I got some batteries in me freezer!

It's a nifty temporary kludge, but it is temporary.

I've saved a couple hard drives this way, but they typically die within a few minutes. Enough to save important data? Sometimes. I wouldn't count on a long lasting, re-energized battery. If anything, I'd expect it to boot, and last a couple minutes, but not much more.

Here's an interesting read: http://aphilosopher.wordpress.com/2008/02/23/freezing-laptop-batteries/

Keep in mind the age of your battery.

The "care" for NiCd batteries of a decade ago were a lot more complicated. This is the kind of battery where everyone got into the habit of "it's a good thing to let your battery completely die" to keep it healthy.

Today's Lithium-ion batteries are pretty different, and survive much better under what are pretty basic, everyday use as opposed to specialized "let completely run out every once in a while" practices that are actually quite bad for these newer batteries.

So depending what kind of technology is, this freezer trick might work. But I really wouldn't depend on it for anything more than quickly booting and getting some data transferred. Might as well buy a new battery if you actually want to depend on the hardware any longer than that.

For the Dell Mini, does it not work it you have it plugged in regardless of the battery's state?

HarryHoskins said:

Yup, does work, but I need to pawn it for a month and I'll get a better price plus battery.

Click to expand...

If it's for that, I wouldn't really bother. Even if it can hold a brief charge after the trick, you shouldn't sell it to someone without telling them it's basically dead. They can try whatever tricks they like themselves, or decide to get a new one.

HarryHoskins said:

I guess you probably don't need the money then, eh?



I'm not selling it, I'm pawning it for a month. Unless, of course, you wanna lend me forty odd quid until the 1st of November?

Click to expand...

I think the implication is that you are doing something dishonest, not whether you need the money.

Little Ming said:

I think the implication is that you are doing something dishonest, not whether you need the money.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's the one.

Good luck on reviving the batteries. Unfortunately what happens with those type of cells is that one cell will die and stop charging properly. The voltage across the array will look correct to the controller chip so it claims it's charged but when you put a load on the battery it shuts off rapidly.

If you have a big clunky battery pack you can sometimes crack those open, hook up a lightbulb (12v bulb for autos works great) to each cell and discharge them a ways. You have to keep an eye on their voltage so that they don't discharge completely but you can rebalance each cell so it's in line with the rest. Once that's done, hook up the charger and hopefully it will now be able to evenly charge up the array.

Or, hit google and order a new battery. Good luck regardless.

Being quite electronic savy myself, I found dead Li-Ion batteries do not respond well; however if it is "NiCad" or NiMH, what you should do if it is completely dead is to not put it in the freezer, it is wasting your time. Zap the terminals a few times with a large current; for any batteries under 12 volts, zap it with no more than 12 volts. For batteries upto 24 volts, zap them no more than 24 volts and do NOT reverse the polarities; you run the risk of burning out the fuses inside. A "Zap" can be 3 seconds, but sometimes as long as 10 seconds; start small.

If a battery has been sat dead for ages, the laptop charging circuit cannot deliver enough current to "wake up" the battery; hence the zap "charges" it the tiny bit to give it a leg-up, and burns away any conductive "whiskers" that may have formed inside the battery, degrading performance If you really want to zap a Li-Ion battery (and I do not recommend this as they can explode if the protective circuit is of poor quality), NO more than once for 3 seconds.

It will say somewhere on the battery the type. Even after revival life can not be guaranteed; sometimes you can get very close to the life when the battery was new, sometimes you get barely anything at all, depending on:
Internal Cell corrosion, Electrolyte leakage, conductive whiskers inside the battery causing it to short out. Be careful with the light bulb trick on Li-Ion batteries; if a cell is drained below 1.3 volts then a chemical reaction occurs rendering it useless. However the protective "smart" circuits should stop the drain on a laptop battery before this happens; so a total "Drain" and recharge could fix a dodgy reading of how much life is left for Li-Ion batteries. For Ni-Cd or NiMH batteries which have been zapped, a complete drain (0.0v), zap, charge can be attempted if a zap alone does not improve it.

If you want to store a battery for an extended time:
Li-Ion Batteries should be stored at 40% charge, cold-storage reccomended (fridge inside a bag) if it is not going to be used for a year or more as the capacity of them will degrade within 1 - 3 years regardless of weather it is used or not. Fully charge will increase speed of degradation, storing empty might screw up the "smart" circuit inside the battery if it drains too far.
Store NiCd or NiMH batteries fully charged; storing them cold is not needed.

I hope this helps! If you need any more help, PM me!

cray said:

Click to expand...

Up next to bat is. . . Cray!