"Tim R" wrote in message
...
On Monday, March 2, 2015 at 12:34:22 PM UTC-5, Ian Field wrote:
"Tim R" wrote in message
...
Some laptop batteries are intelligent and won't charge unless
conditions
are met, won't overcharge, etc.

It may not be possible just to put any battery into a tablet, I dunno.

Most of the cells I've rescued for my E-cigarette seem to work just fine.

IMO; the 'intelligent' bit may often be a bit over zeallous.

We have an old Mac laptop with a missing charger.

I thought maybe I could remove the battery and charge it directly. There
is not just + and GND on that battery, there are a lot of terminals and
apparently a processor.

Multiple cell packs have sophisticated charge balancing circuitry - not all
cells are created equal, and the one that gets overcharged first goes
exothermic with fairly entertaining results.

You'd probably have to charge each cell individually - you could salvage the
end of charge shut off capsule from an e-cig and use a USB charger.

AFAICR: Most laptop chargers are 19V - you just need the right power jack
with the right centre pin polarity.

In the UK; I bought a universal laptop brick from Maplin (rip-off!) it has a
switch to select several voltages, and a rubber strip with an assortment of
changeable power jacks pressed into it.

Even at Maplin rip-off prices, it was probably a lot cheaper than most
genuine replacements.