Message-ID: <6a3c6ae9@news.ausics.net> From: not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) Subject: Re: Upgrades for the T60 Thinkpad Newsgroups: comp.sys.laptops.thinkpad References: <1119s9m$150rf$1@dont-email.me> <6a38a686@news.ausics.net> <111akim$1ai6q$5@dont-email.me> <6a38ed77@news.ausics.net> <111araj$1chpr$1@dont-email.me> <6a39ca04@news.ausics.net> <111gogk$32kf4$1@dont-email.me> User-Agent: tin/2.6.5-20251224 ("Glenury") (Linux/2.4.31 (i586)) NNTP-Posting-Host: news.ausics.net Date: 25 Jun 2026 09:40:26 +1000 Organization: Ausics - https://newsgroups.ausics.net Lines: 66 X-Complaints: abuse@ausics.net Path: csiph.com!news.bbs.nz!news.ausics.net!not-for-mail Xref: csiph.com comp.sys.laptops.thinkpad:593 Caffeine Canidae wrote: > Computer Nerd Kev wrote: >> I've pulled apart more laptop batteries just to get the cells out, >> trying to practice doing it without wrecking the case, and the >> possibility of it all depends on how they're designed/assembled, >> which varies a lot. Some are fairly easy, many fight you all the >> way. > > Hmm, I'll definitely have to do quite a bit more research on it it > seems. But it's a good thing to learn, it's entirely possible. I'll > check what kind of seal it is on the X41 batteries, I've got quite good > access to some tools so I could try quite a few methods for getting them > open. If at least only one of them survives the probably brutal > endeavour of trying to repair them without destroying it entirely then > it'll be a success (though, I hope to end up with two working ones, as > I'm planning to sell one of three of the laptops - the other one is pure > scrap. > > Thankfully as far as I know the battery cells themselves are universal? The ones I've disassembled all used 18650 (18mm wide, 650mm long) cells, though apparantly newer laptops can use different shapes. > They're standard from what I remember, I saw advice on them being they > should all have the same life on them - like maximum charge. You can get different capacities, and also different chemistries. Definitely stick to the original chemistry as should be writton on the battery pack, so for Li-Ion avoid LIFePO etc. cells even if they look the same, or else things might go very wrong with the charging/discharging circuitry. Capacity (the mAh spec.) varies too. The cells might have that printed on them, or you can work it out from the capacity of the whole battery. But in the latter case you have to understand which cells are in series and which are in parallel and only divide the total mAh figure by the number of cells connected in parallel to get the original capacity of each cell. Of course make sure to wire the new cells up exactly the same in this regard as well. It should be OK to upgrade the capacity of the cells used, provided you stick to the original chemistry. There's also a limit on the maximum charging current ("C-rate"), eg. 0.5C, and this is measured relative to the battery capacity, so in theory _downgrading_ the cells to a lower capacity than originals might cause the charging circuitry to charge them too quickly and wear them out early. I'm not sure whether laptop batteries charge at rates close enough to the limit for that to be a real issue though, and I doubt you want to downgrade capacity anyway - just if you're pulling cells out of spare battery packs it might be tempting. As for lifespan, I think that all depends on quality and there I can't help you. I think brand name cells are still generally expected to last much longer than cheap Chinese-brand things. Also I've seen Aliexpress reviews of Lithium cells testing at lower capacity than they're marked at, so too-good-to-be-true pricing probably is. On the other hand if I buy eg. Panasonic cells from a relatively trustworthy supplier (so I know they're not fakes), it'd cost well over $100 for a full set. Yes, much more than third-party replacement battery packs cost, but they probably use Chinese-brand cells inside. So I'm not sure about the best way to approach buying new Li-Ion batteries myself, it's a pain. -- __ __ #_ < |\| |< _#