My poor little CF-27 has been wounded!

It won't run on batteries at all now. Before it would be touch and go while on batteries but now it dies the moment I unplug it. When I plug it in the battery light goes orange for a few seconds then flashes red. I'm not sure what this is exactly but reading old threads on this forum leads me to believe it's Panasonic's universal "You're F*cked" indicator. Could someone tell me what this is?

I wondered whether it was the battery so I hooked it up to a volt metre in hope it was dead (I know that sounds strange but I read on here you can bring it back to life with something higher voltage and a fire extinguisher to hand ). Unfortunately, it read around 12 volts which I assume is fine. Must be something else.

Another thing that might be related to it is the AC adapter is faulty. The wire on the DC side of the adapter is loose. I don't think it is this however because use of the voltmetre again shows that it either puts out the full 15.5v or nothing at all.

Thanks.

 

Your battery is dead it need a replacement.


teo

 

Exactly when it flashes red it means the battery pack is no longer useable. It will either need to be replaced or re-celled. Nothing should be wrong with the actual machine, thats the good news.

 

Wow that was quick!

The cheapest battery I can find online is about £80 which in nearly as much as the laptop itself. Is it easy to re-cell a battery? I assume it simply involves replacing the lithium cells inside but is their more to it?

 

Just in case it's useful, here's a picture of the battery (I managed to get the top off)
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3012/cfvzsuo4cy1.jpg
Sorry about the image quality, it was taken using my phone and shaky hand!

Don't suppose you can see anything obviously wrong with it just from the picture?

 

The batteries deteriorate with age as well as charge cycles

The cf-27 is old and I wouldn’t expect these batteries to have anywhere to new capacity now
You could look for a used battery that might give you 45min or so life, or just take the battery out
There are treads on the forum that deal with battery rebuilders , but I don’t think we have very positive results with replacing the cells
I tried with a cf-25 battery pack replacing cells and was not happy with it in the end


Alex

 

Hmmmm... Bad battery and bad charger.... Bad mojo too?
Come on!!!!! Recell the battery or buy a new one and for *@%$& sake.... Solder up that loose lead on the A/C charger.... You can't have wandered in here and not know how to solder! (Or know someone that can!) If you buy a soldering iron... We could probably talk you through it! It's an EASY job! (The recell is a different story!)

 

I've ordered a new battery and I'll let you know what happens when it arrives.

Alright calm down buddy! I haven't used a soldering iron in years, any chance some electrical tape would do?

 

Yeah... You could probably twist the wiring together with copious amounts of electrical tape....

J/K on the other stuff,,,,,

 

Super-glue and duct tape! Plus, it will match the color!! hahahahaha

ok DONT DO THAT!!

 

You guys just cost me £30!! The battery arrived today and it still doesn't work! (Don't worry, I'm not angry, you just owe me £30 ) Looking at the cf-27 manual it does mention the red flashing light and said it could be a problem with either the battery or "recharging function" which could mean a lot of things. What do you think the problem could be?

 

I would say that your charger isn't doing the trick... Have you measured the voltage coming out of the charger? I'd check that first. I know you were having issues with it before...

 

I don't think it's the charger. I either get nothing at all or the full 15.5v. When it's plugged in and I move the AC adapter it will often die and not come back on unless I push the wire back into the brick. After that it will go back to normal.

Something interesting to note is that both batteries show a specific amount of charge when I check in Windows (8% for the old one and 4% for the new one I think) but never climbs.

Also before when the problem wasn't so bad It blinked red but would still charge and run on batteries. It would die and random points but usually I could just switch it back on straight after.

 

Matthew,
It seems to me that you are spending a lot of time on this. I would think you would bite the bullet and throw a ten quid at a new power supply.
CAP

 

I'm a little weary about buying things on this forum's recommendation!

BTW You can get them that cheap? Where from?

 

Matthew,
FleaBay, where else!
CAP

 

Lithium ion batteries will last for approximately 10 years
Shorter time if the battery gets used and cycled, but even a new unused battery will not last forever , and it will deteriorate

The bios batteries that we use to hold memory settings, are the same technology and are starting to fail in cf-25’s cf-27’s cf-71’s
I have had to change out the occasional bios battery in all of these older models

The used battery you bought might be unusable
If you search in the forums regarding batteries you will find posts on failing batteries on the cf-28
The cf-28 is a lot newer than your cf-27 , so your 2 cf-27 batteries would not even be noticeable in toughbooks stack of failed cf-28 batteries

A few days ago I through out 2 cf-72 batteries
They worked fine 2 months ago ,but now I get a flashing red
Flashing red means you junk them

Your symptoms and the age of the battery point to battery failure
I might be wrong , it’s a possibility it could be a charging circuit problem in your cf-27

I have only had 1 thoughbook with that problem out of over 100 or so
And the battery display did not flash red on that model, it just did not charge the battery

Next is a loose pcb connection or a dc in jack problem
If that’s the case it is possible that it might allow enough current to run the computer but not have the reserve to charge the battery

Last is whatever is wrong with your ac adapter/cord

Hey, we are not perfect here
But real real close to perfect





Alex

 

I've bought a new power supply (£9 including p&p!) and I'll keep you guys posted about the results.

Is it possible to check if a battery is dead myself? If I sent the battery back (assuming I could) it would probably be a couple of weeks before the new one arrives (comes from America) plus it would cost a lot in postage. Both batteries show around 11.5v on a voltmetre so is there any other way to check?

 

I have a battery somewhere but it hasn't been in a cf-27 for years
It will be dead for sure and I have no way of charging to check for voltage
Maybe there is someone here that has a cf-27 and a voltmeter and can check a battery for you

Keep us updated on your progress


Alex

 

Matthew,
I have a brand new CF-27 battery. I'll put it on the external charger and throw a meter on it.
CAP

 

Hey I have one of those also

I have more old toughbook parts than I know what to do with

The problem is finding all those old parts


Alex

 

I was messing around with the Toughbook, and idly flicked the power switch: Life at last!! It's working on batteries at last. The battery metre is showing 5% and has been going for around 30 minutes (I'm writing this on it now). The battery isn't dead but very inaccurate. This is the new battery and the new power adapter hasn't arrived yet.

 

Some very interesting (and good, I think) news. After around 1hr 15 it finally went into standby and wouldn't come down. I plugged it in and 5% into the charge it's still orange! I'll keep it charging hoping it stays that way.

Edit: It was 8% so I tried unplugging it and it stayed on! I've got my child back!! *ahem* Anyway, it seems to work fine.

 

:cry: :cry: :cry:
Just when I thought all was well.....disaster! I've got flashing red again on both batteries and it dies as soon as I unplug it. NOOO!

 

Wine gets better with age

Except I usually don’t have it around long enough to age

Toughbook battery’s don’t


Alex

 

But how can a battery last for an hour then suddenly not work at all?

 

The AC adapter still hasn't arrived yet but the Toughbook seems to be doing what it was doing before. I can switch it on but it will randomly die. It could be on for hours or just a few minutes.
Also, while charging it will be orange for a while then eventually change to flashing red. I think it starts when it gets to a certain point in charging. Any ideas why?

 

Isn't there something in the manual about flashing red can indicate battery is not charging due to being outside recommended temperature range (either too cold or overheating)? Just a thought.

 

I think it was solid orange, not sure though. I don't think it's that because it's always inside when I charge it. Unlike the Toughbook, the AC adapter isn't ruggedized otherwise I probably would .