ThinkPad P52s Battery Replacement Help

[NoName]

I've failed trying to replace my laptop's batteries. I used my computer's serial number and the links in the sidebar of the r/thinkpad to do as many things I could do on my own before bothering other people:

• I found the manuals for my particular laptop. For good measure, I found youtube videos on how to replace the batteries in a ThinkPad, the closet to a P52s being a T480. It was similar enough to my computer that it helped.
• I found the battery specs (01AV427 external & 01AV493 internal) so I could make a purchase. I chose to buy from from Encompass Lenovo Parts since iFixit only had the internal available. According to Lenovo, I found the equivalent parts 01AV492 and 01AV493. In the links, they're not available, so I clicked "use substitute part" on both links to order 01AV492R and 00UR891R.
• I got the parts in the mail and proceeded to replace the batteries. They both looked the same size, but I was surprised by the black tape they put on some parts to cover up specific print for some reason.
• The laptop would turn on only when connected to the charger and shutdown when removed. I took some screenshots and photos.
• I used Lenovo's website to download everything and make sure my laptop was up to date. I made sure the BIOS and Windows were at their latest update. I uninstalled the battery drivers and reinstalled.
• I proceeded to uninstall and reinstall the new & old batteries, even mixing the two to see if anything changed. I think when I mixed the old internal and new external, it showed 255% battery charge at one point, but I didn't take screenshots of that. I didn't think of taking screenshots until later on when I gave up and decided I needed to get some help.

I did leave the charger in for about 2 hours while researching. The only thing I didn't try was leaving the new batteries in and charging overnight. I can attempt that later to see if it solves the issue; maybe they were drained from sitting in a warehouse?

I've been sifting through the apps I have & offloading as much as files I could to external hard drives in anticipation for a fresh install if it would help solve the problem. I don't want to do a fresh install at this second because this is my only computer at the moment.

I should've wrote down notes during the process, but I didn't expect to have trouble with a simple battery swap, so forgive me if I forgot anything writing this post off the top of my head. Maybe this is enough for someone else could see where I went wrong in my process. I appreciate any help I can get because I feel like this laptop still has some life left in it & there's a lot of convenience in having a laptop over only owning a desktop computer. I purchased a ThinkPad because I had user serviceability in mind for the batteries. Initially I considered bumping up the RAM to 32gb or the harddrive to 1tb, but now I'm second guessing myself given the trouble over something as basic as putting in new batteries.

I don't know if this will help, but the following details are from my receipt when I ordered the laptop back in 2018:

ThinkPad P52s, Part No: 20LBCTO1WW

Configuration Details

- 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-8550U Processor (1.80GHz, up to 4.0GHz with Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
- Windows 10 Pro 64
- Windows 10 Pro 64 English
- 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS anti-glare
- 16 GB DDR4 2400MHz
- NVIDIA Quadro P500 2GB GDDR5
- 720p HD Camera with ThinkShutter and microphone
- Backlit Keyboard with Number Pad - US English
- Hardware dTPM
- Hardware dTPM2.0 Enabled
- 512 GB Solid State Drive, PCIe-NVMe OPAL2.0 M.2
- 4 cell Li-Ion 32Wh
- 6 cell Li-Ion 72Wh Cylindrical
- 65W AC Adapter (2pin) - USB Type C
- Intel Dual Band 8265 Wireless AC (2 x 2) & Bluetooth 4.1 with vPro
- WWAN
- Mobile Broadband upgradeable
- 15.6" FHD,IPS, non-Touch, 2D-Camera, Mic, WLAN, WWAN
- Intel UHD Graphics 620
- Publication - English
- 1 Year Depot or Carry-in

I've uploaded some photos and screenshots to this Imgur link to show you what I can see from my end in terms of what the batteries look like and how the computer sees them.

[RealBlackStuff]

The only thing I didn't try was leaving the new batteries in and charging overnight.

How about doing the only thing you didn't try?

[NoName]

The only thing I didn't try was leaving the new batteries in and charging overnight.

How about doing the only thing you didn't try?

I put the new batteries back in, turned the computer on just to see, then shut down the laptop with the charger plugged in. I left the laptop charging for half a day, but they are still at 0%. I'll try another 12 hours or so while on sleep or hibernate to see if that makes a difference. When I turned on the laptop to check the charge, I got a Lenovo Hardware Settings window within 2 minutes with the following message:
"Battery 1 : The battery is not detected. Try reinstalling or recharging the battery to solve the problem
Battery 2: A battery error has occurred. the battery cannot be charged. Replace the battery."

I also saw two other things online, but I don't know how relevant. One to do with pressing a Emergency Reset pinhole on the bottom of the laptop with a pin for 15-30 seconds to reset the batteries. I tried it my first time trying out the new batteries, but it didn't do anything. I also tried to go into the Lenovo Diagnostics instead of BIOS to see if there were any battery tests, but there were no options for battery or power diagnostics showing up for my laptop.

[axur-delmeria]

Looks like you received a bad battery.

[NoName]

Looks like you received a bad battery.

I sent a Return Form to Encompass, so now I'll wait and see what they say to do next. I assume they'll tell me to mail them back the duds and they'll eventually send me new ones. Their website links for the batteries I ordered say that they're out of stock until February 6th unfortunately. I looked at the batteries a little closer and noticed the external has a factory date from 2023/07 and the internal from 2024/03, so maybe they just sat in a warehouse for too long from the production date.

Out of curiosity, would it be worth updating the RAM from 16 to 32 for a faster computer? I don't know why, but Firefox has been eating a lot of RAM without a lot of tabs or other apps open and the CPU would go all the way up to 100% at some moments. For example, running on browser tab for Netflix with nothing else running results in a sort of chattery video playback with the CPU going from 25-50%. On Task Manager, the processes in the Memory section don't seem to add up to what is actually being used. In Storage Settings, a similar thing is happening where it says a lot is taken up, but when I try to add up the apps I still have installed, it doesn't seem to add up to the numbers stated.

I figured a fresh install or reset of my laptop along with a RAM upgrade would be warranted when I get a new main computer, so I'll be less scared to play around with battery changes and other upgrades. I've never done that before, so would you happen to have a good guide on how to do it properly? I saw on Settings that there is a Reset this PC option for if my "PC isn't running well" with the option to "Remove everything", but I just wanted to double check if this is the way to go once I reach that point.