I looked to see if I could buy a battery for my Librem 13v4 but have noticed on their site that they can’t send batteries without also sending a new device which is utterly ridiculous. Has anyone else run into this problem and find any of solution?
If this is how purism is going to have to operate then they will lose international customers.
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Email Purism support for an RMA, then send in your Librem 13v4. You can then order as many batteries as you want, then authorize Purism to send your Librem 13v4 back with the desired amount. I suggest using the opportunity to stock up on other Purism products and/or out-of-warranty repairs, etc.
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That would work. It’s also pretty ridiculous 
And exposes your device to all kinds of people that might tamper with your device. It might get lost in mail.
I’m also in the market for a new L5 battery, so I would be interested if this policy of “no separate batteries” would change.
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Purism offers anti-interdiction services when sending your device back to you, so I suggest taking advantage of it if it is applicable against your threat model. As for sending in the device in the first place, you can make arrangements via email with PGP about any tamper protection measures you will be applying to your shipment if needed. Lastly, packages can be insured from loss depending on the shipping rate chosen, so if it fails to arrive at its intended destination, you can make a claim with the courier.
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Yes, one thing I am working on is getting Purism staff IATA DGR certified for hazmat air shipments, and any other regulatory compliance with our shipping carriers. I’ll then do test shipments and, if successful, will enable replacement battery shipments to all approved countries.
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It’s not a policy as such. It is imposed by air freight companies. Until you jump through the hoops to meet their terms and conditions, they simply won’t allow it.
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That is fantastic news! Do you have a ballpark estimate of when you expect this will happen? 6 months, a year?
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Would be interested for an ETA for this as well, as I have a battery problem with a Librem14.
See also Librem14 battery bloated, laptop unusable. Alternatives battery sources outside the US? - #4 by EuropeanCustomer1
Depending on how much time it takes, I could volunteer for a test shipment.
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Me too. I’m stuck in the USA so I’ll volunteer. I have a $1,700 un-used Librem15 laptop that Purism can’t get a battery for… So I don’t mind shipping it to Purism for a new battery when they are available.
I worked in multi-modal logistics for GE and got hazmat training. Shipping issues are very fixable when they are regulatory. Purism has to fix the easier routes first and get the supply chain moving. That frees up possibilities for the harder routes. Don’t wait to fix all of the global routes at the same time.
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I’ve been trying to get a replacement battery for my $1,700 Librem 15 laptop since 06/05/24. All I wanted to do was send the laptop in for battery service that I paid for… Then, after Purism tech support changed the battery, I could get started learning Linux.
I have been in shock since then. Purism has literally had replacement battery issues since some time in 2021. I’ve found lots of info on the forum about customers struggling with this issue since then.
Here’s a post I found that has tech details:
My Librem 15v4 arrived on 2019-02-27 and by 2020-08-01 the battery was only lasting about 3.5 hrs, and by 2021-05-21 the battery was almost dead. It’s possible that I left it on the charger too long. I don’t know if the Librem 15v4 cuts the power from the charger to the battery. Does anyone know?
I wanted to buy a replacement battery from the Purism shop, 45 but both new and used batteries were out of stock (I see at this moment that a used battery with 90-day warranty is in stock).
By the way, @mladen confirmed that the Librem 15v4 can run with a dead battery AND with the battery completely removed. I verified both.
Thanks to @MrChromebox for giving the part number (U753-TS44-111) at Librem 15 rev 3 battery replacement 14 , which allowed me to search online. I found nothing on eBay and many other battery sites. Everyone was also out of stock. Finally on 2021-06-05 I found https://www.replacement-laptop-battery.com 26 in Hong Kong, which had it in stock (and just now is saying out of stock). A new one was $109.16 with 1-year warranty and shipping included (the same price as a used one just now seen on Purism’s shop with 90-day warranty). So I decided to buy it and hope I had not thrown away my money. This was the first time I had bought anything directly from China. I used PayPal, they shipped it very quickly, and they emailed me a tracking link. I watched it depart from Shenzhen, arrive in LA on 2021-06-23, then at my Post Office on 2021-07-08. So, 1 month, 3 days from China. Not too bad!
It works fine and I reliably get 5.5 hrs out of it, with about half screen brightness, Internet active, and an external monitor attached. I now use GNOME Clocks to set a timer to remind me to either unplug or re-plug the charger, although I did run it down to 10% to see if GNOME gave me a low-battery warning, and it did. That did not happen with the old almost-dead battery: the system would just power off with no warning. A couple of times I have charged to 100% and the max time I saw was 5hr 38min.
One warning: the white plastic connector from the battery to the Librem 15v4 is very flimsy, basically a part with a duty cycle of 2 or 3. When I removed the original battery connector, it disintegrated in my hands. So I was a bit worried that when I plugged in the new battery, it would break. I was lucky and it did not.
Hope this helps someone!
p.s. The only thing that could be better about this is if I didn’t have to remove 15 [corrected: 14] screws from the back of the Librem 15v4. At least Purism made them all Phillips head screws of the same size, though a few are longer than the rest, so you have to keep track. A battery door with a more durable battery connector would be great. Does the Librem 14v1 improve on this?
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Update: this is coming along smoothly and we expect full capability for standalone battery shipments Q1 2025.
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That’s awesome news; thanks. I hope you guys are also working on adjusting (correcting?) the shipping cost anomalies in the Store, e.g. over US$20 to ship the tiniest of items, even domestically.
Thanks again for the update, and especially for spearheading the certification process.
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Thank you! It would be great to make an announcement when available - a lot of people will be happy that Purism finally solved this issue about consumable that inevitably go dead in time
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