IBM ThinkPad battery

Factual Questions
1

A friend said she’s having problems with her IBM ThinkPad battery. It was not holding a charge, so she replaced it with an aftermarket one. The new battery will not charge at all. She asked a techie at school and he said something about IMB ThinkPads having a ‘block’ in them to prevent surging, and that it needs an actual IBM battery.

This isn’t my bailiwick. Is there a way around this ‘block’? Is there some ‘trick’ to making a new battery work in a ThinkPad?

2

It’s a questionable assertion by the tech. Any decent after market battery should have the same charging functionality as the OEM battery. You likely have a defective charging circuit or a defective battery.

3

How likely is a defective battery?

Is there any way to check for a bad charging circuit?

Does IBM really have a ‘block’ (his words, via her)?

4

Update: The company sent her a new battery and it works fine.