Advice re: 51% capacity of 9-cell battery?

Hi all. I just bought a used 9-cell OEM IBM battery for Thinkpad R52.
Cost was $27 with free shipping (seemingly worth it.

I just now ran Thinkvantage diagnostics which states:
51% of original battery capacity. Condition: Poor

At full charge it stated 2:28 hours remaining (which quickly changed to 2:25 & so forth.

I've set my power options to Minimal power management
Low-battery Alarm to 20%
Critical low-battery alarm to 5%

Is this battery worth keeping (due to whatever the return shipping would cost?

Or should I perhaps ask the seller if he'd replace it with one that holds a better charge?

Any advice would be appreciated - thanks!

 

Just based on what you wrote I would not keep it. how many cycles does it have might make a difference... Also keep in mind that the condition is going to get worse faster than a new one would.

 

I don't think you would find many used R52 batteries that is still in good condition.

You could try to ask for an exchange, but one would think most of these used R52 batteries sold on the market would be in similar condition.

 

The price is nice but is 2 hours enough for your needs (bearing in mind that the capacity will continue to drop)?

However, first try some different power options. Minimal power management usually means minimum power saving measures and other options may improve the battery time.

John

 

(1) Yea.. well thus far, I take it from the 2:1 responses that while it's not a whopping buy, it could have been even worse than 50% for that price?

That's why I opted for a 9-cell, thinking that most used batteries would be at most 50% - and yes, 2 hours is fine with me if it would only stay that way awhile via my "minimal power" setting.. And most people here advised OEM, so I was worried that non-OEM might ruin my laptop or be fire hazard.

As a yardstick, what I've been wanting to know, is:

(2) How many hours does a NEW R52 OEM battery last? 5 hours?
Because I had thought that NEW 9-cells usually have like maybe an 8-hour span. I guess I may have been mistaken.
BTW, I'm not interested in statistics of more-recent IBM batteries,
...... nor other-than R52-compatible.

(3) Also:
How do I permanently set my system to beep when charging reaches above 90% (or 95%). I previously set it that way, but I can't find that setting displaying anymore for some reason.
Isn't it supposed to be healthier for battery not to be fully charged to 100? If not, I guess i'll leave well enough alone.

P.S. As an aside, I don't use it for mobile, rather to try to minimize EMFs due to being somewhat electrosensitive. Via battery on minimal-power, the frequency is supposedly lower (according to an expert's correspondence who himself is very sensitive.

 

new 9 cells should last around 4 to 5 hrs on average, but you would have a hard time finding an OEM new battery for a R52 that doesn't cost in excess of 70 USD.

Charging to the 95% is usually better, as fully charging the battery can cause some degradation to the battery.

 

Thanks for the info!
Any idea how I can reset my system so the alarm sounds when charging reaches 95%?

 

there is no such features available.

 

If you have Lenovo's Power Manager software then the facility to set the charging behaviour is under Battery Maintenance. It won't beep but will stop charging. Or there may be something similar in whatever equivalent software is provided with the R52.

John

 

Hi, thanks - I'd found it under
power manager > battery maintenance

...but switched to the option "optimize for battery lifespan"

I'm not sure if (rather than optimize) I should have set it to, say, max-charge at 90%, and alert when down to say 25%

 

If you really need the capacity, I suppose you can consider re-celling.

 

I suppose that was conny