Power issue with Dell Inspiron 1525

Wailin

Bit of a problem with my laptop thats bugging the hell out of me. The battery shows 98% fully charged with power cord plugged in. As soon as the power cord is removed, the laptop cuts out. In other words, i can't use the laptop outside or anywhere there is no power outlet, even though when its plugged in the battery seems to be almost fully charged. This only happened recently and if anyone has any idea what might be the cause please let me know. I do not want to bring it to be assessed and charged alot unless I really have to. Thanks in advance.

Alanstrainor

New battery time.

I can only presume it wasn't getting the best battery life before this happened?

These machines always had crap batteries, never lasted long.

Definitely a worn out battery. 1525s are, what, 4-5 years old at this stage? So you're lucky you got the time you did.

Wailin

Karsini wrote: »

Definitely a worn out battery. 1525s are, what, 4-5 years old at this stage? So you're lucky you got the time you did.

This is the second battery, I only replaced the last one about 12months ago. I have to say there was no indication at all because I was getting 2 hours on a full battery before this suddenly happened. I wasn't even using the laptop that much really which is why I'm wondering is it actually dead already. Any way I can test this before I buy another battery?

Wailin

Wailin wrote: »

This is the second battery, I only replaced the last one about 12months ago. I have to say there was no indication at all because I was getting 2 hours on a full battery before this suddenly happened. I wasn't even using the laptop that much really which is why I'm wondering is it actually dead already. Any way I can test this before I buy another battery?

If it's an official Dell battery, hold the button on the charge meter for about 3-5 seconds. It should at first show the current charge rate, but then as you hold it, the lights will go off. If they don't come back on again then the battery is fine. If they do then that an indication of the wear level. The more lights that come on, the more wear on the battery. If all 5 lights come on, it's toast.

You can also check in the BIOS under Battery Health.

Wailin

Karsini wrote: »

If it's an official Dell battery, hold the button on the charge meter for about 3-5 seconds. It should at first show the current charge rate, but then as you hold it, the lights will go off. If they don't come back on again then the battery is fine. If they do then that an indication of the wear level. The more lights that come on, the more wear on the battery. If all 5 lights come on, it's toast.

You can also check in the BIOS under Battery Health.

Hmm, no its not an official Dell battery, so maybe thats why its jacked in so soon.

Torqay

Wailin wrote: »

Hmm, no its not an official Dell battery, so maybe thats why its jacked in so soon.

There is that risk with cheap 3rd party replacement batteries. And at this age, a new battery may not be viable.

Wailin

Torqay wrote: »

There is that risk with cheap 3rd party replacement batteries. And at this age, a new battery may not be viable.

I still have the original dell battery that I replaced with the non dell battery. I took it out last night and put it into the laptop and tried to charge it. It actually charged and when I took the power cord out it worked ok. So I know the laptop is fine. I also don't believe in hearing people say you risk damaging your laptop by using 3rd party parts. The price of a dell battery is €80 or so, the battery I replaced it with cost €20 so I could get 4 of them for 1 "official" battery and they hold the charge just as long. I have ordered another one because they work perfectly and it lasted 2years, not 12 months as I previously thought. Nothing wrong with that for €20!