Panasonic Toughbook CF30 MP led flashing red - second battery

Hi guys, I've recently purchased a second hand CF30 and have also bought a used second battery pack that fits in the media port on the computer.

The MP light keep flashing red, I've rebooted but it still flashes red.... can anyone help?

I have read that you don't need to install any drivers it should just be a case of chucking it in and it working is this the case?

Thanks in advance

 

One of your batteries is dead. Remove one and see if the other will charge.
CAP
EDIT: By dead I mean old, worn out. It will not take a charge regardless of what you do and o you cannot replace the cells. there is a circuit inside the battery which we can't reset which will keep it from charging, even with new cells.

 

Welcome to the forum...

Cap is right... I would pull one battery and then the other to see which has the issue. You may need to disconnect your AC when doing the switches. Then hook back up after you have removed/swapped the battery.

You may also try a battery recalibration though I doubt it will work.

If your media bay battery is bad you can replace the battery itself. I have done this several times. I substituted a CF-72 battery. Your main battery is sealed but the media bay battery can be taken apart and replaced with the battery of another model. It actually unplugs as a unit after taking out a few screws. I want to say a CF-72 battery will work. But trying to find a good CF-72 battery will be, most likely, just as hard.

You cannot recell these batteries as they have chips in them. But this one trick will work. Since it is just another Panasonic cell it will work fine.

BTW... You are correct... Batteries don't need drivers. You can also start the battery recalibration by pushing F9 upon boot. Something I would do anyway with a new-to-you laptop!

 

If the media bay battery is bad/will not take a charge you may have been sold a bad battery. When using a media bay battery in the computer it will first draw its power from the media bay battery till it goes completely down . Then the original battery will be used for power. What is nice is this is a seamless transition from the different batteries. I bought a new media bay battery ($100) and have found from time to time with the media bay battery fully charged one needs to pull out the media bay and use the computer powered by the original bigger main battery. This gives it a discharge and recharge cycle and keeps it from shortening its life cycle. About the same as a battery recapitalization process.