Hey everyone, Long story short, I was carrying my laptop in my backpack yesterday when it started pouring on my walk back from campus. Everything got slightly wet, and, dumbass that I am, the first thing that I tried when i got home was to...turn it on. Weird things happened like the screen was very very dim, power button didn't work, so I got nervous that I couldn't turn it off (but I should) so I did something even worse, I took the battery out. Then I calmed down and let it dry overnight (don't know if that did anything) but this morning it will turn on with the AC cord plugged in, but not with the battery. I'm pretty sure, based on the evidence of my post, that other people will know better what's exactly wrong, and maybe how to fix it, and so there is my plea for help! This was one of those cheap-o NASCAR branded AOpen 2000 notebooks, and support is laughable. There is 1 said battery selling right now for a relatively cheap price. Should I buy it, or is my battery salvageable? Thanks so much for any help! -Clueless [Edited by - deavik on July 28, 2007 10:11:04 AM]

Getting a NiMH battery wet is not a good thing to do. Was it soaking wet or was it "meh" wet?

NiMH batteries are not sealed. During regular use, they are designed to release gas from the chemical reactions going on inside. This means things like water CAN get inside the battery. Depending on what is in the rain water, it could accelerate the chemical processes going on and can cause it to heat up or begin to deteriorate. (Salty water accelerates the chemical reactions, for example).

I'd just get a new battery.

EDIT: How was the computer working on the AC?

Hey Programmer One, thanks for the answer! It's actually a Li-ion battery, I should have mentioned that sorry.

But I don't actually think the battery got really wet... just wettish on the surface (there wasn't much moisture near the contacts at any rate). I actually think it was me taking the battery out while it was on that may have done some damage... is that possible?

The computer runs fine (I'm using it now!) with AC plugged in... but a battery would be nice :)

No, taking the battery out while it's turned on should be basically the same as unplugging a powered on desktop. The battery should have a built-in protection circuit to keep it from being damaged (unless it's really, really cheap; even $25 Li-Ion packs usually come with a protection circuit).

If there was no moisture near the contacts, it's confusing that it isn't working; it it possible that some water got inside the plastic case? If water shorted a cell, it would discharge until it was so low that it died. The protection circuitry can only protect against stuff outside the battery, not shorts inside the cell array. Cells are about the size of an AA battery, though, so it seems weird that enough water could get in to short one.

Also, I'd recommend letting it dry for a few days, preferably in a dry place. A few years ago, my gameboy got water inside it; it wouldn't work the next day, but it did the next week.

It works again! Thanks for the tips Nagromo, I still don't know exactly why it was being weird but here's what happened:

I unplugged everything, put the battery in and locked it in place (there is a second latch for the battery, maybe that had something to do with it). Then I plugged in the AC cord and booted up. Next I unplugged the AC with the computer running, and it still ran but did not charge when plugged in and was showing 4 hrs of battery life left (impossible with my battery/laptop). So I went ahead and rebooted, with just the battery. It booted, and now it showed me 1 hr 43 min left (about right). Then I plugged in the AC again, and the charging LED lit up, and everything was golden!

Quote: Original post by deavik
I still don't know exactly why it was being weird

There's a very big chance that all this had absolutely nothing to do with the battery being moist or wet. The mistake was to simply remove the battery while the notebook was running.

All modern batteries have a built-in microcontroller, that monitors charging and discharging cycles, connected equipment, temperature, sometimes even gas pressure and more parameters. It's often also abused for OEM authentication, so that people can only use their notebook with expensive original manufacturer batteries.

Anyway, when you suddendly removed the battery, you disconnected the data link between the battery controller and the notebook. Maybe the battery was just exchanging data with the notebook at the moment you took it out, and it lost sync. The battery controller was probably left in an invalid state, and had to be somehow reset before supplying energy again.

Moving over to the hardware forum.