# How to fix a laptop battery that has rarely been used?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-a-laptop-battery-that-has-rarely-been-used/405904>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 29, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-a-laptop-battery-that-has-rarely-been-used/405904 "2007-05-29T13:33:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-a-laptop-battery-that-has-rarely-been-used/405904/1 "2007-05-29T13:33:55Z")

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I have an IBM Thinkpad T42p that I use quite a bit, but usually keep it plugged in. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve run the battery below 50% capacity.

I’m planning to sell it, but have discovered that the battery now barely holds a charge. Is there anything I can do to ‘recondition’ it?

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**Author:** ![Trotsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@Trotsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trotsky)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-a-laptop-battery-that-has-rarely-been-used/405904/2 "2007-05-29T13:37:26Z")

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How old is it? They lose power power over time. Age is just as bad as cycles on batteries. You can leave a Lithium Ion, never charged once, out for 4 years and then try it and it’ll basically not work.

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**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-a-laptop-battery-that-has-rarely-been-used/405904/3 "2007-05-29T13:43:21Z")

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[QUOTE=Trotsky]  
How old is it? They lose power power over time. Age is just as bad as cycles on batteries. You can leave a Lithium Ion, never charged once, out for 4 years and then try it and it’ll basically not work.  
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About three years old - but I have another Thinkpad with the same battery type, that is even older and gets run down quite often, which still holds about 75% of the original charge.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-fix-a-laptop-battery-that-has-rarely-been-used/405904/4 "2007-05-29T20:35:09Z")

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What type is it?

LiIon: it’s gone.

NiMH: possible to restore using discharge/charge conditioning cycles. (Many companies have programs to do this for suitable laptops.)

NiCad: sometimes possible but requires possibly dangerous tricks.