Professional services that rebuild lithium battery packs

[tsundoku]

I've seen a number of threads here about battery rebuilds, but at risk of repetition, I've started a new thread because I am interested in finding a place to do the job for me, and the existing threads are technical discussions about doing it yourself. Batteries Plus recelled my (NiMH) PowerBook 1400 battery and did a great job, but they will not touch anything lithium. Has anyone used a professional service for this? Either local or the online variety requiring the battery to be sent in is fine. If they do lithium batteries and someone can vouch for them, I am interested.

For full disclosure, I am specifically looking to have PowerBook 2400c batteries recelled.

 

[Unknown_K]

How much was the NiMH job (I have some old laptops with those)?

Also how well did they do the plastics?

I looked into lithium repacks years ago and it seemed people loved and hated the same places.

 

[tsundoku]

How much was the NiMH job (I have some old laptops with those)?

Also how well did they do the plastics?

It was $95 total, which seems reasonable to me considering that the cells alone cost half that much, and it's a tedious job. They had to use glue to get the battery to stay together after recelling, but it looks good. It makes me wonder how many times I can get away with repeating the process on the same battery, but I'm also aware that the things are sealed at the factory with welds, and there is really no other way unless you want to resort to tape, which I would rather avoid.

I looked into lithium repacks years ago and it seemed people loved and hated the same places.

This is probably inevitable, and my hope is to eventually acquire enough batteries that if one job goes wrong, it won't be the end of the world. I've read a few 2400c fan sites (of which there are many) discussing home battery rebuilds, and mentioning long-gone companies that did them, so I know it's not completely out of the question, but the most obvious choices for a professional rebuild seem to want to stay away from lithium.

 

[jruschme]

A few years ago, I used BatteryRefill.com to rebuild the pack for an IBM ThinkPad T20. I seem to recall the price being reasonable, though the fact they had to regale the pack was also obvious.

 

[tsundoku]

Thanks; I'll look into it.

 

[techknight]

Most places wont touch lithium because of what I mentioned in another thread. The EEPROM has to be removed from the controller board, and re-virginized back to a factory state with special software and an EEPROM programmer. 

That takes an electronics tech with SMD soldering rework skills. 

 

[Unknown_K]

Depending on the eprom (and if it is potted) there are cables you can clamp over it to reprogram it without removing it. The problem is knowing what to reprogram since every manufacturer would have a different design.

Most of the older machines I actually want to use as a laptop seem to still have NOS or 3rd party batteries for (Thinkpads at least). Would be cool to have a Powerbook 170 or Wallstreet with a good battery pack but if you don't keep them charged and used the batteries will fail anyway.

 

[tsundoku]

I understand that most places won't touch it, but it looks like a few will (for a price, which is fine considering there are no alternatives unless you want to make a project out of the battery itself, and I don't). Once I get > 1 battery on hand, I will try sending one to the people at batteryrefill.com and report my results.

 

[haemogoblin]

Had anyone had any luck with this? I've tried contacting Batteryrefill.com twice in the past week and not received a single reply from them. I'm in the UK so calling their number would be a little expensive for me.

I really would like to get a new battery for my Pismo or at least get the old one refreshed.

 

[MikeatOSX]

1 1/2 years ago I bought this battery (38,58 Eur = £ 27,54):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/suitable-POWERBOOK-replaces-616-0113-661-2183/dp/B0021X4QDQ

which is still working very good.

But it's not available there, atthis time.

 

[haemogoblin]

Well I've ordered a battery from a company here in the UK. I did order one from ebay, only to have my money refunded a day later. The German based company, gave me a very odd reason for cancelling my order. Perhaps the person was struggling with English, I dont know. But from what I could gather, it was going to take several weeks before they could ship one out to me. Which begs the question, why have them listed on ebay, if they can't supply them?

Anyways, I'm hoping the one I order will come. I bought it off Amazon and the reviews from past buyers seemed pretty positive, so it's not a Chinese company, pretending to be based in Europe.

 

[tsundoku]

Had anyone had any luck with this? I've tried contacting Batteryrefill.com twice in the past week and not received a single reply from them. I'm in the UK so calling their number would be a little expensive for me.

I really would like to get a new battery for my Pismo or at least get the old one refreshed.

I literally just got the extra batteries I was waiting for before I pursued this, so I am about to try myself. We'll see what happens.

EDIT: I just placed an order to recell a PowerBook 2400 battery with batteryrefill.com; I was quoted $57 + $10 shipping. I will provide more updates as things progress. Hopefully this is the solution I'm looking for.

 

[haemogoblin]

Please do let us know how it goes. How did you manage to reach them?

 

[haemogoblin]

Update**

My second attempt to buy a battery and yet another company emails me to say the item is not in stock, even though, they have it listed on their shop! Do these companies not check their stocks periodically???

ianj - Please let me know how you get on with batteryrefill as this rate, I can see myself having to call them, if they done reply to emails.

 

[MikeatOSX]

Do these companies not check their stocks periodically???

I had this experience several times. And it lasted 6 days to get my money back via Paypal, although the seller paid back immediately.

 

[techknight]

If this is eBay, it comes to no surprise. Most of these sellers are middle-men or dropshippers. They dont keep track of anything. 

 

[haemogoblin]

First eBay, second was Amazon

 

[techknight]

Just as bad. 

 

[haemogoblin]

ianj any news on the battery?