dell battery dead, any suggestions to fix it?

I have an old dell inspiron e1405. i know dell's are crappy, but it was dirt cheap so I went ahead and bought it.

However, now the battery is completely dead. I cannot charge the thing at all. The only way I can run the laptop is by plugging it into the charging outlet.

I would call up Dell, but my warranty has expired.

Any ideas on how to fix this battery or a cheap place to get a new one?

Thanks in advance.

Depends on how much you are willing to spend, ebay has them for around $45. http//search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=e1405+battery&category0=

http//support.dell.com
find a battery recalibration utility for your model and give it a shot

but it's probably toast, you can get an off-brand higher capacity set of cells for a pretty reasonable price. i think you'll be happy with it.

Warranties don't typically cover batteries anyway.

They do die over a few years, faster if not treated properly. You should never let Li-Ion batteries discharge completely, for example. They're the opposite of the old Nickel-based technology where you had to discharge totally or risk the memory effect. Once Li-Ion's reach a specific low-charge threshold, they cannot be re-charged without using a special charger, and even then it's not a guarantee. Most modern batteries include a safety circuit that shuts down the battery before the charge level gets to this critical point, however it's not a sure thing because if you don't charge the battery immediately, it will continue to drain from inactivity and drop below that safe threshold, making it impossible to charge with your standard charger.

You can recalibrate a laptop battery by letting your battery discharge to the shutoff point, and then immediately recharging it. This is recommended at about 30 day intervals, and you'll know you need it if your software battery gauges are inaccurate. Note that this doesn't work on all batteries, but you can try it and see (once you have a working battery).

Also, heat will deteriorate a Li-Ion battery over time. If you use your laptop most often plugged into the AC, and rarely go mobile, it is recommended to remove your battery (assuming your laptop works plugged in with no battery -- some don't). The constant heat from the plugged-in laptop applied to the fully charged battery will cause it to lose half or more it's capacity over a years time.

Aftermarket batteries can be great, but be careful buying the cheapest thing you can find from some unknown eBay source. Not only could it destroy your laptop, but it could start a fire. I'd suggest one of the reputable aftermarket battery suppliers.

[b6fcfe30a11]EDIT[/b6fcfe30a11] Notebook Hardware Control[=http//www.pbus-167.com/]Notebook Hardware Control is a utility you can use to check the "wear" level of your notebook battery (among other things). It seems to be a popular tool for battery maintenance. Probably want to make sure to get the Dell version if you have a Dell laptop.

Go on you tube. Those batteries are just double AA nickel lithium or what ever batteries inside that plastic battery case. They have write ups on how to make a new battery that actually last longer for like 20 bucks

Just open a lantern battery for like 20 batteries....its on youtube its gotta be real....

YouTube, LOL.

Yeah, the homemade approach isn't going to work for everyone. Not all batteries are made of AA cells, although that's a common format. There is also no "nickel" cells in a Li-Ion battery pack, so whatever you do don't use that. Most modern batteries have complex circuitry to manage charging. Most also have proprietary interfaces into the PC, and some won't allow the PC to boot up with an "unauthorized" battery (Sony VAIO's come to mind).

You could be taking a huge risk trying to rebuild just any laptop battery if you don't know exactly what you're doing. Fires, shocks, chemical burns, destruction of the laptop, are just some of the risks you'd face from applying a general YouTube how-to to just any laptop battery, especially without the technical knowledge to back it up.