In this post I explain how to troubleshoot laptop battery charging problems. I will list most common battery failure examples and suggest some troubleshooting steps.
Example 1.
Laptop detects the battery but shuts off when AC adapter unplugged.
When you move the cursor arrow over the battery icon while the laptop is connected to AC adapter, it show the remaining battery charge and says “charging”.
The batter power meter utility (if available) also shows that battery is connected and charging.
But… as soon as you unplug the AC adapter, the laptop shuts off completely.
Possible problems:
1. The battery not seated correctly. Try reconnecting the battery.
2. The battery contacts got dirty or oxidized and the battery is not making good connection with the motherboard. Try reconnecting the battery a few times.
3. If reconnecting the battery doesn’t help, most likely the battery is bad and has to be replaced.
4. If you replaced the battery but the problem still exists, this is motherboard related failure. Apparently the battery charging circuit has failed. In this case the whole motherboard has to be replaced (or repaired on component level).
Example 2.
The battery not detected by the laptop.
The battery is installed and you know it’s connected correctly but there is a red cross on the battery icon.
If you move the cursor arrow over the battery icon, it says “no battery detected”.
Possible problems:
1. Most likely the battery is bad. You have a very good chance to fix this problem by replacing the battery.
2. If replacing the battery doesn’t help, this is motherboard related failure. The motherboard has to be replaced (or repaired on component level).
Example 3.
The battery discharges very quickly after it reaches some critical point.
The battery detected by the laptop and charges properly to 100%.
When you unplug the AC adapter, it take normal time to discharge until some critical point (let’s say 80%) but after that the battery discharges very quickly to 0%.
Possible problems:
This is battery related failure. The battery is bad and has to be replaced.
Example 4.
The battery charges only if the power plug positioned correctly.
You have to wiggle the power plug in order to charge the battery. After you find the right position, the battery charges properly.
Possible problems:
1. AC adapter failure. The AC adapter power cable is damaged. You can test your AC adapter with a voltmeter.
2. If the AC adapter works fine, most likely this is power jack (connector where you plug power adapter) failure. In this case the power jack has to be replaced.
In some laptop models the power jack is not soldered to the motherboard, it’s attached to a power harness.
In this case, you can unplug the failed power jack from the motherboard and replace it with a new one.
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August 31st, 2010 at 11:39 pm
Hi, I have problem in my Acer Aspir 4810t laptop and I ask for your help please.
The laptop work fine on power charger and in windows battery icon it read the battery level for example 23% and after 1 day 22% or 21% .
but don’t charge it, when I disconnect the charger the laptop shutdown.
until this problem the color of battery light in laptop is orange when it charging and blue for 100% full charge, but now always blue.
I make update to the bios from windows but nothing work.
after week of this problem when I open it to see if I can fix it, the touch bad mouse won’t work too.
That’s it, Please help me.
August 31st, 2010 at 12:09 am
hello laptopman..
I have my friends laptop
and he ask me to fix it
and according to your tutorials here
thank you anyway..
his laptop has no display
and the system is booting properly
so I assume that there is something wrong with
the connection of the lcd to the system
or should I just re seat the memory
but the another problem is the cpu fan
is not working.. hopefully the motherboard
is still ok.. thank you in advance
August 8th, 2010 at 10:12 am
LaptopMan,
You don’t have to buy it. All my tutorials are available for free.
August 7th, 2010 at 10:52 am
cj2600: I just BOUGHT the course from laptoprepairvideos.com .. I’m curious … these tutorials you are doing here on laptoprepair101 .. is it POSSIBLE that you can put all of these HELP tutorials in ONE package so I can BUY it.
Thanks
July 29th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
hardeep,
If the laptop still runs on battery power but it just doesn’t last long, most likely you have a problem with the battery.
July 29th, 2010 at 4:28 am
sir, my problem is assocaited with example 3…I had bought usb T.v tuner card. When i pluged in t.v tuner card, laptop was running on battery, it suddenly turned off.After dat incident, laptop battery backup has reduced to 15mins or so..It charges fast and runs out fast..around 37% remaining it shows low battery singnal..whether it is motherboard related problem or battery has damaged?
July 28th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Roger,
Turn on the laptop (without external monitor connected) and take a closer look at the LCD screen. Can you see a very faint image on the screen? The image could be so dark that you have to use a flashlight to see anything? Anyway, is the image there?
July 28th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
debashis paul,
It’s possible the AC adapter failed while you were away. After that the laptop worked fine until the battery had charge and turned off after that. Now you cannot turn it on because the AC adapter is dead and the battery has no charge.
Do you have a voltmeter to test the AC adapter?
July 28th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
victoria,
Not likely. Even with a failed fan the laptop should turn on at least for a while.
When you plug the AC adapter, do you get any lights at all?
July 28th, 2010 at 12:08 am
I have a laptop with no display on the screen but when i use external monitor,it has a good display!!!do you think the lcd of my loptop was damaged and it must be replaced??place reply!!!