Laptop battery question...

[rubberman]

my battery on my HP laptop took a dump. would run about 5 secs after removing the AC adapter then shut down. Mobilemeter showed a wear level of 80%. so i found a used battery off ebay. On this newer batterty the indicator lights show a level of 4 lights out of 5. Inserting the battery it shows a 73% capacity and charging. ITs still at 73% and charging. when i remove the AC adapter it still shuts down. Mobilemeter shows a wear level of 4%. so what the deal? i have 14 days to return the battery, is there another test i can try on the battery?

[rubberman]

ok, update. if i remove the ac adapter and power it on it will shut off at the exact same spot at the windows boot screen where it says to boot from Windows XP or Windows XP backup line. same spot. It cant be the battery cause when the battery is dead and if you try to power it on the yellow power light will flash meaning the battery is dead. So this thing will power on and shut off at the XP or XP backup line. BUT if the ac adpater is plugged in then it will boot up like normal. I have the Portable power setting on. anyideas

[ahhaa]

Hi R-man! could be a buncha things...

Your laptop power management software may have a screwy setting- put it all back to default, and check in with the maker's tech dept FAQs & google for your problem- just use computer make and the battery Model #.

If it is running OK on AC, then there may be a fault in the physical connectors- tarnish, etc.

The key thing is whether both batterys are 'not working' the same way- that'll tell you whether the fault is in the computer itself or not.

Modern batteries have 'smart' circuits in them, but can still have dead/dying cells; I don't suspect the charger itself if it can run the computer OK.

Last resort, you could get a 12V car adapter & lug a motorcycle battery around with you...

[rubberman]

something is screwed up because earlier the battery was at 72% and it would shut the computer off. but later i unplugged the ac adapter and it showed the critical battery window, showed battery at 0% and ran like that for 20 minutes. my ac adapter works fine. i get 18.5v from my multimeter.

[Tooth DeKay]

The exact same thing just happened to my Toshiba laptop. One day it was working fine then all of a sudden it's not charging and the battery appears to be dead.???????

[Tooth DeKay]

Hey, I downloaded Notebook Hardware Control to get a better idea of where the battery was at, and, guess what? It now appears to be charging.
I tried everything over the past couple of days with no results, then I install some software and hey presto, it's working.
Computers are a very funny thing indeed.

Rubberman, why dont you give it a go?

[rubberman]

where to find this Notebook Hardware Control ?

[rubberman]

mine shows its charging. Right now its at 59% but wont charge higher, just stays at 59%. i wonder if the charging system in the laptop is screwed? maybe a fuse

[Headbanger's Ball]

http://www.pbus-167.com/chc.htm#anchor_download

[rubberman]

ok i took both my batteries over to my buddies house. The OEM and the one i just got. Both charged up on his laptop and his would boot up using either battery. so i brought home 1 battery and of course my laptop would shut off at the boot screen. so it has to be the motherboard. why would it run using the ac adapter and not off the battery?

[smearbrick1]

Did you check your contacts as someone else recommended?

Running the laptop of an AC adapter and running it off the battery are two completely different things. The adapter merely charges the battery while powering the laptop. In fact, you laptop probably doesn't even need a battery if it is plugged in. They are, in this compacity, unrelated.

[Nelson37]

On some laptops, the charging circuit and the AC converter are the same, basically meaning you must have a battery in the unit in order to run at all. On most they are seperate.

These charging circuits Frequently fail. If it is a seperate board, fairly cheap to replace, typically less than $50.00. If it is one piece with the mainboard, and out of warranty, cost may very well be prohibitive.

R and R on laptops can be a major pain, check their site for disassembly instructions, label the screws for correct re-insertion (the lengths may vary), go slow and be very careful. Laptop parts are made for light weight, NOT repeat NOT for durability.

[rubberman]

well i will have to tear it apart again. Took it apart twice now. once to replace the DC powerjack and the 2nd to fix the PCMCIA cage which dicconected from the connector on the MB. I will check the battery connectors inside the laptop and clean them.

Could it be that maybe the contact between the battery and laptop have enough contact that it can read the battery capacity but not enough contact to charge or run off battery?

[rubberman]

here is a pic of the battery connector inside the laptop. the brass connectors look ok. notice the yellow arrow pointing at the white connector. there was never anything plugged into that which is weird

[classfour]

It might be the battery board - although Compaqs were more known for this type of problem - just before the motherboard would die.

[rubberman]

here is a clearer pic of the battery connection. could you tell me where the battery board is?


http://www.atruscorp.com/images/upload_446f5efcb4211.JPG