Li-Ion versus Nimh battery

  • Thread starter Thread starter Martin Lambert
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Martin Lambert

Can I replace my IBM R30 laptop battery Li-ion by a Nimh battery without
damaging the unit ?

I made a mistake ordering the battery and it's not retunable.
 
Martin Lambert said:
Can I replace my IBM R30 laptop battery Li-ion by a Nimh battery without
damaging the unit ?

I made a mistake ordering the battery and it's not retunable.
Click to expand...
As long as the voltage and ampage are the same it wont matter.

Remeber to fully charge and discharge the NiMH as they gain the 'memory
effect' where L-ion doesnt.

hamman
 
Remeber to fully charge and discharge the NiMH as they gain the 'memory
effect' where L-ion doesnt.
Click to expand...

I thought that was only Nic-Cad batteries ?


Regards,
Chris
 
Skeleton said:
I thought that was only Nic-Cad batteries ?
Click to expand...

NiMH aren't as bad as NiCd, but they still have their idiosyncrasies.
For example, a full charge/discharge cycle is recommended for new units.
After that, once per month or so they like a full discharge/charge.
 
Martin Lambert said:
Can I replace my IBM R30 laptop battery Li-ion by a Nimh
battery without damaging the unit ?

I made a mistake ordering the battery and it's not retunable.
Click to expand...

Running the computer from a different kind of battery pack is no
problem, provided the voltage is the same, but charging the battery
may be a completely other matter because NiMH and Li-ion batteries
have very different charging requirements. So you must check with IBM
to verify that your computer can use either type of battery, and you
must verify this for your exact version of the model because some
models have been sold with different battery options (as the R30
does). There are battery charging circuits that can support many
different chemistries, but I don't know if they can detect this
automatically. However it's possible that different types of
batteries have different connections prevent incorrect charging.

According to this IBM link:

www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-43697

the Li-ion charger for the R-30 can NOT charge NiMH batteries, so you
may have to trade the battery or buy a NiMH charger. Beware that many
aftermarket power adapters for laptop computers do not charge the
batteries properly or at all (charging function left out to prevent
battery damage).
 
Skeleton Man said:
I thought that was only Nic-Cad batteries ?


Regards,
Chris
Click to expand...
NiMH picks up less of an effect, but after a few poor charge/discharge
cycles it would start to become apparent.

hamman
 
I thought that was only Nic-Cad batteries ?
Click to expand...

Memory effect isn't very signficant unless cells were discharged
to exactly the same level each time, something that's unlikely to
happen unless the device had a low-voltage shutoff circuit and
was always ran till that point.
 
Memory effect isn't very signficant unless cells were discharged
to exactly the same level each time, something that's unlikely to
happen unless the device had a low-voltage shutoff circuit and
was always ran till that point.
Click to expand...

What's the best approach to break the memory effect ? (I've seen laptop
batteries that hold almost no charge, like 5 mins or less.. tried leaving
the laptop both on and off with power connected overnight, no difference)

Regards,
Chris
 
What's the best approach to break the memory effect ? (I've seen laptop
batteries that hold almost no charge, like 5 mins or less.. tried leaving
the laptop both on and off with power connected overnight, no difference)

Regards,
Chris
Click to expand...

Are you sure the battery pack wasn't just worn out?

Reconditioning cells typically involves near-complete drain and
high-rate pulse recharge (but not so hot they vent of course, but
all laptop packs "should" have thermal cutoff circuit in them),
but I've neer seen a laptop pack recharger that does this (never
looked though) and certainly it can't be done inside the laptop.
 
What's the best approach to break the memory effect ? (I've seen laptop
batteries that hold almost no charge, like 5 mins or less.. tried leaving
the laptop both on and off with power connected overnight, no difference)

Regards,
Chris
Click to expand...
Once the battery has got to this stage they are pretty useless
IME.Same with mobile phone batteries.I now never buy Ni-cad or even
Ni-Mh which are a little better and stick to Li-Ion batteries.
My 10 penn'th.



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