[Tfug] Source for notebook batteries?

[Jim March]

On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Claude Rubinson <rubinson at u.arizona.edu> wrote:
> The battery for my Thinkpad is barely holding a charge anymore, so I'm
> looking at buying a new one.  (Tried reconditioning but without luck.)
> Can anyone recommend a reliable source?  I'd like to avoid paying the
> IBM premium, but online vendors of notebook batteries all seem pretty
> sketchy.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Claude

I'm wondering if there's isn't a better (or at least cheaper!)
solution via "hardware hacking".  I'm in the same boat, dead Dell
battery.  I'm wondering if we can't rip the shells apart, pull out the
individual cells, solder new ones in place with the same voltage (and
possible more amp-hours?) and "duct tape" the shell back together.
(OK, not duct-tape but you get the idea...)

For an even crazier approach, wire up more batteries and extend the
shell downwards.  Keep the voltage the same (use series/parallel if we
have to), still use Lithium-Ion of course, should be good to go?

Out of the price of a $150 replacement laptop battery, how much are we
paying for plastic shell and the laptop connector, versus how much for
the actual cells?

Jim