Known as lazy battery effect or battery memory, is an effect observed in nickel cadmium (NiCd) rechargeable batteries that causes them to hold less charge. It describes one very specific situation in which certain NiCd batteries gradually lose their maximum energy capacity if they are repeatedly recharged after being only partially discharged. The battery appears to "remember" the smaller capacity. This memory effect is caused by buildup of crystalline formations on the cell plates which increase resistence and lower the voltage of the affected cells. 1. Test the NICAD batteries using the battery tester to determine whether the NICAD batteries are fully discharged. 2. Locate the negative and positive nodes on the NICAD rechargeable battery. The negative node is on the flat end and the positive node is on the raised, bumpy end of the battery. 3. Put on all recommended safety gear. 4. Attach and hold the black clamp from the 12-volt battery charger to the negative end of the NICAD battery. 5. Rap the positive end of the battery with the red clamp from the 12-volt battery charger. This may cause the battery to emit sparks. It is part of the process of resetting the NICAD battery's memory. 6.Hold both the black and the red clamps on the appropriate negative and positive ends, respectively, of the NICAD battery for 1 to 3 seconds maximum. Release both clamps. 7.Retest the NICAD battery with the battery tester to determine whether the NICAD battery's memory has been fully reset. 8. Repeat the NICAD battery resetting process if necessary ...... DVOM or regular meter will work just fine Thanks, Hybrid Guru. JKS

Here is the link to that thread. The battery I bought was from a store that also sold on ebay. I don't recall the name, I might have mentioned it in that thread. I might have it saved in my ebay somewhere. Here is a link that might be useful: Acer

In numerous cases, Dell in particular, if you flip over the laptop there is a pushbutton on the battery and a series of LEDs that light up to indicate the level of charge when you push the button (assumes the charge circuit is operational and that the battery can hold a charge). I would start by checking Dell's website to see if the battery is part of any recall, many were. If you rarely use it on battery I wouldn't spend any extra on a larger capacity one. Third party ones should be used with caution, quality is often lacking. Personally I have used Lenmar replacements, for laptops and camcorders, when competitively priced. So far I have been lucky, some reviewers seem to diss them. I would definitely factor in the cost of a new battery vs purchase of a new warrantied unit also.

Here's an off the wall solution. A friend of mine lived in an area where there were almost no power outages, even in bad storms. They've experienced maybe 4 outages in 25 years. However, if there was an outage, it might last only 30 minutes at most. In that 30 minutes, their sump would fill up and water would start flowing into the basement. The expense of a full fledged back up system wasn't that justifiable. He kept a oil drum crank handy just in case but wanted something less labor intensive. He was more concerned about the few times a hurricane might come through and, just something as an alternate course of action. We picked up a Xantex 2000 watt inverter with a 4000 watt surge capability, a marine battery and a small solar panel to keep the battery float charged. During one heavy torrential down pour, we put it to the test. We unplugged it from the power and plugged it into the inverter. It worked great for over an hour (when the rain stopped.) Just knowing he had an alternative was good enough for him. With a little more work with a relay, we could have made the system automatically switch over. The good part is, when the battery starts to run down due to long use, you just hook up jumper cables to a car or tractor and you're back in business. We also tested it on his pellet stove and it worked great. Of course this is an "un-packaged" UPS. The cost was around 175 bucks total. He has an area where he uses a hedge trimmer and needs 150 foot extension cord to get to it. He took the setup out to the location and used his hedge trimmer with it and needless to say, it worked great. I personally think running the extension cord would have been easier but I mention all the other uses as another example of the setups' capabilities where it can be applied to other emergency or short term uses as well.