My New Battery Isn't Charging. Is it defective battery?

New batteries are shipped in a discharged condition or with very low capacity and must charged before use. We generally recommend an overnight charge (approximately twelve hours). Refer to the user's manual for charging instructions. Rechargeable batteries should be cycled (fully charged and then fully discharged) three to five times initially to allow them to reach their full capacity. (Note: it is normal for a battery to become warm to the touch during charging and discharging).

Note: New batteries are hard for the device to charge; they have never been fully charged and are therefore "unformed". Sometimes the device's charger will stop charging a new battery before it is fully charged. If this happens, remove the battery from the device and then reinsert it. The charge cycle should begin again. This may happen several times during the first battery charge. Don't worry; it's perfectly normal.

How to discharge and charge laptop battery?

1. Install your newly purchased battery into your laptop
2. Disconnect the AC adapter and use your laptop until it itself shuts down. In this situation, the battery is fully discharged.
3. Connect the AC adapter and your battery should start charging.
4. Charge until the battery is full.

How long will the new main battery power the laptop?

Battery run-time of a laptop is difficult to determine. Actual battery running time depends upon the power demands made by the equipment. The use of the screen, the hard drive and other accessories results in an additional drain upon the battery, effectively reducing its running time. The total run-time of the battery is also dependent upon the design of the equipment. Generally, a new Hi-Capacity battery will run 30% to 50% longer than the old battery did when it was new.

What is the different of Ni-Cd, Ni-MH and Li-ion?

Batteries in portable consumer devices (laptops and notebooks, camcorders, digital camera, etc.) are principally made using either Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) or Lithium Ion (Li-ion) technologies. Each type of rechargeable battery technology has its own unique characteristics:

Ni-Cd and Ni-MH: the main difference between the two is the fact that Ni-MH batteries (the newer of the two technologies) offer higher energy densities than NiCads. In other words, pound for pound, Ni-MH delivers approximately 100% more capacity than its Ni-Cd counterpart. What this translates into is increased run-time from the battery with no additional bulk to weigh down your portable device. Ni-MH also offers another major advantage: NiCad batteries tend to suffer from what is called the "Memory Effect". Ni-MH batteries are less prone to develop this dreaded affliction and thus require less maintenance and care. Ni-MH batteries are also more environmentally friendly than their Ni-Cd counterparts, since they do not contain heavy metals (which present serious landfill problems).

Li-ion has quickly become the emerging standard for portable power in consumer devices. Li-ion batteries produce the same energy as Ni-MH batteries but weigh approximately 35% less. This is crucial in applications such as camcorders or notebook computers, where the battery makes up a significant portion of the device's weight. Another reason Li-ion batteries have become so popular is that they do not suffer from the memory effect AT ALL. They are also better for the environment because they don't contain toxic materials such as Cadmium or Mercury.

Can I upgrade my device's battery to a newer chemistry?

Ni-Cd, Ni-MH and Li-ion are all fundamentally different from one another and cannot be substituted unless the device has been pre-configured from the factory to accept more than one type of rechargeable battery. The difference between them stems from the fact that each type requires a different charging pattern to be properly recharged. Therefore, the portable device's charger must be properly configured to handle a given type of rechargeable battery.

Please refer to your owner's manual to find out which rechargeable battery types your particular device supports, or simply use our search engine to find your device. It will automatically list all of the battery types particular device supports.

What is "Memory Effect"?

Ni-Cd batteries, and to a lesser extent Ni-MH batteries, suffer from what's called the "memory effect". What this means is that if a battery is repeatedly only partially discharged before recharging, the battery "forgets" that it has the capacity to further discharge all the way down. To illustrate: If you, on a regular basis, fully charge your battery and then use only 50% of its capacity before the next recharge, eventually the battery will become unaware of its extra 50% capacity which has remained unused. The battery will remain functional, but only at 50% of its original capacity. The way to avoid the dreaded "memory effect" is to fully cycle (fully charge and then fully discharge) the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Batteries can be discharged by unplugging the device's AC adapter and letting the device run on the battery until it ceases to function. This will ensure your battery remains healthy.

Can I use my old Ni-Cd battery charger to charge my Ni-MH batteries?

No, you can use a new Ni-MH charger to charge your old Ni-Cd batteries but you should not try to charge Ni-MH batteries with a Ni-Cd charger. Here's why: Ni-MH and Ni-Cd batteries are chemically very similar and when both are fully charged, the battery voltage will start to drop. The Ni-MH voltage drop is much more subtle and more difficult to detect. Ni-MH chargers usually have an over temperature sensor and shutoff to prevent overcharge as well as a more sensitive voltage drop detector where Ni-Cd chargers usually only use the voltage drop to determine when to stop charging. If you charge Ni-MH batteries in a Ni-Cd charger, it will probably miss the voltage drop and keep right on charging causing the batteries to overheat. Overcharging and overheating Ni-MH batteries can damage them internally and reduce battery life.

The laptop battery still reports 7 minutes of life when it is 100% charged, but the battery actually lasted about 2.5 hours. Are the internal electronics of this battery (the part that reports status ) are okay?

New laptop battery has a self recognize process for the first time charge. After using a period of time, it will become normal.

Please set the minimum capacity for the computer to turn off in the power meter management. Disconnect the AC adapter and use your laptop until the battery is fully discharged. Then connect your ac adapter to fully charge the battery. Fully discharge and fully charge the battery or cycled about 3 to 4 times to condition the battery to its full capacity.

What are smart batteries?

Smart batteries have internal circuit boards with smart chips which allow them to communicate with the notebook and monitor battery performance, output voltage and temperature. Smart batteries will generally run 15% longer due to their increased efficiency and also give the computer much more accurate "fuel gauge" capabilities to determine how much battery running time is left before the next recharge is required.

What is a battery cycle?

Cycle life is measured by the amount of times a battery may be charged and discharged. Every time a battery is charged and discharged, it uses one cycle. Cycle life is very important in battery applications such as laptop batteries and emergency light batteries. A Ni-Cd battery has a cycle life of 500-1000 or more cycles.

How To Buy A Laptop Battery?

When purchasing a battery for your laptop computer, the first thing a consumer should look for is the reputation of the product at mind. If the product is made by the manufacturer of your laptop (i.e. Sony, Compaq, Dell, etc), you can usually be sure it is a quality product. However, many manufactures do not actually manufacturer, instead they are the brander of the product. for example, if you open up a genuine Sony laptop battery, you may find that the power cells inside are actually made by Toshiba, Panasonic, or a similar big name company. Sony in this case has just made the plastic case of the battery. This goes to show that the brand of the battery you are buying does not necessarily mean that the quality is superior. Many third party brands use the exact same power cells as original manufacturers. Using a third party manufacturer is often a good way to go when buying a battery, as there are usually many extra benefits. for instance, most third party batteries are much lower in price than original manufacturers? Secondly, they usually offer a superior warranty, as they realize that in order to win the consumer's confidence; they must stand behind their product. A one year warranty is a must. Don? buy any battery with a warranty less than one year. Batteries have been known to die early, and a three month warranty could leave you high and dry.

The next main thing a consumer should look for is the type of battery. Batteries can be made using several chemicals. for laptops, there are four main types. They are Ni-Cad, Ni-MH, Li-ion, and Li-Poly. There is no major manufacturer that still makes Ni-Cad laptop batteries, as they are a very old and primitive type of power. Ni-MH is newer and more advanced, but is not as good as its Li-ion and Li-Poly counterparts. If we compare the last three types (Ni-MH, Li-ion, Li-Poly), we find that Ni-MH batteries weigh more than the other two, but produce less current than the other two. Li-ion and Li-Poly are the most advanced types of batteries on the market, and you should try to get one of these two types if possible. Most laptops that come with one type of battery can not use any other type of battery, meaning that if your laptop came with a Ni-Cad, it must be replaced by another Ni-Cad. The same goes for the other types. Please note that in some cases, this does not apply. Some laptops that come with a Ni-MH battery can be replaced with a stronger Li-ion one.

Lastly you must look at the power rating of the item you? As technology advances, so do power ratings. The battery you bought last year may be twice as strong this year, and might even be the same physical size. Batteries have two main ratings on them: Volts and Amperes. Because laptop batteries do not carry a very large amount of power when compared to larger batteries such as car batteries, most companies show their ratings with Volts and Milliamperes. One thousand Milliamperes equals 1 Ampere. When buying a battery, always go for the battery with the most Milliamperes (or mAh). Batteries are also rated by Watt-Hours, perhaps the simplest rating of all. This is found by multiplying the Volts and the Amperes together. We will now show you an example of finding the Watt-Hours for our example battery.

Our example battery is 14.4 Volts, 3600mAh
(remember that 3600mAh is equal to 3.6 Amperes).

14.4 x 3.6 = 51.84

This battery has 51.84 Watt-Hours. The term Watt Hour signifies the energy needed to power one watt for one hour. Thus this battery can power 51.84 watts for one hour. Suppose your laptop runs at 25.92 watts (this may be unlikely, but let use this just for simplicity). This battery could power your laptop for 2 hours. People usually associate the word atts with light bulbs, and yes, this battery could power a 40 watt light bulb for about an hour and 18 minutes, a 60 watt light bulb for about 52 minutes, or a 100 watt light bulb for 31 minutes; it the same idea.

The reason we have shown you watt-hours is because oftentimes the volts and Amperes vary. for example our laptop that uses a Li-ion 14.4 Volt, 3600mAh battery may use a NI-MH battery that is 9.6 Volts, 4000mAh. Now let do the math and find out which battery is stronger.

Li-ion: 14.4 Volts x 3.6 Amperes = 51.84 Watt Hours
Ni-MH: 9.6 Volts x 4 Amperes = 38.4 Watt Hours

So the Li-ion is stronger.

Should I get a used battery?

This is a very valid question that every bargain shopper will encounter. Your first option is to purchase a new battery that naturally has new power cells inside. Performance will be at 100%, and it usually comes with a 1 year warranty. However, many companies will either skip that first option by offering only a used or refurbished battery, or they will give you both options: the choice of a new or a used/refurbished. Be skeptical when you see used/refurbished. Usually the warranty on this type of battery is very minimal. Now if you do not use your laptop very much, then this may be a great alternative vs. purchasing a new battery in upwards of $100. Refurbished batteries do not hold as much power when compared to new batteries. Also, they can kick the bucket on you randomly since you really do not know how old the battery is. Our recommendation is to stick with a new battery, or be very careful who you buy your refurbished battery from.

Once I get my new battery, what do I do with my old one?

A question that might arise for many people is what they are supposed to do with their old laptop battery. We recommend contacting RBRC(Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation). You can visit their website at http://www.rbrc.org. We are not affiliated with them; however we have heard that they will take care of your recycling needs. They are also a non-profit company.

How to increase my laptop battery's run time?

Run time can be increased or decreased depending on the applications and tasks that you have your laptop doing. For example, if you are playing a DVD movie, much power is being used. If you are burning a CD-R/CD-RW or playing a full screen 3D video game, much power is being used. All these things take more power and in effect lessen the amount of time that you have in or table mode. It is best to try to plug the laptop into the wall if possible in these situations. Remember that you can also get car power adapters for your laptop; this will charge your battery and power your laptop while you are on the road. Programs that take little power (giving you longer battery life) include word processing programs like Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Outlook Express, Internet Explorer, AOL, CompuServe, or any similar programs. Even the colors displayed on your screen can affect your battery life. Lighter colors take more power to produce. External connections such as USB Mice, USB Scanners, Memory Cards, Zip Drives, etc. all take more power from your precious battery life. Keep these things in mind when power is of the essence.