# Plugged In, Not Charging



## Dreaming (Oct 8, 2012)

I can't deal with this issue anymore, it's driving me literally fucking insane. 

I can't unplug my laptop (HP G61, Windows 7 OS), it's essentially been anchored for months now. Why? Because once it's unplugged it's a bitch to get it to recognize it's plugged in and charging again. 

It sounds so stupid and I guarantee you it is. I plug it in, it powers up (screen brightens, charger icon comes up, the usual) but it tell me it's ''Plugged In, Not Charging''. 30 seconds later, it dims down again as if it's not even plugged in. But it is, it is plugged in, the charger light even knows this. What the hell? 

It's not been a problem (as long as I never unplugged it) until now. I would usually sit there unplugging and replugging it for 10 or so minutes and it would eventually accept it and charge. Now it's not.

I can leave it on stand-by and it will charge, then I can use it for a bit, but get this, now the battery is cutting out at random unannounced times. 37% battery life should be enough, apparently not (tried typing this thread out twice and it cut out both.fuckin.times). I give up on this, no one can figure this out and I know nothing about computer software. 


So, yeah, if you can figure this one out I'll forever serve you in whatever way you please. =P


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## AshleyAshes (Oct 8, 2012)

It sounds like the battery is worn out and needs replacing.  There's hardware in the battery that tells the laptop if it's allowed to charge now, as the battery starts to go to hell, it's ability to remain charged or understand it's own charge goes pretty funny.

I'd have suggested it was the AC adaptor, since if they're breaking or have loose connections, they'll give funny voltage and the laptop will go 'Oh hell no, I ain't letting this power inside me'.  You'll see the same if you use a universal adaptor with the wrong voltage setting, but since your battery is nuts too, it's likely that.

...Or both.


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## Ricky (Oct 8, 2012)

Is the power supply the same manufacturer as the laptop?

That happens with my laptop.  I must have switched the power supply with someone's HP and Dell apparently wants you to have to buy their shit to get your fucking laptop to charge...


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## KatmanDu (Oct 9, 2012)

Ditto on the other posts. If the charger is original and is putting out what it specifies (the output should be marked on the charger, and is easy to check with a voltmeter), than the usual suspect is the battery. Unfortunately, the battery is usually the weak link in these equations. Start pricing replacements.

I've got an early 2008 Macbook Pro that only lasts 30 minutes or so on battery. Various battery monitor programs have told me that something's not kosher with it, including the built -in Apple battery health program. It will not last more than 30 minutes off charger, despite having two different chargers. Just have to suck it up and spend the $80 for a new battery.


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## Dreaming (Oct 12, 2012)

AshleyAshes said:


> It sounds like the battery is worn out and needs replacing.  There's hardware in the battery that tells the laptop if it's allowed to charge now, as the battery starts to go to hell, it's ability to remain charged or understand it's own charge goes pretty funny.
> 
> I'd have suggested it was the AC adaptor, since if they're breaking or have loose connections, they'll give funny voltage and the laptop will go 'Oh hell no, I ain't letting this power inside me'.  You'll see the same if you use a universal adaptor with the wrong voltage setting, but since your battery is nuts too, it's likely that.
> 
> ...Or both.


I'm (or was) certain it's the battery but my dad disagrees with me 

''Dad I think it's the battery, this screen comes up when I turn it on telling me to replace it''
''Does the laptop turn on when the battery's removed?''
''No?''
''It's not the battery then'' 
??? ok

He tells me that the BIOS needs updating, and I can't even keep the laptop on for more than a minute now.



Ricky said:


> Is the power supply the same manufacturer as the laptop?
> 
> That happens with my laptop.  I must have switched the power supply with someone's HP and Dell apparently wants you to have to buy their shit to get your fucking laptop to charge...


It's the original charger yeah, I've no idea if it's damaged or not (I hope not at least). And jeez, people keep telling me the issue is that it's a HP. 



KatmanDu said:


> Ditto on the other posts. If the charger is original and is putting out what it specifies (the output should be marked on the charger, and is easy to check with a voltmeter), than the usual suspect is the battery. Unfortunately, the battery is usually the weak link in these equations. Start pricing replacements.
> 
> I've got an early 2008 Macbook Pro that only lasts 30 minutes or so on battery. Various battery monitor programs have told me that something's not kosher with it, including the built -in Apple battery health program. It will not last more than 30 minutes off charger, despite having two different chargers. Just have to suck it up and spend the $80 for a new battery.



My dad checked the charger cable, it came out as okay AFAIK. And, hey, is the Macbook randomly cutting off at 30%, 75% too? My sister has the same issue with her Macbook too. I'm wary of splashing cash on a new battery because I know, deep down, I'll plug it in and it'll still give me the same issue. =P


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## Fenric (Oct 12, 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/lithium-ion-battery2.htm

Lithium-Ion batteries (and unless your laptop is about twenty years old, that's what it has) have an expected lifetime of only a few years: usually 3 - 6.  They will go bad whether you use it or not, and will go bad no matter how careful you are.  The old conventional wisdom that applied to Nickel-Cadmium batteries is utterly wrong for modern batteries.  

If your laptop depends on the battery to make up for a gently undersized power supply when under load (this is not unusual, by the way) then your laptop will shut down if the battery goes too low, even if it is plugged in.


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## KatmanDu (Oct 13, 2012)

Dreaming said:


> My dad checked the charger cable, it came out as okay AFAIK. And, hey, is the Macbook randomly cutting off at 30%, 75% too? My sister has the same issue with her Macbook too. I'm wary of splashing cash on a new battery because I know, deep down, I'll plug it in and it'll still give me the same issue. =P



Nope, it warns at 20% and doesn't shut off until 1 or 2%; but it reaches that level very quickly off-charger. It'll run forever on the charger. Just a worn out battery.


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## greg-the-fox (Oct 13, 2012)

Dreaming said:


> I can leave it on stand-by and it will charge, then I can use it for a bit, but get this, now the battery is cutting out at random unannounced times. 37% battery life should be enough, apparently not (tried typing this thread out twice and it cut out both.fuckin.times). I give up on this, no one can figure this out and I know nothing about computer software.



Yeah, batteries do that when they get worn out, mine shuts off at around 20-25%.  I still get like 2+ hours on a full charge so it's not worth replacing yet. (this is my second one lol)
I think it reports that it has more charge than it actually does, like when it yours thinks it's at 37% it's actually at 0, but I might be wrong about that.


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## Saga (Oct 13, 2012)

I find it odd that it would gp overnight, you'd think that the battery would gradually get worse until it hit rock bottom... maybe your charger was giving the incorrect amount of voltage, and attenpting to use it fried your battery.


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## Saga (Oct 13, 2012)

*attempting, *go


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## Runefox (Oct 13, 2012)

It's entirely possible that the battery had some kind of cell failure. If it got too hot and one of the cell's safety mechanisms tripped, that would dramatically cut the battery's charge capacity. Since Windows doesn't know any better since the battery up to now has been fine, it makes sense that it would think that it still has 30-odd percent battery when it's about to die.

Also, cyanogen, there's a thing called the edit button.


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## Dreaming (Oct 19, 2012)

It suddenly started recognizing the charger again the other day. I've not unplugged it since, I don't want to run that risk again but I'm guessing the issue hasn't actually gone away. At this point I think I'm going to just replace the battery, if that doesn't work then I literally don't know. 



greg-the-fox said:


> Yeah, batteries do that when they get worn out, mine shuts off at around 20-25%.  I still get like 2+ hours on a full charge so it's not worth replacing yet. (this is my second one lol)
> I think it reports that it has more charge than it actually does, like when it yours thinks it's at 37% it's actually at 0, but I might be wrong about that.


See this one lasts about 30 minutes now, but it only has a life of 210 minutes when new. It should start warning me at 12% and auto-shut down at 5% (that's how it used to do it at least)



cyanogen said:


> I find it odd that it would go overnight, you'd think that the battery would gradually get worse until it hit rock bottom... maybe your charger was giving the incorrect amount of voltage, and attempting to use it fried your battery.


The charger issue came way before the battery issue. This charger thing has been going on for months now but it's only recently been telling me to replace the battery. Though, the charger does arc when plugged in, I've always figured that was a normal thing though :L



Runefox said:


> It's entirely possible that the battery had some kind of cell failure. If it got too hot and one of the cell's safety mechanisms tripped, that would dramatically cut the battery's charge capacity. Since Windows doesn't know any better since the battery up to now has been fine, it makes sense that it would think that it still has 30-odd percent battery when it's about to die.


That would make sense at this point. Yep, it needs a new battery >>


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