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Electronics Laptop battery pinouts

Discussion in 'Modding' started by compjinx, 11 Oct 2005.

  1. compjinx

    compjinx What's a Dremel?

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    Does anyone know where to find pinouts for laptop batteries? I have two batteries of identical voltage ratings, but one battery is dead. I want to simply replace the broken battery with the working battery, however the pins are different in size and position (but similar in number). They are the same type of battery, same ratings, same number of pins (six). If the pins can map across, I can simply solder the pins of the working battery to the salvaged pins of the old battery.

    Any suggestions?
     
  2. OtakuHawk

    OtakuHawk What's a Dremel?

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    Multimeter.
     
  3. compjinx

    compjinx What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks, but that doesn't help to figure out what pins do what on the old battery since it is dead (actually, also doesn't help me figure out what the good battery does, since only two of the pins seem to provide the rated voltage difference).
     
  4. brandium

    brandium What's a Dremel?

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    Lithium Ion batteries need to have circuity built in to make sure they don't get overcharged and explode, so be careful. That also means that some of the pins are probably signal pins, and you may or may not be able to wire the one pinout directly to the other.
    If the voltages are the same, then I would expect the number of cells must be the same. You might be able to just replace the actual lithium cells, assuming the problem is the battery can't hold a charge, not that the circuitry is dead.
    If you do things wrong though, batteries can be a fire hazard - Be careful
     
  5. compjinx

    compjinx What's a Dremel?

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    Thank you for the warning. Should I try anything, I will make sure that I am there to monitor it. I also have a firefighter(essentially) as a roommate who has already given me safety advice on a few other projects :-D. Also, I have the funny feeling that the circuitry on the old battery is bad. I assume this based on the fact that the cells from the "bad" battery have a higher voltage than do the cells from the "good" battery.The number of cells (8) is the same for both batteries. Would it be safe to assume that the "bad" cells are supposed to have the same voltage as the "good" cells? Or do laptop batteries commonly have a voltage inverter of some form? The "bad" cells give me 4.1v, while the "good" cells give me 3.5v. I assume that this is because the cells in the "bad' battery have been charged recently (it was sitting in the laptop for a while; apparently the chargin circuitry works), while the "good" cells have been sitting in a drawer for a good month or so (and were not likely charged before being stored).

    I have hope because they are the same type of batteries, the same rated voltage, the same number of cells, the same number of pins, and I get a voltage difference across the same two pins on both batteries (1 and 3). If I can't find anything else in the next couple days, I think I will just try to map the pins directly across; I will likely place some long wires on it so that the battery, should it not like the surgery, can go caput away from the laptop.
     
  6. Enak

    Enak Also known as Kane

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    Be careful, it is possible to kill the laptop playing with the battery.
     
  7. compjinx

    compjinx What's a Dremel?

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    I got the laptop for $10, so as much as I would like it to stay alive (useful little bugger), it wouldn't be a great loss if it were to die.
     
  8. Confused Fishcake

    Confused Fishcake Minimodder

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    plug the laptop into a wall supply and see what is happening on the battery terminals with a multimeter
     

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