Battery acting up.

[chiangrai]

For the last two nights in a row my computer went on to battery power

even though it was plugged in.

I would take out the power lead and put it back in and it would go back

to plugged in and charging but only for about 3 minutes before it went back to

running on batteries again.

Eventually I just turned it off and went to bed.Each night it would be fully charged by

morning.

But this morning the red battery light in front of the mouse pad is on even though it says

fully charged on the task-bar.

Any one know what this is all about

[Chicog]

Perhaps your charger is on the fritz?

[chiangrai]

Right,

And I presume the charger is inside the machine

and that means a trip to the repair shop.

[ETatBKK]

two possibilities :

- battery flat-out, and not holding charge; the task bar charging info not reliable.

- the charging circuitry failure, and it doesn't charge the battery accordingly.

I experienced both with my previous Dell notebook. there are subtle symptoms between these two problems, keep eyes on the charging details. battery flat-out is easy, buy a new battery; charging circuitry failure then need to replace motherboard.

otherwise, bring your notebook to any computer shop ( . . . in Chiangrai ? ) for a health check.

[Chicog]

There is a free (and paid version of an) app called Battery Bar, which will tell you how many cycles your battery has used and essentially whether or not it's had it.

I'd start there.

https://batterybarpro.com/basic.php

Edited October 29, 2014 by Chicog

[manarak]

Right,

And I presume the charger is inside the machine

and that means a trip to the repair shop.

never seen a laptop with the charger inside!

[Chicog]

Right,

And I presume the charger is inside the machine

and that means a trip to the repair shop.

The charger is usually a "brick" between your mains supply and your laptop.

[chiangrai]

Battery bar says---6.2% of 47,520 mwh.Is that good or bad.

The brick half way down the power line is years old and has been hot

for most of that time.

How are they sold.It comes apart from the cable at one side.

[Pib]

Assuming you have a power adaper (a.k.a., brick) to charge the battery/power the laptop use a multimeter to check the DC voltage output of the adapter/the adapter's lead that plugs into your computer. Look on the charger and see what it's voltage "output" is suppose to be be (i.e., 20V, 19V, 15V, etc), and then use the voltmeter to confirm the DC voltage is plus or minus a volt or so of that rated output voltage. Voltage adapters go bad frequently....confirm whether it's good or bad before concentrating on other possibilities like the battery.

[chiangrai]

My Lenova AC/DC adapter-a.k.a brick-has Output 20v-written on it.

You say "use the voltmeter to confirm the D/C voltage."

What voltmeter............

Thanks all,we're making progress.

[Chicog]

Battery bar says---6.2% of 47,520 mwh.Is that good or bad.

The brick half way down the power line is years old and has been hot

for most of that time.

How are they sold.It comes apart from the cable at one side.

That's good, it means you've only used approx 6.2% of your battery's estimated lifespan.

[Chicog]

Battery bar says---6.2% of 47,520 mwh.Is that good or bad.

The brick half way down the power line is years old and has been hot

for most of that time.

How are they sold.It comes apart from the cable at one side.

You can buy replacement chargers at reputable outlets or big computer centres like Panthip, Depends where you are.

The cable from mains to charger you should keep.

[chiangrai]

So is that the final diagnosis then.

Order a new charger.

If so I will order one from INVADIT,

[Pib]

My Lenova AC/DC adapter-a.k.a brick-has Output 20v-written on it.

You say "use the voltmeter to confirm the D/C voltage."

What voltmeter............

Thanks all,we're making progress.

What voltmeter you ask? The one your buy or borrow. Multimeters are cheap and come in so handy for many things. Or, just take it to a computer shop, ask if they will check the voltage output with a multimeter and see what the voltage reading is.

But usually if your are getting a "charging indication/plugged in" indicator for even a short while that's an indicator the charger is still working although it could be borderline working....like say the rated output DC voltage is suppose to be 20V but it's only putting out 15V...well, that could result in very slow or no charging depending on your battery.

I too have Lenovo laptop which uses a 20V, 4.5A adapter. My trusty multimeter gives a 20.3V DC voltage output.

Just confirm first your charging adapter is OK.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Pib

[aarn]

May be worth checking any connections for debris (usually insect body-parts) causing intermittent contacts. Unlpug cables of charger, check state of contacts, clean out ports with cotton bud etc. Cheers, AA

[chiangrai]

The laptop wouldn't start this morning.It had two white lights in front of the touchpad

I brought the charger to the shop and he said it was fine so now the whole machine is in.

Let's hope it's those dirty connections you talk about.

Will keep you posted.

[wgdanson]

The laptop wouldn't start this morning.It had two white lights in front of the touchpad

I brought the charger to the shop and he said it was fine so now the whole machine is in.

Let's hope it's those dirty connections you talk about.

Will keep you posted.

You can't beat a dirty connection...I've had loads !

[chiangrai]

Me Missus just got back from the local repair guy

he said that the i.t chip needed replacing and it would cost

6000bht.

I will get a second opinion but I could be on the market for a new machine.

I will have to open a new post.

Firstly,does the i.t chip story and 6000 price tag sound plausible.

[Pib]

What do you mean by "i.t." chip? What does "i.t." stand for?

[chiangrai]

I don't know,

That's what she told me that he said to her,,,,,,,,,,,,

Google doesn't seem to know either......

He is just the local yokal.........

I will bring it to a shop that I know is good on Monday.

[Pib]

Yea, when I saw "i.t." I thought maybe Information Technology which is a generic term, maybe Intel and Intel makes a lot of different chips, etc. But Bt6,000 is a healthy price for just one chip unless it's the CPU or Graphic Processor Unit (GPU). I realize that would include labor and parts costs.

And maybe they were really saying "IC" that I've heard Thai computer techs say many times which just means "Integrated Circuit" which could refer to most any chip in the computer....from the most expensive CPU to the cheapest little 10 baht chip.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Pib

[astral]

never seen a laptop with the charger inside!

The brick is just a DC power supply

The clever bit that decides when the battery is full etc is on the mother board