NEW Battery Tip - Applicable to some T, X, R ThinkPad models and batteries

[uflash]

Hi,

The number of people with battery issues keeps increasing, not to mention does that dont understand batteries don't die overnight. Is Lenovo doing something about it, or we are playing the game of lets ignore everybody?

I understand is not your decision, but you are the only one paying attention. So much competion these days, I dont think Lenovo needs a bad rep from IT guys.

Even if Lenovo decides not to replace our battery (not a good PR move), can we at least know if the failure mode is corrected in the last updates.

thanks,

Joseph

[badbattery]

My T60's battery 42t4504 had irreparable damage when it was charged at 77% this afternoon. However, this is not under the recall!!! How come? It is clearly a product defect as many of this type had similar issues.

[uflash]

Welcome to the Club,

We being totally ignore for the last few weeks. I'm writing a letter to lenovo directly, usually the moderators are very good answering question but they maybe under "Dont ask, Don't tell" policy for this particular issue. I know many of use have being waiting for over three weeks for some information from Lenovo, but the answer is the same "NONE"

I think my little sister will be happy with her new Lenovo laptop, soon after I switch to Apple. Yep, Lenovo was the last  window based PC we trusted (ITs).

Good luck!

[uflash]

Mark,

At this point is a little more than a limited number of users. Is Lenovo doing something about people with battery failures not listed under this recall. 

My PC is a R61 Model 7742-CTO.

thanks,

Joseph

[jimkellycpa]

To Mark_Lenovo:

can you please update the status of Lenovo's position on the R60 42T4504 battery?

The problem appears not to be isolated, but to the contrary, the symptoms the same as those on the recall list

Lenovo's handling of this issue is inconsistent with my experience in using thinkpads for the past 15 years 

I recently out of frustration purchased a 9cell replacement at full price and received a similar message from the message center which appears to be a false alarm

I suspect the problem is more widespread that the responses ion this thread might indicate.

Thanks

JK

[uflash]

Sorry about that JK, I suggested not to buy a new battery a few weeks ago since we don't really know the source of the problem. Although, your battery second failure verifies my concerns with a few of the latest updates. 

I suggest removing the new battery ASAP. If the battery gets drained completely you will lost that one too or never be able to fully charged! It will be a slow process but since the PC is not charging the battery, it will self discharge.

good luck,

JL

[meena]

Just because our batteries are not listed does not mean they are not affected. They obviously are, I got the same error message as the defective batteries on the list. My fru is 42T4504. I contacted customer service, no help. I am 31 and will never purchase from lenovo again.

Note from Moderator:  A comment which violated the forum rules was removed.

[dan79]

I can not believe lenovo ibm thinkpad laptops have this issue with the battery an have not recalled the limon battery.  Thanks, lenovo I  had a laptop to write a thesis but was not mobile, making the lenovo thinkpad a piece of junk.

has anybody used a volt meter to test the battery, if so any suggestions to see if the battery will work?  Other than that any phone # to bug lenovo more than they bug me with the website?

[uflash]

Dan79,

I checked the battery initially, and while it was draining. The voltage was ok ( ~11Volts) initially! You could do it yourself with a volt meter (make sure its set to Vdc (HIGH RESISTANCE) , and NOT connected to the current measurement terminals). Most batteries have the V+ and Ground at the outer pins of the connector. JUST MAKE SURE ANY TWO PINS DONT COME TOGETHER AT ANYTIME, UNLESS CONNECTED VIA THE VOLTMETER.

Battery Pin Name	Pin Number	Description
1	VCC
2	KEY
3	CLK
4	DATA
5	THERMAL
6	GND

This battery recall issue seem to be growing everywhere in the net. There is even a Youtube video making fun of it! Please don't even bother finding the stupid video! probably somebody trying to make a penny or two!

just keep calling lenovo! by the way maybe we need to take this issue outside the Forum to help ourselves. Here is my e-mail for those interested on following up with this issue (ONLY) outside LENOVO territory (uflash@gmail.com)

[uflash]

COPY FROM E-mail << Hi Laura, Frustrated with Lenovo support I google the battery recall issue and landed on your ENGADGET article. Would you be so kind to elevate this issue to the front of their FACES! One look to their forums tells a totally different story that they are telling you. Hundreds of regular users batteries die about the same time period and lots of them are not covered by their recall. We (Forum users) have being requesting replacements or at least a comment about the particular failure of the batteries (NO answer). I'm an electrical engineer and never seeing a Li battery die overnight. The story repeats itself all over the forum, perfectly running batteries dying overnight. One guy actually bought a new one, and got the same error message. I did a little investigation of their updates and many of them relate to the power management of the battery about the same time this issue happened. I personally believed something when wrong with the update, and since these are smart batteries all it takes its a bad code to claim is bad then self-drain killed the cells. Hope you can help, since Lenovo is ignoring us for months. thanks, >>