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Factorite (Junior) Posts: | 29 |
Location: | United States | Status: | |
| I have a pair of 880s, one of which has a new battery purchased from alan-tech. The length of time either battery holds is rather poor, 30 to 60 minutes before it starts flashing the main battery needs to be charged. I do have a 1 gig cf card installed but without a wifi card. The batteries read 70% charged with the orange light on. After 2 to 3 minutes it reads 100% and the light turns green. I have only one ac for the 2 machines. Is there a way to test to see if this is the culprit?
thanks, Thomas |
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Global Moderator H/PC Guru Posts: | 7,188 |
Location: | USA | Status: | |
| Do you have the standard NEC 880 a/c adapter? If not, what is the output rating on the one you are using?
You should get at least 2+ hours on a fully charged battery before it drops below 60%...
Rich |
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Factorite (Junior) Posts: | 29 |
Location: | United States | Status: | |
| It is MC/BA12 AC adaptor. Output is 13.5 volts and 2.6 amps |
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Global Moderator H/PC Guru Posts: | 7,188 |
Location: | USA | Status: | |
| Well, all things considered, that doesn't seem to be the best battery specs I've experiienced. I normally get a little better results. But these batteries are getting old and don't hold the capacity they used to. |
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H/PC Philosopher Posts: | 451 |
Location: | United States | Status: | |
| Quote Teflow - 2008-12-07 9:02 PM
It is MC/BA12 AC adaptor. Output is 13.5 volts and 2.6 amps
It's a longshot, but you might also find a multimeter and see if this unit's voltage output is close to its rating.
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Global Moderator H/PC Oracle Posts: | 12,663 |
Location: | Southern California | Status: | |
| I respect AlanComputech International as a trustworthy seller, but I'd expect better for the price they're charging for these battery packs. No way I'm spending $45 for a pack that only gives me an hour of use. |
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Global Moderator H/PC Guru Posts: | 7,188 |
Location: | USA | Status: | |
| I agree with CEGeek. You might try contacting them and see if they will exchange it with another, they are pretty good about that sort of thing.
Of course that brings to the center an issue we will all be facing sooner or later, and that is battery replacement. You can bet that every battery out there was built about 8-10 years ago and has been sitting in some warehouse somewhere ever since.
Unless you can get a battery that runs on the 18650 cells that you can replace yourself, you are pretty much out of luck, especially with the 800/880 series laptops.
I get over an hour on my AAA battery pack for my 880 using NiMh rechargeables, so that is nearly as good as he is getting, and he should be getting 3 times what I do.
Rich
Edited by Rich Hawley 2008-12-08 2:52 PM
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Global Moderator H/PC Oracle Posts: | 12,663 |
Location: | Southern California | Status: | |
| Not necessarily, Rich - we've had a few threads here about how people have found cells they can adapt to the packs of some of these older devices. (As I recall, you had an idea yourself for the MobilePro 8x0 series. ) |
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Factorite (Junior) Posts: | 29 |
Location: | United States | Status: | |
| I have bought from AlanCompuTech before when I needed a battery for a 900c and it worked great. |
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Factorite (Junior) Posts: | 29 |
Location: | United States | Status: | |
| I dusted off the multi meter and checked the voltage and it seems to be spot on at about 13v. On both units the insert of the ac seems wobbly when it goes in the slot. Are these repairable in any way? Or rather are they prone to wearing out? Thanks, Thomas |
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Global Moderator H/PC Oracle Posts: | 12,663 |
Location: | Southern California | Status: | |
| They're definitely prone to wearing out - nearly every MobilePro I've used has had this problem, in particular my 900C and 790. |
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