Whew! Bad Battery!

[internetpilot]

Whew! I almost had a very ugly situation. A while back I purchased and installed a replacement battery for my beloved Tungsten|C. The first thing I noticed was that FileZ reported that it was actually a 1400mah battery and not a 1700mah (like the battery label, box, eBay auction, etc. claimed). Still, it has been working fine for about a year now, but I have noticed it needing to be charged more frequently than the old one did.

Anyway, I started having trouble with my Power and Home buttons on the right-hand corner of the T|C. When I would press on the case in that corner, it would sometimes turn off/on the unit or cycle through the ZLauncher screens as if I was pressing the Home button. I thought maybe I reassembled it improperly, but thought it was weird that the problem would show up so long after I replaced the battery. I just assumed that I didn't notice it because I don't really use my T|C much anymore.

On a whim I decided to take it apart and investigate today. The replacement battery was BULGING! The foil wrapper around the cells felt like it was filled with air! AUGH! So I ripped that nasty old thing out of my beloved T|C, and put the old, original battery back in. I then went back out on eBay and got a genuine Sony replacement battery for $10 (I guess not many people need them anymore so the OEM replacements are down quite a bit in price).

Now the good ol' reliable T|C is working fine again, and I'm sure will be even better when I get the new battery in it. But that was a "Whew!" heard around the world, because I had an OEM battery explode in my Creative Zen Portable Media Center device, and it basically destroyed the entire unit. The same thing could have easily happened to my T|C!

[lelisa13p]

You are one lucky ducky!

Thank goodness that you listened to your better judgement.

I've heard that this is a side-effect of also leaving older devices on the cradle all of the time, except when in rare use (something that I'm guilty of doing with my m130. ) Time for me to buy a new battery.

[internetpilot]

I've been pretty good about not leaving it in the cradle. I just charge it up when I notice the battery is depleted (which puts BackupMan to test!). But when I'm charging it up, I will leave it on the cradle overnight, which it doesn't really need. I mean, who knows what type of protection circuitry (or not) is built-in to these 3rd party OEM batteries, right? Now that my beloved T|C is pretty much considered "worthless" by the world, the real OEM batteries are dirt cheap, so I should be in good shape using the new replacement that's on it's way.

I miss my T|C. I wish Dmitry would finalize his new DGOS (and have it be T|C compatible), so I could breath new life into this wonderful device. I'm basically using my Nokia N810 Internet Tablet as a T|C replacement. Since the N810 isn't a phone, and the N900 doesn't work on a desirable mobile service provider, I could easily see me being a two-device (de-converged) man for quite a while.

[raspabalsa]

I mean, who knows what type of protection circuitry (or not) is built-in to these 3rd party OEM batteries, right?

Actually, the protection circuit is pretty simple, so even cheap batteries include it. This circuit is a must because Li-Ions and Li-Polys are dangerous if the charging/discharging parameters are exceeded. The circuit itself is simply a breaker that will trip if too much current passes throught the battery, or if the maximum and minimum voltages are reached.

Now that my beloved T|C is pretty much considered "worthless" by the world, the real OEM batteries are dirt cheap, so I should be in good shape using the new replacement that's on it's way.

The problem with this reasoning is that OEM batteries, even though marketed as "new", were most probably built years ago. Your new OEM battery may have been sitting on a shelf for some years before it's shipped to you. Li-Poly batteries start aging as soon as they are manufactured, and since they have a lifespan of about 3 years (meaning that after 3 years they may start showing reduced runtime), you battery may have less life in it than you expect.

My dad recently quit using his C, and gave it to me. I'm thinking what to do with it, it's a powerful device with WiFi but with a small screen, and it also needs a new battery. I may end up giving it to my kids.

[internetpilot]

All true Raspy! But I'd still rather get an old OEM Sony battery than an old non-OEM 3rd party from who knows where or how it was made, right?

My wife is starting to pine for an eBook reader (dedicated, like the new Sony one or the Kindle). I've been telling her she's crazy and that she should just pick up a Palm T|X or even just use my Palm T|C. I mean, a 5-inch or even a 6-inch screen isn't all that much bigger when you're measuring diagonally like they do, and the dedicated part just drives me up the wall. That's just a waste of good screen to not have it be able to do email, documents, browsing, etc. To me a T|X would be the perfect eBook device with my T|C being a close second if only because it's sitting around in my home office basically not being used. Every time I look at it or hold it I realize how much bigger the screen and overall device is when compared to my Palm Treo 755p.