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ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 6:11 am
by wd4llq
Bought a new battery and installed it. However, the charge indicator shows yellow for about 30 seconds and goes green. The most Ive seen is 15% charge. This is the second replacement battery. The first was warranted out when it didnt work either.
I'm suspecting the "smart part" of the battery isn't talking to the CPU. Is this a propietary battery?

I deleted the battery driver from the device manager and let it find it again in case it was corrupted but still no go. I cant even trickle charge the battery from a bench supply, i guess it needs a data burst to turn fully on to take a charge of give it up. My original battery worked better for a while but is now totaly done.

Any ideas to get this sucker to charge?

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 12:03 am
by Pj
Where did you buy this new?

The non-Motorola ones are EMC-202 battery's and usually get around 2 hours give or take. Battery life isn't that great when the fan runs all the time and the heat builds up.

Also want to make sure you have the correct charger for the laptop so its outputting good amps to charge the battery.

I suspect that these are suspect generic batteries?

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:06 pm
by wd4llq
The battery came from Batteries Plus. At this point Im not sure what throttles the charge to the battery pack. I suspect its the circuit in the pack, but its also likley that it gets a "turn-on" signal from the PC. I believe the battery volts, charge, temp, curent, etc is monitored within the pack. Perhaps the PC only sends basic power and its up to the battery to stop when charged (or start).
In any event, the yellow charge lite on the PC stays on with no battery installed and only stayed lit for about 20 seconds or so with the pack installed. At this point I'm interested in finding another battery (a "done one") just to see if the charger will try longer than 20 or 30 seconds. It may be the BatteryPlus generic everReady computer batterys wont work. The PC works fine other than that other than an ocasional USB detection of a mystery port.
Any pearl of wisdom is warmly welcome.

The charger is MSL AC ADCO19 m-m adaptor 19V 6.3 Amp

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 11:21 am
by Pj
Worse case if its the power board, I have a nib one in a closet somewhere. $50. That's what I paid for it from getac.

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:34 am
by Pj
I looked up the Batteries Plus specs...

They show:
Voltage: 10.8V
Capacity: 6000MAH

The Motorola "orignal" batteries are 11.1v as 7200mah.

But

$80 vs $300 for a battery is a big deal for most people.

I don't recall the "offical" (if any) specs for the 202 battery.

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Sat Mar 30, 2013 1:40 am
by johnhale
Please can anyone tell me the source to get some good batteries.

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2013 1:21 pm
by Timeport
Sorry bro, this is a common problem with these generic batteries. What works for sure:

Genuine Duracell DR202 (no longer manufuactured)
Motorola ML900 / ML910 genuine batteries
Getac V100 batteries
MOLICEL batteries (for Getac V100)

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2016 7:23 am
by z16autocross
So I too am having a battery issue with my ML910. I purchase a pair of Molicel ME202C which is 11.1v and 7200ah. The battery charges fine with a bench power supply. However it will not charge in the laptop. I am able to run the laptop fine without the battery using the power supply and i am able to run the laptop off of the battery. It just wont take a charge when in the laptop. I have deleted the battery driver in windows xp and reinstalled. My power supply cord is a Channel Well Technology 12v 5A unit. So thoughts on what to try next? Someone mentioned the power supply cord should be a 19V 6.3A. Is that correct? Should i try and find the updated version of bios? I saw that there is newer version available.

Re: ML900 Battery issue

Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2016 10:09 am
by Pj
Your aftermarket power supply is too small