Recondition Laptop Battery

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Dennis Alwon

Dennis Alwon

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I ran across this article. Is this for real. It comes from this site--- http://batteryaz.com/how-to-recondition-batteries/


Laptop battery reconditioning is more than just possible and there are a lot of different ways to achieve that, but some of them may be time consuming. In any case, it is the best choice to try simply because a new laptop battery is expensive and it may cost more than a new laptop.
On the other side, all of these ways are simple and you can do them by yourself. Laptops that have removable batteries are much simpler to do this, but you can try these steps on laptops with non-removable batteries.
In addition, do not use these solutions on a new battery, simply because this will have a negative effect and they will get damaged. In any case, you can recondition an old battery and you will be able to use that laptop for a lot more time. The best part is that all solutions cost nothing.
Solution 1

  1. Remove a battery from your laptop and place it is a plastic bag.
  2. Place it in a freezer and wait for 12 hours. Then, remove it from the bag and clean it.
  3. Place it in a laptop and fully recharge it.
If the battery is not leaking, there is no acid around it, this way will be successful. In any case, you will end up with a new battery that can last for a long time. In addition, you can repeat the procedure a few times.
Click to expand...
 
Little Bill said:
We'll see!
I have a battery that won't hold a charge and I don't think I can damage it any further. So I will put it in a ziplock and try it.
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i think what will happen is freezing a battery solid will destroy it.

isn't it a battery supplier giving you this advice?

sort of like a dentist with a bowl of tootsie rolls in the waiting room?
 
Fulthrotl said:
i think what will happen is freezing a battery solid will destroy it.

isn't it a battery supplier giving you this advice?

sort of like a dentist with a bowl of tootsie rolls in the waiting room?
Click to expand...

Maybe so, but in Little Bill's case, no harm no foul. The battery is toast as is.
 
I heard that one a long time ago, and it's still out there on the web in several places, most of them "click bait" sites. But, and this is a BIG BUT, they left off one crucial aspect. I copied this from one of those other sites;

Note that you should only perform this on NiCD or NiMH batteries. If you try this on a lithium battery, it’ll make the battery life worse. Unfortunately, there is no way to restore a lithium battery. You’ll have to find your laptop specs to see what kind of battery you have. For lithium ion batteries, you can’t restore, but you can possibly extend the life of a battery. Read method 2.
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Method 2 is one of those cooling pads for putting under your laptop that have 2 -4 small fans blowing up onto the bottom of the laptop. I have one, it does seem to work, a BIT.
 
I just can't believe they really put this site up. What a joke.... How can freezing a battery bring it back to life? I have heard that storing batteries in a freezer extends its life but then I was told that was not true either.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
I just can't believe they really put this site up. What a joke.... How can freezing a battery bring it back to life? I have heard that storing batteries in a freezer extends its life but then I was told that was not true either.
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There was a fella I worked with a few decades ago who swore by putting rechargeable batteries in the fridge (not the freezer). Had something to do with reducing the self-discharge rate, he claimed.
 
Self-discharge of primary (non-rechargeable) batteries is fundamentally a chemical reaction, so I would expect that its rate would be temperature dependent. I keep all my unused alkaline cells in the refrigerator. Perhaps there is some other storage failure mechanism that is not temperature dependent, in which case it may be useless.

Cheers, Wayne
 
Recondition Laptop Battery

A somewhat related story: I had an old Milwaukee drill with NiCad batteries. I used it to build my deck on a 95 degree day. I was driving screws fast enough that the battery would get hot and they have circuitry to not allow them to charge when above a certain temp. I quickly got to the point where all 3 of my batteries were dead and unchargable.

I solved to problem by starting a rotation of 1 in use, 1 in the freezer, and 1 on charge.

By the time I drained one, the one in the freezer would be cooled enough to charge and the one on the charger was good to go.
I have no idea how it may have affected the ultimate battery life, but I was able to finish my deck.
 
In NiCad batteries, the chemical reaction between the Nickel and Cadmium that creates the electricity flow relies on crystals in the electrolyte forming and passing the electrons. The action takes place on the surface of the crystals, so the more crystals it has, the better it is at passing the electrons, and smaller crystals means more surface area. Over time and use, the smaller crystals combine and reform into larger crystals, less surface area, less energy transfer, so you start to notice that the battery stops holding a charge for as long.

Freezing does appear to work (with NiCads), but the mechanism is not fully understood. The theory is that freezing them causes the crystals to line up, which lowers the resistance in the battery. So when you reconnect it to the charger WHILE still frozen, the lower resistance allows more current to flow quickly, which heats the crystals and fractures them back into smaller pieces. So it essentially restores the EFFICIENCY of a WORKING battery. But it will not "resurrect" a dead battery from the grave. They typically "die" when they over heat, LOSE their electrolyte, or short out internally when "dendrites" (think stalagmites in a cave) form across the Nickel and Cadmium layers right through the electrolyte, which will happen naturally over time. So yes, it can make a battery work a little longer than it would have, so long as it is done WHILE it is still actually working.

I have heard the same holds true for NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) batteries because of the same basic mechanism, but those came to be long after I was out of that side of the business.
 
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