Charging a laptop battery

If its nicd, kind of
Though this would charge them too quickly unless you throw a resister on the circuit

If its Li-ion or li-po No and I mean fucking no
A laptop battery is made up of "cells" which is a fancy way of saying multiple batteries, in a li-ion/li-po battery each of these cells has to be balanced (charged to the same voltage) as eachother and must not go over 4.2v per cell or you risk fire or explosion

Best bet would be to tear open the old and the new battery and swap the good new cells into the old battery to bypass this proprietary bullshit

> is it possible to charge the battery somehow directly from the charger?
no (you'll need to pull the charging circuit out of the laptop to make it work)

File: iMax b6 Charger.jpg (41KB, 500x500px) Image search: [Google]

41KB, 500x500px

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-iMAX-B6-LCD-Screen-Digital-RC-Lipo-NiMh-Battery-Balance-Charger-/221425662992

Under $20 delivered
Add a 12V source and charge lipo batteries of up to 24v (6cells)

>battery is made up of "cells" which is a fancy way of saying multiple batteries

I must be pedantic here, but that's backward. A battery is an arrangement of multiple cells. Just like the military calls an arrangement of multiple guns a battery.

Ah, fuck. It's Li-Ion. Opening the batteries wouldn't help me since the problem is in the laptop not "identifying" the charger, thus not allowing the battery to charge.

Could there be any other solution except buying the original charger again?

>>683876
>the problem is in the laptop not "identifying" the charger,
Dell has a third wire in the power cord from the charger to the laptop.
The extra wire sends an id code to the laptop which decodes it and decides whether to accept the charger or not.
Dell replacement chargers sold on eBay will work but you must be certain to select one specifically for your model.
My original charger lost only the ID (still had voltage) and the laptop went to half power mode until I replaced it.
I got a cheap one from eBay and it's been fine.
No more Dell for me.

Dell is always pulling the proprietary bullshit card to try to make monopoly profits in a commodity market. It's an evil company like Microsoft and Google and is best avoided if possible.

Seeing as it's your fault for buying Dell, your best solution is to bend over and pay whatever Michael Dell wants you to, and learn to like it.

>>683876
if your charger isnt working it will do this. this is also a common problem with a dead motherboard. it seems you bought a new battery. was the old one not working? two dead batteries in a row means the motherboard is fried.

lipo charges the same as lion. it's a constant current then constant voltage profile. that thing works.

the battery has a BMS built into it.

>>683881
The same thing happened to me, except now I'm not sure if stuff on the motherboard is working either. According to this article, it is an option: http://www.laptop-junction.com/toast/content/inside-dell-ac-power-adapter-mystery-revealed

>>683882

Fuck Dell indeed. If I had known this, I never would have bought their shit.

>>683887

Yeah the old battery is totally dead. My friend had the same laptop and when I tried charging it on his laptop, it wouldn't charge. The new battery isn't dead (yet).

Does anyone know what would happen if I leave the battery discharged for a long time? (month or so)

>>683659
>I bought new cheap chinese ones,
>>683881
>I got a cheap one from eBay and it's been fine.
>you must be certain to select one specifically for your model.

>>683889
the BMS prevents deep discharge. a long time to not charge a battery is like a year. even then it will still work but at reduced capacity. typically you can store the batteries at 80% capacity for six months and not lose any apreciable amount of charge

>>683881
>Dell has a third wire in the power cord from the charger to the laptop.
>The extra wire sends an id code to the laptop which decodes it and decides whether to accept the charger or not.
Why is this allowed

>>683891
But mine is currently at 1% :|

>>683920
the battery management system is a circuit board that in inside the battery case.

this limits the battery so that it can't be discharged past about 3.0V per cell. cells degrade at about 2.7V or below. the batteries self discharge over time but this is so small it will last for months "fully discharged" according to the laptops firmware. this is an acceptable margin to allow for the long term storage of a laptop with a "dead" battery.

the battery's BMS "tricks" the laptop into thinking that it is empty when really it is still holding about 10% charge to prevent the battery from being drained down to 2.7V which would kill it.

>>683926
Cool, thanks for explaining that. Where did you learn all this stuff? It's really interesting.

Open both old n new batteries. If cells are the same type, swap new into old.

Problem solved.

Never had to do it myself - always sourced my replacement batteries from local ebay vendors who guaranteed compatability

>>683659
Open up your original charger, sometimes its just a blown capacitor which is easy to fix.

>>684475
No idea how to open it. I tried, but it seems like it's sealed for good.

>>684487
Dremel that fucker open. You just need to get the plastic casing off and theres a metal shield underneath.

>>684475
Even if it's fucked, you can harvest the Super Secret Dell DRM chip.

It looks like a transistor.

>>684489
>>684487

It's better to squish it in a vice until the clips break open

>>684511
Squish liion battery

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