Bad battery?

[sniders]

I have a simple question about laptop batteries. I have a used battery which shows all green leds on the case lit up and charges all the way up. When I run the laptop off the battery, it discharges slowly (at a normal rate) for about 2-5 minutes, then it discharges rapidly all the way down in about 10 minutes. I've also noticed that when it is fully charged, Battermon shows it as 138% charged, not 100% charged. And the actual capacity when charged is about half of the potential capacity.

So I was just wondering if this indicates a bad/spent battery? I suppose the things that confused me the most were the different rates of discharge and the 138% charge.

Appreciate your help!

- Scott

[David (PassMark)]

What is reported is a combination of information from the battery, the charging circuit and the device driver.

My guess would be that this battery was not from the manufacturer of the PC and there is some minor incompatibility between the battery and the laptop charging circuit. Was this a replacement or no-name battery? In addition the battery itself might also be stuffed.

It is hard to make generalizations about all batteries and all laptops.

But if you are only getting 12 - 15min from your battery it is clear there is a fairly serious problem.

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David