# Laptop Battery problem.



## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

Sometimes it stops charging and the % goes down even though its plugged in.
But if I take out the battery then put it back in then it continues charging.

Acer Aspire 3003LCi with Windows XP.


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## ToeClaws (Oct 26, 2009)

I've seen that happen on older batteries, which don't hold a charge quite as well anymore.  I suppose it could also happen on a newer battery that was a bit of a lemon and is losing faster than normal.

My last laptop had such a battery - it was already down to 50% of it's original capacity just 18 months after getting the laptop.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

Sadly, there isn't much you can do computer side to fix that. It's as toe said; your battery is old and dying. Might wanna shop around ebay for a new one.


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

ToeClaws said:


> I've seen that happen on older batteries, which don't hold a charge quite as well anymore.


It lasts long enough when going from 100% to 0%.

EDIT:
Right now, in Power Meter, the "(charging)" just keeps on going on/off.


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## ToeClaws (Oct 26, 2009)

fwLogCGI said:


> It lasts long enough when going from 100% to 0%.
> 
> EDIT:
> Right now, in Power Meter, the "(charging)" just keeps on going on/off.



Take it as a sign of worse things to come. :/  Sinjo's right - time to hit up e-bay or an on-line seller to find a replacement.  For the record, I found a replacement battery for my laptop on e-bay, and it's been a fantastic battery for 3.5 years now.  Only cost about $40, was well worth it.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

ToeClaws said:


> Take it as a sign of worse things to come. :/  Sinjo's right - time to hit up e-bay or an on-line seller to find a replacement.  For the record, I found a replacement battery for my laptop on e-bay, and it's been a fantastic battery for 3.5 years now.  Only cost about $40, was well worth it.


We should add that it might actually be the charger too. This is less likely. Does your laptop have an  indicator; led or something. a glowing ring around the laptop plug port? If this is blinking along with the icon on your desktop, then it may be the charger.


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## ToeClaws (Oct 26, 2009)

Sinjo said:


> We should add that it might actually be the charger too. This is less likely. Does your laptop have an  indicator; led or something. a glowing ring around the laptop plug port? If this is blinking along with the icon on your desktop, then it may be the charger.



*nods* Also possible.  As my laptop neared 5 years old, the "running on battery" icon in my notification tray would periodically start popping up.  Unplugging and plugging the adaptor back in made it go away - sometimes for a moment, sometimes for a long while.  It became more frequent and I started to monitor the voltage coming from the adaptor while under load with a multimeter - it was slowly dropping.  A new adaptor fixed that issue.  The difference though (at least in my case) was that the battery was not showing charging, but rather that the system was showing as suddenly running on the battery.

A good question to ask at this point might be how old is this laptop of yours?  Battery problems can crop up in just a year (sadly, if you have a lemon of a battery), but adaptor problems are less common and generally don't show up until 4+ years.


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## SailorYue (Oct 26, 2009)

sounds like the batterys got a leak. theres one thing computer side you can try, go to where your drivers are and delete teh one for your battery (try to use google to figure which it is for your comp) then restart your computer. it will reinstall the battery driver and maybe that will work. i know it did when my wifi driver and camera drivers ceased working properly.

if not, buy a new battery.


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

Sinjo said:


> We should add that it might actually be the charger too. This is less likely. Does your laptop have an  indicator; led or something. a glowing ring around the laptop plug port? If this is blinking along with the icon on your desktop, then it may be the charger.


Yes.



ToeClaws said:


> A good question to ask at this point might be how old is this laptop of yours?  Battery problems can crop up in just a year (sadly, if you have a lemon of a battery), but adaptor problems are less common and generally don't show up until 4+ years.


2005.
But also, this is not it's first AC Adapter and battery.


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## SailorYue (Oct 26, 2009)

then do what i said about the drivers. dleete  the battery driver after finding what its called and reboot your laptop. it SHOULD reinstall.


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

SailorYue said:


> then do what i said about the drivers. dleete  the battery driver after finding what its called and reboot your laptop. it SHOULD reinstall.


Did that.
Haven't seen any problems so far.
EDIT:
Its still doing it.

Instead of getting a new battery, I'll just wait until I get a new laptop.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

fwLogCGI said:


> Yes.
> 
> 2005.
> But also, this is not it's first AC Adapter and battery.


So yes, it is blinking along with your icon in the taskbar?

Or

yes it's got an LED


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

Sinjo said:


> So yes, it is blinking along with your icon in the taskbar?


That one.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

fwLogCGI said:


> That one.


Is there a light on the brickr? ( between the laptop and the wall socket)


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

Sinjo said:


> Is there a light on the power bar? ( between the latop and the wall socket)


No.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

fwLogCGI said:


> No.


that narrows it; the laptop is more than likely fine. 'sounds like the charger is either giving to much power and then shutting off; or it just won't keep drawing power. I'd try turning the laptop off, taking the battery out and seeing if it'll run with just the charger plugged in.


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

Sinjo said:


> taking the battery out and seeing if it'll run with just the charger plugged in.


It does.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

fwLogCGI said:


> It does.


fuck fuck fuck; I'm thinking the motherboard is borked somewhere. 'probably should wait for a new one.

edit: I'm no expert, but I had this happen to one of my laptops; just speaking from experience.


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## AshleyAshes (Oct 26, 2009)

Laptop batteries are actually very 'smart'. This is because Lithium Ion batteries are dangerious without a bit if computer hardware working to protect the battery from exploding.

When you charge a battery, if it gets to warm, the battery will stop itself from charging untill it cools down. Laptop motherboards are often fairly smart when it comes to managing their power too. For example, my Inspiron 600m, like a lot of dell laptops needs a voltage off the AC adaptor that a lot of universals don't support. When connected to an incompatable DC power source or a compatable one that is damaged and giving out bad voltage, the laptop will often present an error. Typically saying the adaptor is somehow 'wrong' and that the laptop will run of AC but not refuse the battery.  If the battery is stopping itself from charging, it is doing it on purpose because it thinks it is getting too warm.  If the battery does get too hot, it could catch fire or explode.  It's stopping for a REASON.  If you leave the laptop plugged in long enough, does the battery eventually fully charge?

It is unlikely that the laptop or the powerbrick are the source of the problem. The battery is likely just bring problematic. Probably it's chemistry is just now holding a charge. How often do you use the battery? Like, how often do you discharge and recharge it? Batteries age by two means; 1) Age. 2) Usage. So if you use a laptop battery more often, maybe discharge-charge cycling it once or twice per day, you'll get faster to the battery failing than if you used AC power at every possible chance.

Assuming the laptop works problem free without the battery installed and AC only, then your problem is almost certianly the battery and it just needs replacement.


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## Runefox (Oct 26, 2009)

Honestly? It sounds a lot like the charge circuit itself may be going bad if you've replaced the battery and AC adapter once before already. I think it might be a sign that it's time to lay this one to rest as far as portability goes.

Also, are you absolutely sure you replaced that AC adapter with one that's made for your laptop? Check to be sure that it has the same voltage/amperage and, if it actually says, the same (or higher) wattage rating. If it's rated lower, then there's a good chance you're running into this as at least part of your problem.


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

Runefox said:


> Also, are you absolutely sure you replaced that AC adapter with one that's made for your laptop?


Yes.


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## ToeClaws (Oct 26, 2009)

It may be possible to check the voltage of the adapter under load.  If you a) have a multimeter (digital, preferably) and the laptop has an expansion port with a positive and negative terminal, you can hook in the multimeter and see what sort of voltage is present on the system board when it's running.  The voltage you see should be a few tenths of a volt under what the adapter as rated for.  If it's over, then that's going to cause problems.  Likewise, if it's too far under (usually by a volt or more) that can cause issues well.


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## fwLogCGI (Oct 26, 2009)

ToeClaws said:


> It may be possible to check the voltage of the adapter under load.  If you a) have a multimeter (digital, preferably) and the laptop has an expansion port with a positive and negative terminal, you can hook in the multimeter and see what sort of voltage is present on the system board when it's running.  The voltage you see should be a few tenths of a volt under what the adapter as rated for.  If it's over, then that's going to cause problems.  Likewise, if it's too far under (usually by a volt or more) that can cause issues well.


I'll try that.


But also, it looks like it's charging fine in Windows 98. (I still have it dual-booting 98 and XP)
EDIT: I don't think running it 98 is safe. Something started making a sound and the part where the AC Adapter connects to the laptop was very hot.


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## Sinjo (Oct 26, 2009)

fwLogCGI said:


> I'll try that.
> 
> 
> But also, it looks like it's charging fine in Windows 98. (I still have it dual-booting 98 and XP)


Then it has to be some unfortunate driver/motherboard mix up; in my opinion. Regardless, it sounds like a new lappy is your best bet.


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## yak (Oct 27, 2009)

I had all sorts of weird battery problems, which were solved by cleaning the contact plates on both the battery and the laptop. They were oxidized.


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