will a CF-28 second battery fit a CF-29?

hi all,

just purchased a CF-VZSU1428W second battery thinking it can be used with my CF-29 but the manual inside the package says CF-28 only, I have a CF-29 MK5, any suggestions?
also how would I go about removing the CD/DVD ROM to install the second battery if I can use it on my CF-29?

thanks

 

The CF-VZSU1428W is the same one I use in all my CF-29 Toughbooks.

Flip the unit over, slide open the rectangular access door, then push the Eject slide lever towards the Media Bay opening.

If the unit is on, use the "Safely Remove Hardware" button on the Windows Task Bar to electronically disconnect the drive from the Windows system, then eject the drive and slide in the Media Bay battery.

 

I have been using a CF-VZSU1428W battery in my CF 29 mk2 and mk3 for several months now. No problems.
Open the cd / dvd media bay door.
Turn the unit upside down, open the little sliding cover and push the lever under the slide cover. The CD/DVD will pop out.

 

thank you for the replies, it was really easy to replace, and now I hope to be able to use my CF-29 all day without worrying about a charge.

 

one more question, turned on the CF-29 after installing the second battery and charging until the charge light turned green, I look at the power meter window and it shows only one battery and the second one is marked: "Not Present"
what to do now?

 

Do you have the main battery installed?

 

yes, battery one is installed and shown on the power meter window as full

 

Take the main battery out and leave the second battery in
Look to see what the meter reads, and how the power lights respond

 

urm... specifically? I occasionally refresh the 2nd battery (without the main) in my 29 and only the MP & Pwr lights come on. Am I missing something here?

 

The MP light I suppose is what I had in mind

 

the unit does not turn on without the main battery, what do I do now??

 

Try charging the 2nd battery by itself. Does the MP light come on orange? if so it means it is charging wait till it is fully charged then try to power on.

 

Are you sure the 2nd battery is fully seated in the MP?

 

ok, plugged in the charger and removed the main battery.
the MP light came on orange.
so I guess this means the second battery is seated properly but it does not charge when the main battery is in.

 

If the MP light came on ORANGE while it is the only battery, then the MP battery is charging.
The CF29 , when both batteries are installed, will drain and charge the MP battery first.

The above statement is incorrect. The MP battery drains first and charges last.

 

yes it is charging now and I will try it again, but what is puzzling to me is that when both batteries are installed it showed the second battery as "not present" when I first tried it.
I will just wait until the MP light turns green and try to power on the device with just the MP battery.

 

Do you have the Panasonic info tool installed?
See if both batteries show up in it.
This may be a Windows issue. Do you have the correct drivers for your MK installed? Including any Bat recalibration ones?

 

Actually the sequence when both batteries are installed is main battery fully charges then the media bay battery. Then the media bay battery discharges first then the main battery. I have seen problems where if for some reason your main battery does not charge to 100% then the media bay battery will never begin to charge.

 

Yes you are correct. I wonder if the main battery is at above 95% but below 100%. The toughbook won't charge a battery until it is at or below 94%. So perhaps 95 to 99% is sort of a dead zone. It sees the main battery as not ready to be charged and stops the charging process altogether.
That still does not explain why the 2nd battery icon does not show up in Windoze.

 

it seems I am missing a few drivers.
just turned the unit on while plugged in and charging the MP battery only, Control panel Power Options window shows a big red X on Battery #2 but at the same time it says "charging" and shows the power at %0!!!
Mine is a MK5 and until now I thought the only driver that was missing was the one for the backlit keys. All the Fn keys work except F12

 

Driver...backlit keys ??

 

yes, I assumed it was a driver issue. my backlit keyboard won't turn on. all the Fn keys work except F12

 

Hold Fn + F12
Continue to press F12 up to 2 or 3 times to get to max brightness

 

I have tried that many many times but nothing happens, the lights do not turn on at all. do you think this is a driver issue?

 

No driver issue as the backlite will work even in a bios screen
What type of keyboard do you have rubber key or hard plastic keys
Are you shure the keyboard is backlite type

 

ruseyrek,

If your keyboard has an icon above the F12 marking on the key then it is a backlit screen.

(Just like the F9 key has a battery icon above the F9 marking.)

If not ... then not.

Another clue is this: is there a white line in the middle of the space bar? If so: backlit KB.

 

Not necessarily so, as the Emissive keyboard I added to the computer I am on now ( CF-29HTM50BM) has an icon below the F12 and no icon on F9.

True statement.

 

I believe I have the Emissive KB as I have the white line in the middle of the space bar, the light icon on F12 and the battery icon on F9.
If it is not a driver issue, then why do you think the backlite does not work?

I still have not been able to get the TB to recognize and power itself with the MP Battery.
Where can I try to download the driver? or do I need the CD's for that?

 

make sure the keyboard cables are installed correctly.

 

As deere states ckeck the cables
The keyboard power cable is installed (flipped) ,the opposite to how you would think is should be

 

just removed and re-installed the keyboard and yes the smaller cable was loose inside the cover.
now when I press Fn and F12 the keys light on but do not stay lit. the moment I take my finger off F12 the light turns off.
What do I do now???

 

It sounds as though the third (narrow) cable is installed upside down in the MB connector.

It is to be "doubled over" and come in from the screen side (IIRC).

 

it is doubled over, it first goes toward the screen folds over and makes a right turn into the connector

 

took it apart again just to double-check, the copper part goes up, and the fit is nice and tight. the problem is the backlight will turn on when both buttons are pressed but won't stay on after I lift off my fingers, do you think this is a software issue?

 

ok, got the backlite working properly! removed and re-installed the KB and voila!, it works.
thanks to all who replied.
now the recognition problem remains to be solved with the second (MP) battery.

 

ok, back to the MP battery problem.
just recalibrated the main battery, removed it and started recalibrating the MP battery, the MP light under the mousepad is on red, the recalibration progress is Charging but even after 10 minutes I have 0% progress.
BTW before recalibration the power meter still did not recognize the MP battery, shows second battery "not present"
any ideas?

 

I got one that's red too . If it blinks on and off red it's a sign of a dead battery....as in dead, not coming back to life. Sorry

 

oh no! this was a brand new battery in its packaging which I bought on eBay and installed. How can it be dead?

 

These batteries were last made by Panasonic about 4-5 years ago and its reached it "shelf life". I have one too and it looks new but the red light blinks off and on.

 

Check this link out http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/481387-cf-28-battery-eater.html
and this one
TEST site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic - Google Search

 

The MP batteries are "rebuildable" If you open it up it has a stock CF 72 (I think) battery inside. I replaced that battery in mine and it works fine. Do you have an external battery charger? cf-vcbtb1 I use mine all the time. It would rule out any chance that the laptop is the problem.

If you shop on fleabay, pay attention as the prices for these vary a lot. Mine cost $10.00, new. Some sellers ask over $100.00.

 

Check this out , it says 29 but its the same http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/517438-refill-your-dead-media-bay-battery-25-00-a.html

 

Yes Red means it is no good,nothing will revive it once it flashes red

I have been lucky with the media bay batterys I bought a couple of years ago ,they were listed as new old stock and all were fine

The best bang for the buck is to find the highest capacity yellow tab type main battery with low charge cycles as that was the lastest production

The cf-72 battery inside the media bay battery , are quite rare and expensive to find a good one
The part # is CF-VZSU14B