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Replacing a Ni-MH battery with a Li-Ion

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Shohan

Technical User
Oct 5, 2001
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Searched the forum and didn't find anything, but I have a Compaq Presario 12XL 500 with a going Ni-MH, is it possibly to replace this battery with a compatible Li-Ion?

What are the pro/cons of this?
 
HiLiKuS,

You should be able to replace the Ni-MH, with the Li-Ion battery as long as the Li-Ion has all the propietary connections needed for the VERY propietary Compaq Presario 12XL 500.

Here is some general info on the differences between the to batteries.

__________________________________________________________

Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH)

These batteries were introduced in the early 1990's as an improvement over older chemistries like Nickel Cadmium (NiCd). Although they may have a very slight memory effect, NiMH batteries are much more reliable than previous chemistries. Compared to a NiCd battery of equal size, a NiMh battery will run for 30-40% longer on each charge. NiMH batteries can also be recharged 60% in just 15 minutes. The unique NiMH chemistry packs much more power than NiCd. Additionally, NiMH batteries often have twice the lifespan of NiCds.

__________________________________________________________

Lithium Ion (LiION) :

The most popular batteries available. Li-ION have replaced NiMH batteries for many laptops because they provide 4 distinct advantages :

1) 40% longer Standby and uptime than NiMh.
2) Lighter and more compact than NiMh batteries.
3) LiIon batteries do not suffer from memory effect .
4) The battery lifespan will be over 30% longer than NiMh batteries because the cells can accept more charge cycles.

__________________________________________________________


Go here to buy, they are the best to order from online that I've seen and offer both NiHh and LiION batteries for your laptop.


I would go with the 14.4 Volt Li-Ion Laptop Battery personally, but double check with ebatts to make sure it fits.

Good Luck,
-Mike
 
Very unlikely you can do this, not only because of the physical fit, but because of the charging rates and profiles. If you overcharge a battery it can leak or explode. I would not change chemistries without knowing the ramifications.

Newposter
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."
 
My gut feeling is the same as Newposter's above. This may well require a BIOS change at least.
 
MIKEYD2112, thanks for the very informative response!

Newposter and bcastner thanks for your opinions too. I am glad that someone brought up some not so pretty but definate aspects to think about.

I should have provided some more information, though. Here is the particular website I was looking at purchasing from:


They provide direct replacements for the 12XL 500 and offer both types of battery; so I know the connections will fit perfectly. However, eBatts has the LiIon batt cheaper.

What about the volts and amps? The actually battery is 9.6v and 3.8Ahr. If these don't match do I risk damaging something?
 
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