# I found a guy who re-cells PB/iPod batteries (toronto)



## Ravindra Mohabeer (Oct 14, 2003)

*I found a guy who re-cells PB/iPod batteries*

Hi,

I was on my way home and saw a sign for a battery refiller. I went in and the nice man who was in the little tiny shop told me that he can re-cell my three year old PB battery for $65 next day. That's by far the best price I've ever seen AND he even had a powerbook battery on hand that he had just re-celled to prove it. It was cleanly done and looked original (far cry from my last 'professional' battery re-celling experience with a Newton).

His sign says iPods, Laptops and just about any other electronic device that could use a burst of new energy. Once I save up the coin, I'm getting it done.

Until then I can only vouche for what seemed to be a good deal, professional company, and quick turn around...it's always nice to support a mom & pop.

Here's his web address: http://www.refillbattery.com/. 

If you do this before I get the money together to do it myself, let me know how it goes. 

Ravi


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

My only concern with the later PowerBook batteries is they are intelligent and will spot imbalances between the cells and then drop to no charge ( that's usually what's wrong - only one cell is weak ).
Without rebalancing it's a guess as to how well the new battery will work.

Maybe they have a new cell that has very consistent load characteristics. We'll try them and see how it works out.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

Cool that looks like a pretty legit service, their FAQ are pretty complete (no Mac OS specific tips though) and they list a wide range of Apple laptop batteries that thye service. I wish I had found them before I went hunting for a battery for my Ti 550 on eBay. I may go and get my second battery refilled (has about 10-15 minutes of capacity currently (no pun intended ).


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

This is an important thread and please people report back but don't jump in whole hog as load balancing is critical for intelligent batteries ( we checked this all out when we were considering it as a business a couple years back ).

Just for reference Powerbook batteries done well from NewerTech and even Apple are dropping quickly in price point so clearly the rebuild technology and new battery technology is moving forward.
The headache with these is you won't be able to tell for a bit if the load balance is incorrect.


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

This guy is really nice. I live around the corner from this place, and my roommate had him replace my 3G iPod battery, which was only holding about 5 mins of charge. The iPod now runs good as new (Note: This was a replacement, not a "Re-cell") it was only $40 too... not too shabby.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

If that includes install that's a decent price point but that's not the same as a notebook battery system which is managed and is supposed to be load balanced amongst the cells.


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## milhaus (Jun 1, 2004)

fyrefly said:


> This guy is really nice. I live around the corner from this place, and my roommate had him replace my 3G iPod battery, which was only holding about 5 mins of charge. The iPod now runs good as new (Note: This was a replacement, not a "Re-cell") it was only $40 too... not too shabby.


Perhaps you can try it with the short lived Apple battery you've got . . . ;-)


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

MacDoc: Yeah, included installation, he did in within the hour when my roommate dropped it off. We just went and grabbed some supper and then after about 45 minutes we went back and it was done! 

millhaus: I might try it... if I can find the $80.

However: Cool. Didn't know how those external solutions worked... but glad to hear that it works well. 2.5 Days is GOOD!


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

MacDoc said:


> My only concern with the later PowerBook batteries is they are intelligent and will spot imbalances between the cells and then drop to no charge ( that's usually what's wrong - only one cell is weak ).
> Without rebalancing it's a guess as to how well the new battery will work....


Can anyone comment yet on how well http://www.refillbattery.com/ addresses MacDoc's concerns?
I may have to be the guinea pig.


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## Ravindra Mohabeer (Oct 14, 2003)

anyone try this yet? my battery is still at the point where doing it isn't an absolute necessity but I'm on the edge of needing a new one.


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## anil (Oct 28, 2003)

are you talking about your g4 or your pismo, Ravindra?


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## Ravindra Mohabeer (Oct 14, 2003)

g4. the pismo was sold long ago. That battery could probably use a refit but the one I have now is a 12" g4. It holds a charge for up to 2 hours on a really good day but often shuts off on a moments notice. That just started to happen all of a sudden as it was working fine up until just recently for as long as 3 hours. I understand that's the way things go with batteries. 

I used the coconut battery diagnostic app and determined that the load is still at 80%+ capacity. Maybe it is as Macdoc says, one bad cell and an unbalanced energy load in the battery. When the other cells drain this one reads as empty and then the computer goes to sleep.

Just wondering if anyone has had a chance to try this out.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

I brought in an old Tibook battery for recelling yesterday. The guy told me that he has had no problem recelling the 12" PB batteries (100% success) but some of the G4 pb 15" batteries occasionally have problems recognizing the new cells. The battery was bascially worthless to me anyway and, if it doesn't work, I'm not out any money anyway so I figured why not? I'll post to let you know. It would have been ready today but I was too busy to pick it up, will have time tomorrow.

Originally it had a 4000 mA capacity, if it works I will have a 4400 mA replacement for $69. I could sure use that b/c my current battery has only about 1700 mA of capacity left (the one I brought in was reading ~220 on coconutbattery). We'll see ...


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## Ravindra Mohabeer (Oct 14, 2003)

That's great (not the death of your battery but that you were able to try him out to give us a sense of if it works and all). I'd love to hear how it goes.


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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

I might just try this with an almost dead battery battery I got in an iBook I picked up the other day.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

So far so good, the battery worked as soon as I put it in, which he seemed relieved about, he had warned me that there have been some DOA Tibook batteries prior to this. The digital memory in the battery has still not reset but I've only d/c'd the battery once (popped in a Lawrence of Arabia DVD to run it down, knew there was no way it was going to get all the way through that no matter how many mA's were packed into it). So even though coconutbattery is still reading it by it's pre-re-cell specs (246 mA. origninal 4000 mA), it lasted a good long time (at least a couple hours running the DVD with screen brightness full up and a 54g PMCIA card running in the slot) and is taking a suitably long time to recharge.

He bascially said it will likely take 3-5 charge/discharge cycles to reset and be properly recognized but, regardless, there is a 30 day money back guarantee and a 6 month warranty.

Btw, he also refills injet cartriges there. Will try that next.


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## Ravindra Mohabeer (Oct 14, 2003)

That's great. hopefully it all works out well for you but that warranty is a pretty cool feature even if I'm not sure how a battery warranty could/would work.

here's hoping for a full new life for your old battery.


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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

Anyways, I used this guy a couple days ago, nice guy.

Took my G3 iBook battery in around 3:00, and he offered it back around 5:30 so I said I'd see if I could make it, and if not I'd come back tomorrow.

He called me around 5 saying that the battery was a bit different, and he wasn't quite sure if it was gonna be successful and that if not it's likely the old cells couldn't go back anyways. The battery was worthless to me anyways so I said sure, go ahead!

Went back in Thursday about the same time, iBook and hand, popped the battery in and it worked! He was really relieved.

Been going well the last couple days, I'm running the calibration cycles on it right now so the processor on the battery could pick up the new cells. I think I'm on my third cycle right now, and each cycle the battery capacity edges up. First cycle it went from 700-1600mAh, second went up to 3300, third went up to 3750, and I'm running another cycle on it right now, charged er up and now she's discharging.

I was a bit worried at first cause the charge times seemed longer than usual, but as the battery adjusts itself towards the right capacity that seems to be improving as well.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

Mine has given me terrific battery life but, as of last use, still hasn't been fully recognized by the computer. Using coconut battery it is seen as having a capacity of >64000 mAh (!). It then counts down normally (i.e. it gets the percentage right) but does not know well enough to give me a warning before it runs out of juice. It's like the computer is using the old capacity as teh denominator. Now keep in mind that I've only done 4-5 charge/discharage cycles and it is behaving batter with the last one so it's possible it will reset completely at one point. I'm really happy though b/c I've finally got a battery that I can watch a full DVD without reducing screen brightness and still have plenty of juice left over.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

That's a shame, I've got a couple of dead 540c Blackbird batteries,
But they aren't listed on that website for refurbishing, Pity.

D


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## DS (Oct 7, 2004)

mycatsnameis said:


> Mine has given me terrific battery life but, as of last use, still hasn't been fully recognized by the computer. Using coconut battery it is seen as having a capacity of >64000 mAh (!). It then counts down normally (i.e. it gets the percentage right) but does not know well enough to give me a warning before it runs out of juice. It's like the computer is using the old capacity as teh denominator. Now keep in mind that I've only done 4-5 charge/discharage cycles and it is behaving batter with the last one so it's possible it will reset completely at one point. I'm really happy though b/c I've finally got a battery that I can watch a full DVD without reducing screen brightness and still have plenty of juice left over.



Hmm .. Did you reset the NVRAM, and reset the PMU on your machine?

Do that, charge it up, restart .. Reset NVRAM and PMU again .. Discharge it .. Reset NVRAM and PMU .. Charge it full up again.

That's pretty much what I did at first.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

DS said:


> Hmm .. Did you reset the NVRAM, and reset the PMU on your machine?
> 
> Do that, charge it up, restart .. Reset NVRAM and PMU again .. Discharge it .. Reset NVRAM and PMU .. Charge it full up again.
> 
> That's pretty much what I did at first.


D'oh! Had tried a PMU reset but forgot about the NVRAM trick. Will give it a shot.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

Well doesn't look like the NVRAM trick worked. Have been through a few charge/recharge recycles with PMU/NVR resets with no change. The machine still thinks it
s got a 64k mAh battery in it (which lasts as long as the 4404 mAh battery it is). The only downside is the lack of auto-sleep when it runs out but I'm still happy.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

mycatsnameis said:


> Mine has given me terrific battery life but, as of last use, still hasn't been fully recognized by the computer. Using coconut battery it is seen as having a capacity of >64000 mAh (!). It then counts down normally...





mycatsnameis said:


> Well doesn't look like the NVRAM trick worked. Have been through a few charge/recharge recycles with PMU/NVR resets with no change. The machine still thinks it
> s got a 64k mAh battery in it (which lasts as long as the 4404 mAh battery it is). The only downside is the lack of auto-sleep when it runs out but I'm still happy.



Is that really 64000 mAh?

That battery would have lasted for a week and a half.

.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

So if someone were to offer these batteries for sale on the Web, would that make them a re-celler reseller? 

What if Elizabeth owned the company and operated from a basement office?
By herself, and needed an employee?
And offered a fixed monthly payment in vegetables?

The help wanted ad would read... 



wait for it...


...


Betty's Better Batteries, solo cellar re-celler reseller, offers salary in celery. Cell # 735-7735


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## SoyMac (Apr 16, 2005)

CanadaRAM said:


> Betty's Better Batteries, solo cellar re-celler reseller, offers salary in celery. Cell # 735-7735


Yes, CanadaRAM. I am chuckling.


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## PeterBarron (Sep 21, 2004)

If you dial that number (with a 613 area code) you get someone in my home town of Pembroke! Maybe I'll try it tonight for sh!ts and giggles...


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

PeterBarron said:


> If you dial that number (with a 613 area code) you get someone in my home town of Pembroke! Maybe I'll try it tonight for sh!ts and giggles...


Ah Peter, tell me you havent forgotten the calculator games of your youth : 
710.77345 and 5318008

(hint for those who missed this era of cultural enlightenment -- punch the numbers into a calculator, and then turn the calculator upside down...) 

735-7735


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

CanadaRAM said:


> punch the numbers into a calculator, and then turn the calculator upside down...)


Does anyone still have a calculator these days? And you can't turn these fancy calculator apps upside down...


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## Ravindra Mohabeer (Oct 14, 2003)

So what was the final verdict? Worth it, not worth it? Did you contact him to ask him about the no hint before shut down thing? 

Mine does that sometimes, but often doesn't give the hint and just goes to sleep unannounced. It's done that since I got it and the battery was more or less full as far as I can remember -- which is much different than any other PB I've had.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

Ravindra Mohabeer said:


> So what was the final verdict? Worth it, not worth it? Did you contact him to ask him about the no hint before shut down thing?
> 
> Mine does that sometimes, but often doesn't give the hint and just goes to sleep unannounced. It's done that since I got it and the battery was more or less full as far as I can remember -- which is much different than any other PB I've had.


I didn't call him b/c I don't think he knows that much about Macs. Like I said I'm happy with the performance. When I said I don't get any warning, what I meant is that the machine shuts down hard (i.e. as if the plug has been pulled), no sleep unless I watch the levels in coconut battery and put it to sleep myself.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## mycatsnameis (Mar 3, 2000)

HowEver said:


> Can't you change the menubar icon to show estimated battery time remaining? I realize it will likely cut out on you as you described anyways, and probably not estimate very well the last 10 or 15 minutes.


The menu bar icon works as well of course (I leave it on percent with this battery as it will read out things like 55 hours 48 minutes remaining if I leave it on the time remaining setting ). Coconutbattery just gives a much more detailed read out as it is counting down from what it thinks is a 64kmAh battery. For what ever reason though, even though it seems to be aware of the percent remaining, this does not trip the auto-sleep function. 

Now that I mention it though, I should go back and have a look if I inadvertently disabled anything impoprtant in the Energy Saver control panel before my battery tests. I recall toggling off all energy saving settings during my battery cycling tests so that the machine would run down faster.


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## Ravindra Mohabeer (Oct 14, 2003)

I finally had enough extra cash to get my battery rebuilt (I know, it's only $65 + tax but it's summer and I'm a grad student with a family).

I only got it done yesterday so it hasn't gone through it's four or five cycles to get up to speed yet but I've already noticed a HUGE improvement. To run it down last night I put in a DVD, it played for the full time and had a whack left over on full bright, full screen.

Right now I'm surfing, half bright, airport on and I've been going for over an hour maybe 90 minutes and it reads 75% (for what that's worth).

After this little thread the guy at the store asked me how I heard of him because he's had a lot of people brining in apple batteries lately. It's nice to support the little guy sometimes, particularly when he does a great job, did it in less than 2 hours, and saved me quite a bit of money on a new battery.

If you're in the market for a battery fix, I can't say for sure it will work for you as it has for me, but for me it's worked really well and I'd recommend it. He has a 6 month warranty but he said even after 6 months if there's a problem to let him know.

Oh, the battery I got rebuilt was for a 12" 1ghz powerbook which, according to my serial number, is 33 months old.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

RM, thanks for reporting back, and the info in the first place. Much appreciated.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

Any long-term reports on Mr. Battery's products after a few months?


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## jdurston (Jan 28, 2005)

Sorry to bring this thread back... 
but how are the re-celled batteries doing people?


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## ice_hackey (Aug 13, 2004)

Ahhh, I remember these games.





CanadaRAM said:


> Ah Peter, tell me you havent forgotten the calculator games of your youth :
> 710.77345 and 5318008
> 
> (hint for those who missed this era of cultural enlightenment -- punch the numbers into a calculator, and then turn the calculator upside down...)
> ...


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