Dell "Fake" Battery Replacement

notnik · 13 Apr 2008 at 08:00

I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 and rarely use the battery, instead using the laptop as a desktop replacement and having it plugged in all the time. For those of you who haven't used a Dell Inspiron laptop, here is a picture of the underneath:

Dell 9400 Base

Dell 6000 base (easier to see)

As you can see, one of the corner legs/feet is placed on the battery, meaning the laptop becomes (physically) unstable if i remove the battery, which since i have it plugged in all the time I prefer to do or i'll wreck the battery.

While i can use a piece of cardboard or something, I was wondering if there was a kind of "fake" battery to put in place of the real battery to protect the case/contacts from dust etc.

fish99 · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:50

I thought the battery was effectively bypassed if it was fully charged and the lappy was on mains?

Conrad11 · 13 Apr 2008 at 13:38

fish99 said:
I thought the battery was effectively bypassed if it was fully charged and the lappy was on mains?

If I look in the bios with full charge and mains plugged in....it says the battery is "idle"

SimonC · 13 Apr 2008 at 14:59

Conrad11 said:
If I look in the bios with full charge and mains plugged in....it says the battery is "idle"

Just checked mine, says same thing (vostro 1500) AFAIK once the battery is fully charged thats it, it doesn't keep on charging.

jesta · 13 Apr 2008 at 17:26

SimonC said:
Just checked mine, says same thing (vostro 1500) AFAIK once the battery is fully charged thats it, it doesn't keep on charging.

Is that really true tho?Cos on I lent my Toshiba laptop to a mate and before he used it,it had 40mins battery life. He only ever used it plugged into the mains whilst the battery is still in the laptop, after 3 months or so I got it back, the battery no longer holds charge. :confused:

fish99 · 13 Apr 2008 at 18:01

jesta said:
Is that really true tho?Cos on I lent my Toshiba laptop to a mate and before he used it,it had 40mins battery life. He only ever used it plugged into the mains whilst the battery is still in the laptop, after 3 months or so I got it back, the battery no longer holds charge.

Hmmm.... you're probably right, I mean lithium-ion do lose their charge over time, so I guess it does still discharge and charge while it's in there.

Silly design to have one of the laptops feet part of the battery. All I can suggest is make a new foot for it out of some rubber and blu-tac/double sided tape it on in the best spot available. Or you can buy packs of rubber stick-on feet to fit most uses.

Caged · 13 Apr 2008 at 18:11

It depends on the battery technology, newer ones can't be wrecked by leaving them plugged in.

notnik · 14 Apr 2008 at 21:05

I've been getting the "Your battery is reaching the end of its usable life" message.

My sister has an inspiron 6000 that's about 6months older than my 9400 and uses the exact same battery, but she has yet to get this message even though she uses the battery all the time.

Could the fact that i've NOT been using it (ie. discharging it) be the reason that it's dying?

I did read somewhere on a website that hadn't been updated in 3 years (it was a while ago, so can't remember the link) that laptop batteries should be removed once charged if they were not going to be immediately used, just as you wouldn't leave your mobile charging for a whole day..
but as the inspiron has one of it's feet on the battery i figured Dell wouldn't be stupid enough to put the foot there if the battery needed to be removed all the time.

I hate to think that i'm going to have to shell out £70 for a new battery on account of my not using the last one.. yet i don't want it to leak/go on fire when i'm using it or leaving it to compile or whatever..

SimonC · 14 Apr 2008 at 23:41

I wonder if there is anything you could put between the connections to stop the battery being used. Don't know if there would be a risk of fire though. :confused:

peetee · 15 Apr 2008 at 10:45

the heat also damages the batterys i do believe, thats why i take mine out anyway,

SimonC · 15 Apr 2008 at 15:49

peetee said:
the heat also damages the batterys i do believe, thats why i take mine out anyway,

And theres no problem taking them out? I did take mine out yesterday but wasn't sure if it was ok to do so, so put it back in.

peetee · 15 Apr 2008 at 16:18

well i just leave mine out, and every so often it gets used on battery, but when its in the mains ill take it out, because theres a chance iv got the sound up loud or playing a game, which usually means heat

I dont think there much wrong with taking them out to be honest.

Magic Man · 15 Apr 2008 at 17:25

I'm sure laptop manufacturers are more than capable of producing a simple charging circuit that cuts the charge current to the battery once full down to a tiny trickle charge that the battery is more than capable of dealing with and not dying...

fish99 · 15 Apr 2008 at 17:34

I have noticed the battery on mine is cold when the lappy is on AC, so it's clearly not continually charging so I don't think fire/leak is a possibility. What it may be doing is charging a little bit every so often though, which could hit battery life eventually.

Certainly using them on AC without the battery in is no problem at all.

Namsnik · 22 Apr 2008 at 21:35

If you do remove the battery then I have seen suggestions to put it in the fridge (in a well sealed plasic bag)... Can't do any harm.

username · 22 Apr 2008 at 21:58

SimonC said:
I wonder if there is anything you could put between the connections to stop the battery being used. Don't know if there would be a risk of fire though.

What this chap said put some clear sellotape over the connectors then plug the battery back in see if it registers or not.

SimonC · 22 Apr 2008 at 23:10

Namsnik said:
If you do remove the battery then I have seen suggestions to put it in the fridge (in a well sealed plastic bag)... Can't do any harm.

I read about this being able to give you 1/2 hours of charge if the battery has had it. But you also need to leave the battery at room temperature for an hour of so or you might get condensation.