General Battery Question

[synth]

I have purchased a replacement battery for my HP G42 laptop that is not an original HP mainly because its a lot less cheaper. So my question is would this battery have any effect on the other hardware components of my laptop? Btw, I noticed that sometimes it randomly shuts down as if you have physically removed the battery without shutting it down..

 

[TVeblen]

A generic battery will work in your laptop with no adverse effects provided the specifications are an EXACT match to the original OEM battery's specs.

The important part is: Output voltage.

After that the important thing is to buy batteries from a seller with good reviews and a good rep. There are just some poorly manufacturered batteries out there.

 

[synth]

Ok, will check on the info. But the thing is, it shuts down on me when its around 40% below. And when I boot it up again, it asks me if I would want to boot in safe mode or start it normally, I know you understand what im saying, and I know that that msg comes up when you werent able to shut down your cpmputer properly, and because of that I am a bit worried that it may affect my laptop in general..

 

[TVeblen]

Yes, there is something wrong with that battery. The laptop should not just shut off without the 10% warning first. You are putting the PC at risk until you solve this.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Look in the bios and or lappy manual, many lappys have a feature for calibrating the battery and you want to perform this function so the system can identify the condition and capacity of it's new battery.

 

[synth]

I see. Ok, I will try this and give a feedback. Btw, I dont hace access to my manuals and wont have anytime soon, so can you at least point me to where to look for the calibration in the bios? I hacr an HP G42-476TX.

 

[pebbly]

I see. Ok, I will try this and give a feedback. Btw, I dont hace access to my manuals and wont have anytime soon, so can you at least point me to where to look for the calibration in the bios? I hacr an HP G42-476TX.

Hi synth, Try here http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...Id=135&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=4346229 for the manuals and if you need the drivers at any time go here HP G42-400 Notebook PC series -  Download drivers and software - HP Business Support Center

 

[derekimo]

I see. Ok, I will try this and give a feedback. Btw, I dont hace access to my manuals and wont have anytime soon, so can you at least point me to where to look for the calibration in the bios? I hacr an HP G42-476TX.

Here you go,

HP Notebook PCs - Testing and Calibrating the Battery (Windows 7) - c00821536 - HP Business Support Center

 

[synth]

@derekimo

Thanks man, but in my bios, battery test does not show up and my battery percentege is at 75%. And when I try using HP Support Assistant, it does check it but it only gives a blank screen after the test..

Is it because this battery is NOT an original HP?

 

[synth]

Ok, so anyways, here's a photo of the two batteries:

Top battery is the replacement non-HP battery I bought recently.
Bottom battery is the Original HP that came with this laptop.

If you can zoom in, you can see the voltage and capacity.

Replacement battery specs: 10.8V, 5200mAh
Original HP Battery specs: 10.8V, 4200mAh

Basically the replacement battery should be able to hold more charge than the original one since it has more mAh right? Anyways, I ran the HP Support Assistant Battery test on the original HP battery that has problems and this is what i got:

So, what do you guys think? And is there any other way I can calibrate this replacement battery?

 

[TVeblen]

A laptop battery has a controller board inside of it that will have some number of chips that perform various functions. Most likely the HP software and diagnostics interact with one of these chips inside an HP OEM battery. Your replacement battery most likely does not have an HP controller board and does not respond to the HP utilities.

This does not mean the battery will not function as intended, just that it will not work with HP software.

Here is a manual procedure to calibrate a battery in Windows:
How to Recalibrate Your Laptop Battery
You could try this and see if it will get Windows to correctly report the battery levels.

I take it that other than running out of power before the battery gauge gets down to zero, the battery and laptop function fine?

 

[synth]

@TVeblen

Will try this. And yes, other than that, its fine.

I am stronly considering returning the battery and get a refubd and prolly buy the OEM Battery.

 

[TVeblen]

Another option would be to buy a refurbished OEM battery - these they just replace the Lithium Ion cells inside the original casing.

Or find an aftermarket battery that states clearly that it is an HP (Model#) replacement. This is, of course, a matter of trust. You need a reliable, reputable dealer.

 

[synth]

I will prolly do that. I ended up getting a refund for the battery and they deducted like 30% of what I payed for which sucks.. But thats fine if ut saves my whole computer.. I dont know, but I just cant trust those class a things.. Specially when it comes to electronics..