Upgrading a Laptop Battery
Back in my freshman year, I needed to purchase a laptop for classes. I ended up getting a Lenovo Ideapad, a fairly budget-oriented laptop with decent specs. However, one of the first things that I noticed about it was that its battery was… not good. However, carrying a charger everywhere, I made it work.
Fast forward about 3 years, and I’m starting to wonder if it could be better. I had heard about upgrading batteries, but never seriously looked into it. It turns out that some people replace the factory 44WH battery with a 60WH battery, and it fits perfectly. However, I then found a Reddit post about successfully fitting an 80WH battery. This would essentially double my battery life, which I quite liked the idea of. So, about $60 later, I received a package containing a large battery.
The image in the Reddit post (link). Notice how the battery is slightly interfering with the board on the right side of the screen.
At first, I took my laptop apart and unplugged the old battery, then plugged in the new one. Since this battery is so much larger, some of the plastic parts of the battery need to be cut off. However, I wasn’t finished. Though the battery worked, I wasn’t able to get the bottom of my laptop back on. I had several ideas to solve the problem, but…
The only solution I could think of that would work long term was a bit extreme - I would have to cut out the bottom of my laptop to make room. So, I traced the battery, took out my knife, and started cutting.
My solution
The battery ended up fitting perfectly, and I was able to use standoffs to raise it about 3mm to avoid interference inside the computer (as the battery is thicker). I then modeled and 3D printed a cover for it, so that the battery could be protected.
After this upgrade, I’ve noticed my battery life go from quite underwhelming to fairly impressive; I can now go for several hours of screen-on time and still have about half of the battery life remaining. While it’s a fairly hacky solution, it’s perfectly functional and has greatly improved the usability of my laptop.
The most permanent solution is a temporary one!
