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Power sensor defect?

T60/T61 Series
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Backslashnl1
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Location: Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Power sensor defect?

#1 Post by Backslashnl1 » Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:38 am

Once in a while I get an error message while I'm working on battery power:
Image

The machine "thinks" for 1-2 seconds the battery is almost empty, but you can clearly see it isn't. Fortunately, the machine doesn't beep or shuts itself down when this happens.
There is also another variant of this problem; the machine "thinks" for 1-2 seconds that the AC cable is connected. The battery icon changes to this: Image, brightness changes duo to the power scheme, and after 2 seconds it changes back. This variant comes without the 'crititcal battery' error.

Which part (FRU) of the T60 can be the cause of these errors?
T61 FrankenPad | 15.0" IPS UXGA flexview + LED | C2D T9500 @ 2,6 Ghz | T500 fan / T61 heatsink | 8GB Micron dual channel | Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD | nVidia Quadro NVS 140M | NNB Keyboard | BroadCom 802.11AC 867Mbps + BT 4.0 | OS-X 10.9.1 Mavericks + Win7

RealBlackStuff
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Re: Power sensor defect?

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:51 am

A non-IBM/Lenovo battery is the likely culprit.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
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Backslashnl1
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Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 5:35 am
Location: Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Re: Power sensor defect?

#3 Post by Backslashnl1 » Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:56 am

I bought the battery as a genuine, also Thinkvantage Power Manager sees the battery as a genuine battery from Panasonic.
T61 FrankenPad | 15.0" IPS UXGA flexview + LED | C2D T9500 @ 2,6 Ghz | T500 fan / T61 heatsink | 8GB Micron dual channel | Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD | nVidia Quadro NVS 140M | NNB Keyboard | BroadCom 802.11AC 867Mbps + BT 4.0 | OS-X 10.9.1 Mavericks + Win7

RealBlackStuff
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Re: Power sensor defect?

#4 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:16 am

Next item: check the DC connector on the laptop for tightness.
Then check the DC cable part of the charger.
There have been many occasions of this part fraying due to poor design.
You can help avoiding this by e.g. doing this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media ... F8&index=1
Also read the customer reviews here (scroll down):
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-9 ... B000BUIP6K
Try another IBM/Lenovo charger.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

miro_gt
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Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Power sensor defect?

#5 Post by miro_gt » Sun Feb 26, 2012 2:29 pm

recalibrate your battery gauge within power manager.
T61: 14.1" 1400x1050, T9500 @ 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM CL4, nVidia 140m @ 600/925 MHz, Samsung 830 256GB, DVD-rec, 5300agn, FP, BT, 6-cell, clean XP Pro
T61: 14.1"w 1280x800, T9500 @ 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM CL4, Intel X3100, Samsung 830 256GB, DVD-rec, 4965agn, 4-cell, clean XP Pro

Backslashnl1
Sophomore Member
Posts: 149
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 5:35 am
Location: Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Re: Power sensor defect?

#6 Post by Backslashnl1 » Sun Feb 26, 2012 2:52 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:Next item: check the DC connector on the laptop for tightness.
Do you mean the yellow part you can see on the back of the laptop? I can't move it with my finger.
Then check the DC cable part of the charger.
There have been many occasions of this part fraying due to poor design.
You can help avoiding this by e.g. doing this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media ... F8&index=1
Also read the customer reviews here (scroll down):
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-9 ... B000BUIP6K
Try another IBM/Lenovo charger.
I have no problems with the AC charger. When I plug it in, the laptop instantly recognizes the AC power adapter and begins to charge.
miro_gt wrote:recalibrate your battery gauge within power manager.
I did that last week (sorry I should have mentioned this in the opening post), it didn't make a difference.
T61 FrankenPad | 15.0" IPS UXGA flexview + LED | C2D T9500 @ 2,6 Ghz | T500 fan / T61 heatsink | 8GB Micron dual channel | Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD | nVidia Quadro NVS 140M | NNB Keyboard | BroadCom 802.11AC 867Mbps + BT 4.0 | OS-X 10.9.1 Mavericks + Win7

miro_gt
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Posts: 254
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:08 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Power sensor defect?

#7 Post by miro_gt » Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:31 pm

reinstall/update the power management driver then, and reinstall/update the power manager software.

also make sure you have the system interface driver installed.

then try again.
T61: 14.1" 1400x1050, T9500 @ 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM CL4, nVidia 140m @ 600/925 MHz, Samsung 830 256GB, DVD-rec, 5300agn, FP, BT, 6-cell, clean XP Pro
T61: 14.1"w 1280x800, T9500 @ 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM CL4, Intel X3100, Samsung 830 256GB, DVD-rec, 4965agn, 4-cell, clean XP Pro

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