Laptop Battery Voltage

[yaharadelta]

I'm in need of a laptop replacement battery, specs on the original battery are 41wh, 11.25v. I'm coming up with batteries that are listed as compatible with my laptop that are rated at 54wh, 15v. The extra watt/hour capacity would be a nice feature, does anyone know if there would be an issue going with the higher voltage?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by yaharadelta

I'm in need of a laptop replacement battery, specs on the original battery are 41wh, 11.25v. I'm coming up with batteries that are listed as compatible with my laptop that are rated at 54wh, 15v. The extra watt/hour capacity would be a nice feature, does anyone know if there would be an issue going with the higher voltage?

I don't mess around with this but also have around 200 mobile devices and laptops to manage. In our enterprise we've seen cheap stuff have battery overheat and fire at worst, and a lot of time wasted for little satisfaction. If you have a removable - designed to be - buying a good a replacement is safest bet.

In how we help staff with personal stuff I've also seen buying a refurbished first tier laptop as a good choice when you have something that's at or near end of life.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by yaharadelta

I'm in need of a laptop replacement battery, specs on the original battery are 41wh, 11.25v. I'm coming up with batteries that are listed as compatible with my laptop that are rated at 54wh, 15v. The extra watt/hour capacity would be a nice feature, does anyone know if there would be an issue going with the higher voltage?

There might be. I would be careful about that.
Laptop manufacturers usually optimize all circuit components with each other. Using a battery that cranks out 30%+ more voltage than your original one is not ideal in my view. It could directly impact some of the loads, e.g. the illumination/LEDs and other resistive type circuit components. They might have enough tolerances built in, but who knows. The extra volts might mean a quicker death for some of them, or worse.
In situations like this, it's always best to follow the original specs, unless the manufacturer is the one telling you (in writing) that this particular 15V battery is fully interchangeable.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by imwjl

.... we've seen cheap stuff have battery overheat and fire at worst, and a lot of time wasted for little satisfaction. If you have a removable - designed to be - buying a good a replacement is safest bet....

^this^

I have done a lot of rechargeable battery replacements for home devices, from direct plugin replacements to hardwired replacements. I also had the opportunity to work on a critically important rechargeable battery product "fix" for work and met with the world's leading battery expert. Literally. The most co-patented woman in the world, I learned a lot.

There is a few really important considerations on how poor quality can/will lead to internal shorts which create overheating, discharge and possibly fires.

Also, the batteries have specific charging circuits which monitor levels, trickle charging current and voltage limits. They have checks in place for over current, over voltage, temperature, etc. These protection circuits are either coupled with the battery or separate and upstream in the charging circuit.

To be truly compatible it has to be identical.

So in addition to battery cell quality the actual internal protection circuit has to be the same.

Never buy a cheap rechargeable battery. At best-case you will have a short lived battery. The worts-case is much worse.

[yaharadelta]

Thanks for the replies, looks like another case of caveat emptor, in the making. In my internet search there were many cases of " compatible with" my model of Dell laptop, with different voltages. I was never really impressed with the battery life of the original Dell battery, and thought maybe a 4 cell 54wh battery over the original 3 cell 41wh might be an improvement. I guess it's good safe advice to stick with the original specs. Thanks again