Spare Classmate Battery Sources, Charging Externally

[kmcclary]

We're seeking a spare Classmate Battery (and an external charger for it). Since you must run on it when competing, having at least one charged spare on hand for the Classmate [2010 Driver's Station] seems like "a good idea".

Questions:
1) What is the right PART NUMBER for the battery? (There seems to be a number of "Classmate" batteries.)

2) What's the best price (and source or URL) anyone has found to date, for a spare Classmate Battery?

3) Has anyone found a way to charge it up OUTSIDE of swapping it into the Classmate? (Like hacking a smart universal charger to connect to it.) It would be nice to have an external charger for the battery for the pit. When searching cticorp for "charger" I had no hits. (... and buying another Classmate JUST to charge batteries is IMHO plain silly... )

adTHANKSvance!

- Keith

[Mark McLeod]

Battery Pack: E09-2S4400-G1L3

I don't know of an external charger for it. Any charger would need the same specialized connector.

[billbo911]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Battery Pack: E09-2S4400-G1L3

I don't know of an external charger for it. Any charger would need the same specialized connector.

Mark,
Do you, or anyone for that matter, know if there is an "extended life battery" for the Classmate? The one supplied with the laptop doesn't run very long on it's own.

[kmcclary]

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Battery Pack: E09-2S4400-G1L3
I don't know of an external charger for it. Any charger would need the same specialized connector.

Thanks for the P/N. <Googles> Hmmm... No hits on that number. Are you sure it is the correct one?

(But I DO see that in under one hour from posting, Google has ALREADY indexed -THIS- CDF thread, talking ABOUT the battery! <LOL>)

RE an external charger: Hey, we build "stuff" all the time, so a connector or charging FRAME can always be fabbed or faked.

The trick will be in making sure your Universal Charger TRULY understands the pack assembly and cell configuration, so it doesn't trash the battery trying to charge it.

Examples: With many modern battery packs, you often have to watch out for things like: a "Smart Part" (Battery Manager Micro) hiding inside, extra cell temp monitor or cell balancing wires, or specialized rituals and circuits to properly charge it.

- Keith

[Mark McLeod]

I just took it from the battery itself.
I'm fairly search-crippled where I am now, so I can't help there much.
An extra battery seems to be ~ $89, but I don't see an extended battery option.
You'd have to call: Pre-Sales Support Call 800.642.3087 x 223

http://www.ctlcorp.com/v4/p-732-ctl-2go-convertible-classmate-pc-89-laptoptablet-with-hard-drive-with-windows-xp-professional.aspx

[kjohnson]

Has anyone found replacement batteries for the E09 Classmate? Our battery is dead and we'd like to continue running our Driver Station from the Classmate.

After a quick search, I found no results on eBay or Google. The page here says the batteries are no longer available from CTL.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by nukemknight

Has anyone found replacement batteries for the E09 Classmate? Our battery is dead and we'd like to continue running our Driver Station from the Classmate.

Our E09 Classmate also has a totally dead battery. I found a half dozen online stores with the E09-2S4400 battery listed. All of them were "out of stock" except one. I ordered the battery a week ago. Yesterday I received email from the company:

sorry for any inconvenience caused for you , this battery suddenly out of stock, our financial people will fully refund your money as soon as possible, it will take about 2-3 bank days to arrive your account , please do not worry,
We regret that any inconvenience brought to you and thanks very much for your cooperation.

Plan B is to pull apart the dead battery pack and replace the cells.

[kjohnson]

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Plan B is to pull apart the dead battery pack and replace the cells.

I e-mailed CTL Corp support about the lack of replacement batteries. Their response:

Unfortunatley that model has been discontinued and neither the E11 or E10 batteries will work in it. If you still have a battery there is a model number on the bottom. With that you will be able to look online for a replacement. The chances or finding a replacement are very slim but it is worth a try.

Have you had luck getting into the battery? We tried yesterday but were unable to separate the plastic casing without damaging it.