Re-celling a Thinkpad battery

Linux Discussion Hardware
1

I was recently gifted with a Thinkpad T400 that has a worn down aftermarket battery. My understanding is that aftermarket batteries are generally not very good and that my best bet is to acquire a genuine battery and if it is in poor shape, recell it.

In thinking about whether to take the effort to rehabilitate this laptop, I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with re-celling a battery? How big an endeavor is this? I have very little soldering experience but I’m willing to give it a try.

Alternatively, does anyone know of a reputable aftermarket manufacturer for old Thinkpad batteries?

2

I have used https://ninjabatt.com/ for batteries in older laptops. In fact, I have one in an Asus laptop near me right now that I replaced 4 years ago. Still works wonderfully well and holds a decent charge. I don’t know if they carry Thinkpad replacements but what they have supplied to me has worked very well.

3

Sadly, they only carry 2 Lenovo batteries and my model was not amongst the list of supported models.