CF29 diagnosing battery problem

My CF29 is having battery issues.

If I unplug the AC adaptor, it goes for about 5 minutes tops then the battery LED goes red and the system says it's about to go into forced hibernation.

If the system has been turned off completely for some time (say a few days or more), when I connect the AC adaptor the battery LED goes amber (to indicate it's charging) for anything up to an hr, then it goes green and continues happily whilever the AC adaptor is connected.

I'm not sure if the battery is genuine or not (I think it is), and I don't think I've replaced it any time recently.

Is this likely to indicate a kaputski battery, or some other problem (perhaps a problem with the charging circuit/controller itself)? I'm hoping that if I can track down a new genuine CF29 battery that's the answer...

Craig.

 

Your battery be D E A D . dead

 

Well assuming it is kaputski, are there any differences in the batteries ie. the 'tab' colour indicating different capacity, etc. like CF28 batteries had? There are some claiming to be genuine ones in Hong Kong through a few Ebay sellers. Some appear to be blue tab, some yellow tab, but that could just be a misnomer if all CF29 genuine batts are the same.

 

The yellow is better but you must remember Panasonic has not made any of these batteries for years so you might be buying new but it's new old stock.

 

Blue tabs are garbage,get a yellow tab.

 

You will get either new OLD stock or a fake. Otherwise take a chance with an off brand.
I could ship you a good used one, but shipping to OZ would be too pricy. You are better off to gamble with a Honk Gong version.

 

When was the last time you run the Battery calibration. It will give you a better idea how good your battery is. Also another program I use is batterybar. It's free and gives you a very good idea how good your battery really is download.cnet.com/BatteryBar/3000-2094_4-10866804.html

 

yeah ... the *real* panasonic batteries do follow the color coding .
with anything else it is a crap shoot .

with the off brand batteries or the supposedly "rebuilt" genuine batteries it is a case of "by guess and by golly"
as far as i know , there is no way to put fresh cells in a battery pack and make it work as panasonic has a super secret chip and password in/for each battery .
this chip must be *reset* if/when the cells are swapped out .
panasonic guards the software and password of this process like a grizzly sow protects her cubs .

i did luck out quite some time back ...
i bought an aftermarket battery for a friend and it has been ok .
other folks ... weeelll ... they weren't so fortunate .

how much is being asked for a genuine *yellow tab* battery down your way ?

 

The only way I would believe that a battery sold as Genuine is not fake is through a real dealer such as Rugged depot or one in OZ..They will cost $200.00 plus.
Anything under $100 is a good fake or very old stock.

 

Ok well doing a battery calibration will be my first step in the process. The so-called genuine blue and yellow tab CF29 batteries in Hong Kong that I saw on Ebay are priced at about A$ 85. I just spotted one new genuine blue-tab battery for sale in the US priced at A$ 184. Will email that seller and just check if it's actually blue or yellow tab.

 

New yellow tab from Panasonic was $249 about 18 months ago.

 

That is an accurate price for a REAL battery.
For $85 you ARE buying a fake. I don't care if it LOOKS genuine. Don't get me wrong, the fake may work great for years. Just let the buyer beware.

 

I would send Rob a PM. He did have new batteries on sale at one time.

 

Ta. Given I'm considering an upgrade to a CF30 (as 31's are rare used here and that Mk1 CF31 one I saw the other day has no OS), I might not bother trying to replace the battery and focus on a replacement system. The touchpad is pretty bad now too... Pic below.



flickr page

Craig.

 

eeeewww !
is that caked on finger goo ?
time for a little windex and q-tips .
and a hazmat suit ...

 

Craig deserves a break.
He uses his Toughbooks in the real world. The outback of OZ.

 

who was the guy that said "never give a sucker an even break" ?


i think a '31 is going to protest a bit when it comes to sand and dust ...
going to require back-blowing the air path .
(there were similar problems with some radio gear in the signal corps)
nothing that a little PMS won't fix ... or at least break even with .