[PLUG-TALK] Thinkpad battery recall/replacement (err ...)

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 02:39:05PM -0800, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> Old news:  in 2007, Lenovo recalled some of the 92P1132 9 cell
> batteries that fit in some of the Thinkpads of the era, such
> as my T60.  Safety issue, some of these catch fire.  Lenovo is
> still replacing them.  The Lenovo website (google for "lenovo
> battery recall") provides a Windoze_download+web app that
> checks the battery serial number, the Thinkpad serial number,
> and (if things match) prepares an online order for a free
> replacement battery.  Since the windoze app accesses hardware
> for serial numbers, it does not work using VMware or Wine.  Sigh.
> 
> Newer news:  Eco Binary in Beaverton has about half a dozen
> dubious 92P1132 batteries for $8.  I bought two of them, loaned
> one to John Jordan.  I had the original WinXP drive that came
> with my T60, and used that to run lenovo's online test.
> 
> It was recalled, so I ordered a new one on Tuesday night.  It
> arrived FedEx (!) on Friday.  They did not ask for the old
> battery - I guess that gets recycled, perhaps at Eco Binary.
> It holds 105% charge - perhaps that is part of the problem!
> 
> You don't have a Windoze hard drive for your laptop, perhaps we
> can try some drive swapping at the clinic.  The recall procedure
> records serial numbers, so I don't think we get to use the same
> laptop over and over.

I fear I spoke too soon.  The above was based on a sample of 1.
Anticipating the needs of my buddies, and having a couple more
T60s to authenticate batteries with, I bought two more used 9 cell
batteries from Eco Binary.  Although they look much the same as
the recalled one, testing revealed that neither was among those
serial-numbered for recall and free replacement.   Looking
carefully at the batteries, both the replacement battery and the
two additional non-recalled batteries have a small "JS" on the
right of the label, near the small battery symbol.  The dangerous
replaced one does not have the small "JS". 

Significant?  Hard to say.  Having made at least one unwarranted
extrapolation based on insufficient data today, I hesitate to
make another.  Unfortunately, Eco Binary does not offer public
internet access, so I can't run the test program on the remaining
batteries there without buying them.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs