laptop power, battery

[Jake]

I have an IBM thinkpad, about 7 years old. Everything's fine except it shuts down when it appears that the battery is drained.

I think I could solve this problem by replacing the battery- and was wondering- why does the battery have to be in and charged for the adaptor to work?

 

[Ewc1307]

When the mains is plugged & turned on, is the mains light on your laptop?

Is the battery actually charging when the mains is in?

No, you dont need the battery in for the mains to work.

 

[Jake]

Yes, the light is on...The led goes to yellow when the battery is charging. When I unplug the battery, it won't start and there's no light with the adaptor plugged in. It's definitely dependent on the battery...

 

[wicked23]

Did this ever work correctly before.

I've had similar issues with these laptop's. Mine would not recharge battery after it went dead. I replaced the battery 2x before I realized this is a fault in the mother board. I replaced board and everything is peachy.