In fact, repairing a laptop battery is not a difficult process if you have experience with power tools, as well as knowledge of the battery process and tools to complete the task. By following some simple tips, laptop users can quickly do a DIY laptop battery repair while saving $100 on a new one.
Laptop batteries consist of rechargeable batteries and a circuit board. A typical 6-cell laptop battery has several hundred charge cycles, when they are depleted, the cells can no longer hold a charge. And the easiest way is to replace them.
Battery cells can be purchased for a fraction of the cost of a new battery. However, you must be experienced with electronics to avoid the danger of electric shock, as this type of battery can explode. To ensure the safety of the repair, it is imperative to take all necessary precautions.
Before disassembling, make sure that the laptop battery is completely discharged. Once the charge is completely depleted, you should double check the laptop before removing the battery. It is important!
Do-it-yourself Asus laptop battery repair procedure:
Laptop batteries are made up of lithium cells called 18650 cells. They don't last forever and have a lifespan of about 2 years. If the laptop is fully charged, but charging does not last even half an hour, this means that the cells inside the battery are dead.
With an old laptop battery in stock, some wires, and tools like a wire cutter and electrical tape, you can start repairing your laptop battery yourself:
This equipment is designed to last about 2 years under normal circumstances, but its lifespan is often much shorter. Before attempting to repair a laptop yourself, consider how dangerous it is.
Lithium-ion batteries in particular are highly flammable and may cause an explosion, and not all battery types can be repaired.
These tips apply mainly to do-it-yourself laptop battery repair for lithium-ion type. Repair consists of the following steps:
If the laptop battery is draining quickly, you can try to cool down the computer further.
Many laptop batteries today feature lithium-ion cells that need to stay cool so the battery lasts longer. If this part shows clear signs of slowing down because it has become too hot, you should immediately turn off the computer and cool it down.
When hot work is a common occurrence for a PC, then you need to purchase a cooling pad for your computer. It costs 5 times less than a new battery, and will not allow the laptop to quickly lose battery power.
If the operating system is confused about battery capacity, this means that recalibration may be required. The main reasons for this problem are:
Regardless of these reasons, there are two ways to solve the problem during DIY laptop battery repair.
The first of these is to search for an online battery calibration program with a tool designed and released by the manufacturer specifically for the desired laptop model. If the required software is not found online, you will have to use the second method and recalibrate the battery manually:
Lithium-ion batteries contain a protective circuit that protects the battery from accidents when over-discharged. The transition to sleep mode can occur when the lithium-ion package is stored in a discharged state for any period of time, when self-discharge gradually depletes the remaining charge. Depending on the manufacturer, the Li-ion protection circuit is cut off between 2.2 and 2.9 V, and you need to know how to repair the laptop battery in this case.
Some chargers have a wake-up or "boost" feature to turn on again and recharge batteries that have "fallen asleep". Without this provision, the charger renders them unusable.
Boost applies a small charging current to activate the protection circuit. If the correct cell voltage can be reached, the charger starts normal charging. If the storage of lithium-ion batteries presents a clear uncertainty, then manufacturers recommend keeping them at a state of charge of 40-50%. But at the same time, they warn about the possible loss of the device due to excessive discharge. There is a wide range of action between these criteria, and if the user is in doubt, it is better to store the battery with a higher charge and in a cool place.
Very often, poor battery performance is not related to design flaws, but is caused by various software failures in the computer, in particular due to damaged drivers.
This error is easy to fix:
To resolve the issue, you can try resetting the System Management Controller (SMC). Restart Mac in Recovery Mode:
Note! It may take a little longer than usual for the download to start after resetting the SMC.
Based on battery repair experience, users share their tips:
Knowing these secrets of quality laptop batteries can save consumers the hassle and money of repairing their own laptop batteries.
Choosing the right battery manufacturer is important. There are many laptop manufacturers that advertise extremely low prices for laptop replacement laptops over the internet, Amazon and Ebay. Many of these low-price companies are based overseas and are not subject to safety and manufacturing standards to ensure lower costs. When a consumer is evaluating potential replacement suppliers, they should be able to contact the manufacturer's representative, not the seller. This information is carefully hidden from consumers through various tricks, such as giving them only an email address.
It is not worth paying extra for branding and labeling in laptops before repairing a laptop battery yourself. Even top brand laptop batteries are made with third party components. In truth, most brand name laptop parts are made using various components from other companies.
Laptop batteries determine the performance of a battery. They consist of three main components:
The quality and safety characteristics of each of these parts will determine the overall quality, life and performance of the replacement battery. Laptop batteries are the most expensive component in batteries. Cells are classified into classes and fall into categories A, B, or C. A class A battery from a well-known manufacturer (such as Samsung or LG) generally lasts longer and has better performance than a class B battery.
Expected battery life. High-quality components lead to longer loads. Life expectancy for any laptop battery may vary depending on usage. In general, a laptop battery will provide between 400 and 800 life cycles, depending on usage and battery quality. Poor quality or poorly manufactured batteries provide fewer cycles and shorter overall life:
Warranty coverage for laptops. Since most batteries fail within the first few months, it is important that the purchaser is covered by a warranty for at least one year after purchase. Therefore, he should always check the documents for the battery.
The built-in battery allows the laptop to work autonomously for about 3-4 hours. The battery often serves well for no more than three or four years, but sometimes problems begin much earlier. Battery failure significantly affects the performance of the laptop. The first sign of a malfunction is an alert from the operating system recommending a battery replacement. The message appears when the battery capacity is already quite reduced, and it cannot work fully.
It is logical to start with the "composition" of the battery on this portable device.
The battery is from four to eight rechargeable cells placed and soldered in the case. This often leads to the false conclusion that replacing the battery on a laptop is the only way out of the situation in the event of a malfunction and defective operation of the device, performance can be restored in other ways.
The battery is powered by built-in batteries slightly larger than AA batteries, they differ from AA batteries in capacity. Thanks to such elements, it is possible to restore the battery by replacing defective batteries with new ones.
The main element of the battery is a microcircuit or microcontroller. This element is responsible for the operation of the battery, and also displays all the characteristics on the screen (state of charge, battery temperature, and so on).
To date, laptops use lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries. These types of batteries have replaced nickel-cadmium batteries due to their higher capacity and the absence of the so-called memory effect.
Lithium-ion batteries deteriorate quite often and relatively easily - they do not tolerate strong heat or cold, and you also need to be careful with charging. If the battery is over-discharged, it may fail. Also, do not charge it for too long - this can also affect performance. Another reason that can easily ruin a battery is non-use. If the battery is in the laptop case, but the computer is running on mains, or if the laptop has simply not been used for a long time, the battery often cannot please with the same activity.
A short circuit can even provoke an explosion. That is why a microcontroller is needed, which regulates the operation of all elements, and also protects against possible emergencies.
However, if the battery still holds a charge much worse, if earlier you could use the computer offline for about 2 hours, and now the battery usage time barely reaches thirty minutes, and the system displays already familiar messages, something should be done.
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Often products are sold charged. Then you should use a 5-10 ohm resistor. We discharge the elements all together, connecting them in parallel (“+” to “+”, “-” to “-”).
We note right away why it is extremely undesirable to install charged elements. If you insert charged cells, the device will attempt to charge the cells. If the charge does not go (and it will not go, because there is nowhere else), then the system will perceive the elements as inoperable or continue charging, which can lead to quite serious consequences - failure of the laptop or even fire.
Attention! Do not leave the device unattended when charging for the first time. Monitor the temperature of the charging battery to prevent overheating. If you notice any problems, immediately turn off the power and remove the battery from the computer.
After the completion of the charging procedure, we check the performance of the battery. Battery life should improve significantly - by an hour and a half on average.
If everything went well, the performance of the device has been increased - congratulations on the end of the work!
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Here are some tips for using the battery on a laptop in order to extend its performance.
Many users of computer technology ask one question: how to repair a laptop battery with your own hands? The question is quite justified, since the breakdown of such a component makes the computer device itself useless. Without a battery, it is impossible to turn on a laptop without using a cable, which negatively affects the main task of a laptop - mobility. In the service center, such work will cost a considerable amount, and the purchase of a new element will be even more expensive. Today we will consider the most popular instructions and deal with the existing causes of breakdowns and incorrect operation.
During operation, the battery of the device loses its original energy capacity, which directly affects the battery life of the device in direct proportion. If your laptop only works for an hour after a full charge or completely stops turning on without using a cable, then you should not run to the first store you come across and buy a new component, since in some cases you can repair the part yourself at home.
How to repair a laptop battery and where to start? Let's pay a little attention to diagnostics.
If the battery began to discharge very quickly, then you should first calibrate this component. The most convenient and reliable way is to use third-party software from any of the manufacturers:
Important! Detailed information about the program can be found on the Internet, specifying the model of your device.
The bottom line is that you just need to run the utility through the functional mode, in which your battery is completely discharged and charged again.
Important! Remember that during calibration it is not recommended to turn off the power supply and cut off the power supply, as well as use the laptop for your own purposes.
The process itself takes about three to four hours. Some problems can be corrected with this calibration and the battery will return to its original performance immediately. If these procedures did not bring you the desired result, then we recommend that you familiarize yourself with other methods.
How to fix a laptop battery? You can try to interfere with the design of the device if the calibration could not give you the desired result. First you need to prepare a little and get the following tools:
As you may have noticed, batteries for any laptop models are not designed to be disassembled, so you will need to resort to using a breadboard knife or other sharp object in order to pry and open the case. Next, you need to follow the following algorithm:
The following steps depend on the type of battery installed.
How to fix a Ni-MH-type laptop battery? The following detailed instructions will help you:
Important! It is best to make marks with a marker on those elements whose voltage is less than 1.1 Volts. If you find such elements, then they will need to be replaced in the future.
Important! If you did not succeed in achieving the desired result, then you will have to resort to replacing all the elements at once.
Is it possible to repair a battery from a different type of laptop? Let's take a closer look at the answer to this question.
Important! Working with such batteries is dangerous, so be extremely careful when handling such parts. Make sure the battery is completely discharged before starting work.
To restore you will need to do the following:
If all the steps were performed correctly, then the laptop should work without a cable.
If we didn’t drop laptops, fill them with coffee (tea, cola, beer - choose the right one) and generally clean them from time to time, then they would work for almost a dozen years. However, laptop batteries are, by definition, limited, and you'll be lucky if the battery lasts longer than 5 years.
Gradually, its capacity decreases, which means that the operating time from a single charge is reduced, but it happens that the capacity drops sharply. It can lead to overheating of the battery and even an explosion.
If you notice that the battery on your laptop is starting to fail, do not rush to order a new one in China or buy the same one from us, but already twice as expensive. People on the forums speak extremely negatively about Chinese batteries: they have both a lower capacity and a much smaller resource. Somehow I did not want to wait a month to get a battery with a resource of six months - a year.
But there is another option - self-repair of laptop batteries with the replacement of elements that have lost their resource.
First of all, you need to find out how much the laptop's operating time has decreased after charging the battery, how adequately its charge level is estimated. There are special programs for testing the battery, including the free BatteryMon program.
Charts of charge and discharge are available in the program.
And the ‘Info->BatteryInformation…’ menu contains very useful information:
Chemistry - type of battery, for example, Lithium Ion (lithium ion);
Design capacity - its design capacity, that is, the maximum capacity that it had immediately after manufacture;
Full charge capacity - the maximum value that the battery charge can have;
Current capacity - the current value of its charge;
Voltage - the current value of the voltage on the battery;
Charge rate - the rate of charge / discharge of the battery.
But we are primarily interested in the remaining battery life, which can be determined by dividing 'Full charge capacity' by 'Design capacity'. The lower the remaining resource, the higher the deterioration of the battery.
The Toshiba laptop was used very intensively and was connected to the network almost all the time. After 5 years, its battery life was reduced by about 30%, in addition, the battery began to overheat, so it became uncomfortable to hold the laptop on your lap while charging. If the charging was not turned off when the battery reached full charge, then the laptop overheated and turned itself off.
It makes sense to repair a laptop battery with your own hands only if you are sure that the controller board is working, but if the controller is faulty or blocked, then it will be cheaper to contact a specialized workshop.
The sequence of actions is as follows:
remove the battery from the laptop;
we divide the plastic case into two parts and carefully remove the battery of elements with the controller board; and since it is rather complicated to do this, the following may help:
to make the halves of the case easier to disperse, the battery should be twisted in your hands and at the same time warp it diagonally in different directions so that the halves of the case come apart;
you need to try to find a gap between the halves and put a plastic card into it, push the gap and move the card further along the contour;
you can use a flathead screwdriver to separate the corners of the case, but be very careful so that it does not come off and damage the controller board, battery cell or your hand.
Next, we determine the connection diagram of the battery cells and the connection to the controller board. It is most convenient to take a photo of the assembly, draw an electrical connection diagram and put down the polarity of connecting elements in it.
The Toshiba battery has a cell combination scheme designated as 2P3S, that is, two cells are connected in parallel, and three such blocks are connected in series.
The circuit must be confirmed with a voltmeter:
first, we determine the common point, which is usually indicated on the controller board as 0V or GND,
we measure the remaining voltages relative to it at the points where the assembly is connected to the controller board (at all points relative to zero, the voltages must be positive, otherwise, most likely, the common wire is incorrectly selected),
putting data on the diagram,
find the point with the lowest potential,
we check the serial voltage increase on each block of elements connected in series (the increase must have a positive value)
Attention! Please note that:
while the controller board is connected to the elements, these elements cannot be charged or discharged using external sources, you can only measure the voltage, otherwise the controller may be blocked or even disabled;
in order to avoid blocking the controller, it is necessary to disconnect it from the assembly of elements in a strictly defined sequence: first, unsolder the wire (or bus) with the highest voltage - this will be the positive contact of the battery cell, which is located from the very edge from its zero, after that - the wire from the remaining ones, at which is the highest voltage, and so repeat until the last wire.
After that, it is better to remove the controller and the circuit away so as not to lose or damage anything.
Much depends on the type of chemistry of the elements. In most cases, these are Li-ion batteries with a voltage of 3.6 V; they can be charged up to 4.2V and discharged down to 3.0V. It is important to know the operating range of the batteries so that new cells are not designed for a narrower range than the original one. If the voltage is above the tolerance, then the elements will overheat and may even explode; if the output voltage is below the allowable, it will lead to a sharp loss of capacitance. Alternatively, elements with a wider voltage range can be used, but they may be too expensive.
There are usually no problems with charge / discharge currents, laptops do not use high-current batteries, but it is still recommended to clarify the current capacity.
It is desirable that the capacity of the batteries be comparable to the capacity of the original cells. If the capacity is underestimated, then the battery life of the laptop will be reduced; if it is too high, then without flashing the controller, the operating time will increase slightly.
So, when replacing cells from 2900mAh to 3350mAh, a 15.5% increase in capacity was expected. And the laptop's battery controller was programmed with 2800mAh cells, and they were replaced with 3000mAh cells.
For example: an assembly of six lithium batteries with a voltage of 3.6 V. How to convert the capacity from Watt hours for a battery to Ampere hours for a cell? We divide the first by 6 (number of batteries), and then by another 3.6 V (cell voltage).
If you want to save money, if the battery life does not matter, you can put the cells on a smaller capacity or reduce the number of batteries connected in parallel (for example, put 1 instead of 2). But first you need to clarify the current load of the batteries, since if the batteries are designed for a smaller capacity, then they, as a rule, have a lower current capacity.
Be sure to consider the dimensions of the batteries. The most common size that is used in removable laptop batteries is cylindrical 18650, where the first two digits indicate the diameter of the battery (18 mm), and 65 mm is its length. If the length is longer due to the design features of the electrodes, etc., then such batteries may simply not fit in the old case.
Restoring a disassembled battery is only advisable if:
when disassembling the old laptop battery, the controller board was not damaged;
there was no short circuit;
the assembly of elements was detached correctly (from maximum plus to minus);
the battery controller has not locked up or failed.
Purchasing a new controller or looking for a programmer and a program to unlock the controller is not practical when it comes to a single battery repair.
First of all, it is necessary to establish the brand of old elements and their characteristics with the type of chemistry, voltage, charge and discharge currents, capacity (this data is available on the Internet). This is necessary to find new workable elements.
It is possible to reuse good old elements; you can buy them in your city or order them in foreign stores or on eBay or AliExpress.
In production, the assembly of the battery from the elements is carried out using resistance welding. Many people believe that if the battery is soldered, it will fail or last a little. But if you solder correctly and exclude operation in extreme conditions, then it will be possible to do without a contact welding apparatus.
Soldering iron with a wide tip with a power of at least 40 W (preferably with temperature stabilization);
soldering acid and a brush (can be replaced with a cotton swab);
solder tin-lead type POS-61;
sandpaper or file;
a suitable clip to fix the batteries.
High-quality soldering will turn out only if the surfaces to be soldered are properly tinned. When soldering batteries, the most important thing is to prevent them from overheating. Therefore it is necessary:
that the room is well ventilated;
the temperature on the soldering iron should be set to 350 ° C;
electrodes must be cleaned;
element must be securely fixed.
The procedure is as follows:
1) Using a brush (or cotton swab), apply a little acid to the electrode.
2) Put more solder on the tip of the soldering iron.
3) Vigorously moving the tip, rub the solder into the electrode.
Important:
the battery cannot be tinned for more than 2 seconds; if you didn’t manage to do it in 2 seconds, then put the element aside and try again only when it cools down;
when soldering, do not inhale acid fumes, they are very harmful to health;
after you tin the battery, be sure to remove the remnants of soldering acid with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol or at least vodka;
it is safest to solder the battery with the petals already welded; for example, for an 18650 battery with petals, the very edges of the petal should be tinned so that the element itself does not heat up.
This is what a new battery looks like with a petal from a mobile charger welded on by resistance welding.
After finishing the tinning of all elements, you should check that there is equal voltage on all of them. If there are differences of more than a few hundredths of a volt, the voltages must be equalized using a special charger or by connecting the batteries in parallel.
Be careful: if the elements connected in parallel have different degrees of charge and, accordingly, different voltages, huge currents can flow, since they are limited only by the extremely low internal resistance of the batteries and the resistance of the circuit wires.
To limit the current in the battery circuit break, it is necessary to include a resistor with a resistance of at least dU / Imax (voltage difference on the battery cells divided by the maximum allowable charge / discharge current of the batteries).
The connection of the batteries and the resistor is carried out according to the above diagram; then you should wait until the value of the voltage across the resistor is less than a hundredth of a volt.
Having balanced the voltage on all the elements, we proceed to assemble them into a battery. The easiest option is to connect new elements using old connecting bars, if they were damaged during disassembly, copper foil 100-200 microns thick will be required.
When assembling the cells into a battery, the original battery diagram should be followed; it is desirable to leave the arrangement of elements the same as in the original battery.
When assembling a battery of six elements, it is advisable to combine all the elements in pairs: the minuses of the two elements together and the pluses too, and then turn on three pairs in series.
After assembling the elements, the controller is connected to it, and in reverse order, starting with the wires with the lowest potential and then upward: first 0 V and 3.6 V, then 7.2 V and at the very end 10.8 V.
Now it remains only to carefully assemble the battery and check it (the battery case should not be glued). With the battery connected to the laptop, press the power button. If the laptop did not turn on, it means that when the old battery assembly was disabled, the controller went into transport mode and disconnected the battery. If you now connect the mains power to the laptop, it will “start up” and see the restored battery. Repair completed successfully.
At the present stage, portable devices in the form of laptops are gradually replacing large stationary computers. Their main advantage is that they can be easily moved from place to place without being connected to the network: all good laptops are equipped with high-capacity batteries. However, sooner or later the time comes when it comes to an end, the battery loses its capacity, and the laptop runs the risk of becoming a gadget that is completely dependent on the mains. New models of laptop computers are constantly appearing on the market, and finding new batteries for old-style laptops is becoming more and more problematic. Therefore, there is an optimal way out: restoring the laptop battery.
However, before analyzing the algorithm of actions necessary in order to implement, it will not be superfluous to understand how to prevent their premature failure.
There is a special program for laptops BatteryCare, designed to control the processes occurring in the device. Of course, it is impossible to prevent a natural decrease in their capacity, but it is quite possible to control the consumption of the electric potential of the battery. This program is designed so that the user can get complete information about the battery. It conducts a detailed analysis of running processes and stops in time those that are characterized by the highest energy consumption for the battery.
The program is remarkable in that it displays complete information about the state of the battery. It not only shows the battery level, but also fixes the percentage of its wear and capacity. If the battery controller fails, you can use the program to carry out.
The BatteryCare program also monitors the charge-discharge cycles of the laptop battery, records its discharge by cycles and, upon reaching a certain number of cycles, notifies that a complete discharge is necessary. This prevents premature deterioration of the battery potential and the need to repair it prematurely.
In order to repair an Asus laptop battery, you will need a breadboard knife (or screwdriver), a multimeter, a soldering iron, a small car light bulb and cyanoacrylate glue.
It is often difficult to remove the batteries from the plastic box in which they are packed in such cheaper Chinese-made PCs. The main thing is not to damage the fragile contents of the battery pack with a screwdriver. To open the case, you need to find a seam on it that divides it into two halves glued together. Carefully disconnect them and open the battery. The halves are often glued very firmly, so you have to tinker with them pretty much.
Usually there are six standard "cans" inside and a board with a fuse (controller). On Asus models, the wires that connect the controller to the battery pack are very thin, and the board itself is often not fixed properly. This requires extra care in handling it.
Before restoring the battery pack itself, it is important to reset the battery voltmeter (or controller). This is a special tester inside the battery that regulates the process of charging it and, when the voltage in the “banks” reaches 4.2 V (the maximum allowable indicator), the controller gives a signal that the battery is fully charged. However, over time, the controller may "go astray" and give inaccurate readings. Therefore, it should be corrected by updating the indicators to zero.
Now you can proceed to the very restoration of the battery of the laptop.
Before the recovery process, the battery must be completely discharged.
Then, using a multimeter, the voltage at the terminals of each "jar" is sequentially measured. All batteries, the output voltage of which, when measured, was less than 3.7 V, are thrown away and replaced with new ones that are essentially the same.
In principle, this is one of the easiest ways to restore a battery, which can be applied not only to an Asus laptop, but also to any other model, given its specifics. Such repairs are quite simple and do not require deep skills. More sophisticated methods for restoring a laptop battery involve the use of specialized chargers and are used mainly in workshops that repair battery packs. For an independent attempt to bring the battery into working condition, it is the method with replacing the batteries and monitoring the voltage using light bulbs and a multimeter that is more suitable.
As you know, Samsung has long specialized in the manufacture of lighter gadgets in the form of tablets and smartphones. Full-fledged Samsung laptops are not actually on sale now and are becoming, in a way, a rarity, along with their batteries. Therefore, the return of the performance of such a laptop with your own hands can be a real salvation for him.
You can try to restore the Samsung battery using the same action algorithm. It should be borne in mind that disassembling an old battery pack from this company can be even more difficult than any other. The case of such batteries was often made of very thin plastic, which, unfortunately, can be easily damaged with a screwdriver if opened carelessly. Particularly fragile are the battery cases from small Samsung netbooks. P Therefore, do not use a sharp screwdriver when opening the case or removing the batteries from the compartment.
An additional obstacle for Samsung may be the detachment of the batteries from the case due to the fact that they were attached with a very strong silicone adhesive, which over time could turn into an almost solid mass. But if you work patiently, then it is possible to disassemble such a block without causing serious harm to it.
Thus, it is quite possible to carry out self-recovery of the battery. It is important to carry out all manipulations in a well-ventilated area, because processes such as soldering and gluing involve the inhalation of harmful chemicals by humans. If someone is going to make their first experience of returning an old battery to life, for the first time it is better to take the battery pack on which you can practice, not regretting in the future that he accidentally turned out to be “killed” due to inexperience.
