Sudden battery problem

[stbcomp]

A very strange thing happened the other day. My Compaq Presario V3000, which has been operating perfectly on battery with no problems at all has suddenly (as in overnight) suddenly started showing the battery as discharging in a matter of minutes while not on power.
This laptop has been regularly off power, at least every day, and I can't see a single update that would suggest it is going to have an effect.
Any ideas?

[GreyGeek]

Re: Sudden battery problem

If you've had your laptop go through at least 300 to 500 recharge cycles then your battery is probably at the end of its life. Here is some info on www.rm.com/_RMVirtual/Media/Downloads/Lithium_Ion_Batteries_Care.doc+lithium+ion+battery +suddenly+discharged&cd=8&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&clie nt=firefox-a]Li-Ion battery do's and don'ts[/url].

[stbcomp]

Re: Sudden battery problem

Hi GreyGeek
Thanks for that, I'd had a look at similar pages and figured it was a possibility, but then I did a bit of testing.
When the system says the battery is at critical, I've been letting it suspend to ram, and then started it again without the power attached. It will then continue to run for another 15-20 minutes, and will eventually decide that it must suspend again. Once again I bring it out of suspension, and it will do the same again.
This suggests that the battery isn't the problem, but possibly the monitoring software, or perhaps even the circuitry that sends the information?
Cheers
Wayne