Lenovo issues battery "service and warranty extension" for six ThinkPad models
By Laura June 
posted Aug 14th 2009 10:32AM
posted Aug 14th 2009 10:32AM
Update: A representative for Lenovo has contacted us and let us know that the company has not, in fact, issued a recall for the batteries associated with the models listed. "This is a service extension program to provide (bonus 12-month) coverage above and beyond the normal warranty to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Recalls tend to imply a safety issue, which is not the case here, as you noted in your article."
[Via SlashGear]
Damn. I wish that would happen to my notebook. :( Those lucky ThinkPad owners :(
Lucky nothing. The battery on my T61 died a few days ago. However, the battery checking tool is Windows only, and I'm running Ubuntu.
Hm, true. I should have read the read link. Somehow I expected that they'd replace all batteries of the series, and not only the ones actually affected. I wouldn't mind a new battery though... it's 1 year old and down to less than 50%. :(
Lucky my ass, we have around 1000 R61's in use and have had several batteries go out without any reason while in the 1 year warranty. Lenovo would not warranty the battery so we ended up buying 20-30 batteries at over $100 a pop. Now they come out an fess up to the issue, wtf? Going to make sure our Lenovo rep gets contacted regarding this.
I called Lenovo 2-3 days ago to complain about this problem on my X60 and they told me they had no solutions for me and that there wasn't any recall of the batteries. My battery went from holding 95% of its charge to 60% to 30% to 5% to dead in less than a week.
That happened to me as well, but I'm running a T42p. :(
great timing.... mine is just about to turn 1-year old, and i was starting to look for a new one. i did have a problem the other week where my X61 thought the battery wasn't connected, but i just reconnected it and everything appears to be back to normal, although the software thought the battery was then at 0% charged when it was closer to 40%.
The battery on my Z60t was rendered unchargeable a couple years ago. I downloaded the tool, typed in my address and had a new battery free of charge and out of warranty two days later for less than 5 minutes of effort. They didn't even want the old one back.
Warranty repair is just as nice- overnight shipping all ways and my W500 was repaired and shipped back the same day it was received.
My Z60t battery was not approved by the software!! My battery just died one day, after charging it it kicked out the dreaded your battery cannot be charged!! I'm still mad at Lenovo. They wouldn't do a thing.
That software doesn't apply to your model. You'll have to search the Lenovo website for the proper tool.
OH SNAP! I hate when expensive shit fails.
How long has this been known? The R60 is 3 years old and we have had batteries dying on ours left and right since day 1. I have probably sent over 30 to recycling in the last year.
Same here. We have probably replaced most of the batteries on our T60 laptops by now. Many had come up with those "damage" errors and Lenovo would not replace them under warranty.
Purchasing Lenovo ThinkPads has been probably one our worst decisions.
What the T...
Didn't Lenovo stop selling those models (R60, R61, T60, T61, X60, X61) years ago...
As a T400 owner, it's comforting to know that they are still supporting models that they no longer sell.
This problem happened on my wife's X60 a week or so ago. The battery went from working fine to reporting an error and not working at all.
I had a little bit of trouble getting Lenovo to recognize it, but once they did, they shipped out a brand new one next day air for free. Not bad at all.
Maybe this explains why the battery life on my X61 is so crappy...
This is the same as the problem with the ASUS V1. Except here Lenovo recognise the problem to issue a recall. After several replacements and emails about the problem Asus are as stubbon as a mule *family guy moment*
Well, at least they're not exploding.
That's great. I just bought a new battery after my old one did this. Too bad the battery has already been recycled.
"Thank you for using the Lenovo Battery Diagnostic Tool. Your battery is not eligible for replacement because it is more than 12 months beyond the battery warranty expiration date."
ok, but is it going to blow up? gee thanks lenovo.
Anyone else notice that these are all SONY batteries?
my battery just died, i bought a new one to replace it... now i get this....
ANYONE WANNA BUY A THINKPAD WITH A BRAND NEW BATTERY?
:)
I also replaced my battery after it failed, meanwhile it was a defective battery. I am going to hassle Lenovo about this because it is their fault.
thank you Engadget! Now I can use my x60 unplugged!!!!
Thank you Engadget!
Turns out we have about 30 batteries that fall into those FRUs.
30 free replacement batteries would be really nice :-)
Where I work, we use nothing but ThinkPad's for all our laptops. What's ironic is that most of what we use are either T60's or T61's. Despite having a good 20 or so circulating around, we haven't had many battery problems, and none like this article describes. It is tempting to take Lenovo up on the offer though, as many of them are approaching a year old or so. Not to mention most of the management team keeps them docked all-day-long which is horrible for the battery anyway - so free replacements, why not?
we have ALOT of these machines/batteries @ my company....we are in the process of inventorying them now to see how many are affected.
I have at least eight batteries that failed on me since late 2007 which exhibit the same problems. However, they are not eligible for replacement as the part numbers don't match.
I'm glad that they're admitting this. I had the battery on my X61T about three days after I got it. They were great about overnighting a new one to me, but they insisted that it was absolutely not a defect.
THANKS ENGADGET
Crap...my laptop's on the list!
Anybody have a link to that diagnostic tool? My company uses several of those models, and the batteries suck like no other. I'm doing a search on their site, but not I'm just not getting anywhere.
I ran into this EXACT problem, same error message. Only my battery FRU number had the four last digits wrong. As the error is the same it seems to me Lenovo ought to extend their warranty, sorry service extension program, so that it extends to cover all batteries with this error. I get the feeling they are only targeting certain geographical markets.
yeah this happened to my x61t battery last year, luckily ust before my warranty ran out, they replaced it, and i extended my warranty, though batteries are normally only warrantied for the first year.
battery tool -> http://download.lenovo.com/lenovo/content/batt/082009/LandingPage.html
@Michael : what's the landing page from that tool?
I have an 18 month old X61 using the extended battery most of the time. In the last couple months it still has 4 hours of actual life (when "fully charged" - no longer 5-6) but the battery meter is now useless, it says 40% remaining (at 4 hours) and then shuts down instantly on me with no warning. No fun on a long airplane flight. I guess I could workaround by carrying two batterys and swapping at 3 hours ignoring the actual batter meter.
Anyone have the URL to the page that users get re-directed to when having a qualifying battery? My x61 battery has this EXACT SAME issue but the P/N is slightly off so it's saying I'm not eligible which is BS...
Yup! The company I work for has had a ton of issues with T60 batteries in the last year (I bought a replacement last week). Although I get the same issue (exactly the same as the screenshot) and my laptop dies immediately if i plug it out, the damn FRU is different so i don't get a replacement.
Thank you for this post! My battery was having trouble but it still stated that it was in "Good" condition and claimed I did not qualify. After running a Battery Gauge Reset, I let the laptop run until the battery meter precipitously dropped. Only then did the Battery Diagnostic Tool linked above offer to replace my battery. =D Thanks Engadget (and Lenovo)!
I have owned Thinkpad laptops for over 10 years and I have always loved them and thought they were the best laptops. My current Thinkpad is X60s.
But the customer support under Lenovo has slipped and I don't think they care about good customer relations any more. When I bought my Thinkpad I also bought an extra battery which I rarely used because the battery life was so good. I was shocked when the battery failed with irreparable battery damage message after only 30 charging cycles. When I called Lenovo customer support, they refused to replace the battery, even though they have already done two recalls - they said mine was not the failing type. But I had proof with the battery utility that the battery failed with only 30 cycles.
Now there is another recall, and again they say my battery does not qualify because it is not the failing type. My P/N is 92P1174 and only 92P1173 is on the list. They should replace every battery which fails below a certain number of cycles because the product clearly did not perform to its design specs.
@thextal : can you post the url that gaved u replacement?
thx
The URL has a slew of unique parameters that I'm not willing to divulge.
Can anybody post the url that point to the replacement request page please ?
My X60 battery is listed on Lenovo website, but I'm running Linux here so there's no way I can use their BS diagnostic tool...
I need soeme help. I bought an extened warranty for my Lenovo Y410. My screen started having strange streaks on the sceen and black marks, so I sent it into to get it fixed. They told me I cracked me I cracked the screen, which I didn't do and they are not going to fix it. When I bought the warranty, they told me everthing would be covered. I love my laptop, but I need help to get Lenovo to fix my screen. Any sugguestions?
Here's my Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lenovoa-Warranty/283178835374