this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
3 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

37712 readers
355 users here now

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
alyaza@beehaw.org
TheRtRevKaiser@beehaw.org
gyrfalcon@beehaw.org
rs5th@beehaw.org
coldredlight@beehaw.org
Los@beehaw.org
SemioticStandard@beehaw.org
TheRtRevKaiser@kbin.social
remington@beehaw.org
3
Would you buy a new battery for a very old laptop? (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago by Mummelpuffin@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
16 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I just got a pretty good deal on an old ThinkPad (think 10 years old now) to use as a beater for screwing with ArchLinux and hopefully to find a real use for. It's in great shape like it was never really used, but big shock, the battery is at 50% effective capacity and what's there disappears in less than an hour.

Would you bother buying a battery replacement for it? On one hand I want it to actually be usable on the go because that was sort of the point. On the other, while replacement batteries exist, I'm worried that they're already very old themselves and already "expired". Would you take the chance? I don't want to let this thing go to waste when it's still perfectly usable, in fact it's pretty fast.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] cmdrkata@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you work on laptop batteries often?

[–] ButterBiscuits@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What does that have to do with anything? You gave dangerous advice to someone with unknown skill levels for handling batteries.

But yes, I do, and if you don't know what you're doing and puncture a cell trying to take the wrap off, you'll have a bad time. Li-Ion fires are terrifying, and it makes no sense to replace a few cells when you can just get the whole damn battery for a few dollars more and mitigate the risk of burning down your house.

[–] cmdrkata@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You do? So what's a laptop battery then?

[–] ButterBiscuits@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The fuck kind of question is that? Not going to entertain an uneducated troll.

[–] cmdrkata@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Now you're projecting.

I'm betting you haven't opened a battery pack in your entire life. Why not go watch a couple of videos on laptop battery packs, what's in them, and how to fix em? Maybe you'll learn something instead of foulmouthing and fudding.

Me? I work with 18650s every day, protected and unprotected cells; I charge em, I fix em, and I know it's pretty hard to puncture em; that being said, if op is anything like you he's probably much better off leaving it to a qualified repairman or just buying new.

But thanks for the heads-up, I'll add a safety warning to my advice; that better? 🙂️