ofB$&@*


30 minutes was lookin good, and then it died.

 

that is a bad battery, the folks here know what they are talking about and that is classic battery behavior when it is bad

 

Dernit!

Well in that case, at what point is the battery "too bad" to repack?

 

Please re-read posts #9 & #11....

 

Where is the data regarding the battery decrepitude being stored, an eeprom or an embedded MicroP? Perhaps it would serve just as well to blank it... The system might then see it as a new battery and reinitialize it. Just some hog wild guesses!

 

Sorry TB, I got confused and thought that this thread and this thread were the same. Ares just tried to repack his battery, with the (as you have stated) typical results.

By frankenstien, i meant, take it apart, figure it out, put it back together, and somewhere in there give it new life. I did read, and I'm of the mindset that if it can be built then it can be broken, and if it can be broken, then it can be fixed (and all proofs thereof). It will be necessary to reverse engineer the pack, to see how to reprogram it, and what reprogramming it will need.


A great place to start would be some pics, and of course the bios. The bios will contain some of the info/code needed to at least help figure this out how to communicate with the battery, and possibly how to reset the circuit.
gotta find some pics.

I'm gonna move to that other thread.

 

I'm trying to backdoor this.... 'nuff said....

Thanks to InterestingFellow's post... It got through my thick head to TRY!

Have a great weekend all!

Rick

 

And I also just realized, JTAG may be over kill. The book is capable of communicating with the battery via the battery connector: I would imaine a simple serial interface (2 wire, gnd & data)...