Laptop battery not charging

funkey_monkey

Got a laptop and the battery is refusing to charge. When mains power is removed, the computer shuts down. When plugged into mains the battery icon in the tray shows that power is applied, but charge remains at 0%.

I've looked at the battery settings and nothing seems out of place. I've removed the battery and drained power by holding power button - reattached battery, but no joy.

Is it new battery time or is there anything else I should check prior to ordering it?

Thanks.

Atlantic Dawn

Were there any symptoms leading up to this with poor performance from the battery? Generally they won't go from fully functioning to zero charge without some event causing it like the laptop being dropped or dropped on the charge point.

In my experience it's usually the charger connection (majority of the time)

the cable becomes damaged from use

It will still supply mains power but not charge the battery

Get a new charger would be my advice

you can sometimes verify this (easier to do if some battery charge left, not when it's at 0% by connecting and reconnecting until you get lucky on the connection and it starts charging the battery again, by bending cable near the connection. in this case just try bending the cable near entry point to laptop as you can't remove it)

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441705#Comment_118441705

Can I check the power cord with a multimeter? The laptop works as long as the power cord is attached. As soon as it is removed, the laptop dies. That indicates that the power cable is operating. Cable looks fine - no kinks or damage.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441683#Comment_118441683

No - but there was always a tendency to let the battery run out and run on battery power until very low on charge.

funkey_monkey

It shows its plugged in. No visible damage to power cable. Is there anyway to check if it is a heat issue?

Atlantic Dawn

What kind of life were you getting out of a charge when it was working? Also how old is the laptop?

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441869#Comment_118441869

TBH - I never really got to use it much since Covid started. Parents mostly using it. I think it was getting steadily worse as father mentioned that it was getting harder to use. No real idea about performance though as it was mostly used when plugged in.

Laptop is ~4 years old. It is a custom build by PCSpecialist.co.uk.

you won't see any visible damage to the cable - it will internal and unseen

just saying that it's the most likely case

could be the battery gone but even after 4 years should have some life in it

a quick try is to go to device mgr and uninstall the items in batteries and reboot

worth a try

if the laptop doesn't have an ssd then a spnning hdd left for a while with loads of updates and virus scans running be slow

if you want to keep using it put in a sata 3 2.5 inch ssd if it doesn't have it

Atlantic Dawn

Ideally if you knew someone with a similar laptop you could try the battery in theirs to rule out the battery being the issue. A new battery might be anything from €40-€150 if you go down the genuine parts route, then if it's not the battery you could be in to a costly repair of the laptop.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441838#Comment_118441838

don't think that it will show up on a multimeter but I've had this happen to 2 different laptops that I've had

the cable looked fine

the cable would power the laptop but increasingly would not charge battery unless fiddled around with the connection until battery charge started working

over time it got more annoying to get this to work

got a new charger and the battery charges fine

of course a battery can go dead also - but not normally for 5+ years

funkey_monkey

I've got access to another power source from brothers laptop. Will try it tomorrow and hopefully that will narrow down the problem to either the power cable or the battery itself.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118442049#Comment_118442049

needs to the same connection shape and same voltage range of course

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118442325#Comment_118442325

Yes - similar voltage and current - hopefully the connection is the same.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118441974#Comment_118441974

Uninstalling doesn't help. Can't get a battery or cable to suit.

So, do I purchase a new cable first? Where is the charging circuitry held - is there anything else I can check before purchasing either the battery or cable?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118443336#Comment_118443336

not with the cable I don't think so - the damage will be inside the cable in the point of the last 6 inches to the connector

even if you opened it up probably wouldn't' see anything (repeated bending / stress )

you have to buy the charger as the cable is a fixed connection from the charger to the laptop charging port

so there are no replacement cable parts to buy

the only thing you can do is to try to manipulate the cable to see if you can get a "battery charging" connection. but I found that this only worked by disconnecting the charging cable and re-inserting (resets the connection) whilst also bending the cable . that's not going to work with 0% battery obviously.

funkey_monkey

The charger is a CHICONY A13-040N3A 19V, 2.1A 40W. Laptop is a Clevo W950JU.

Struggling to find the correct cable for it as most with the PSU model number are for an Acer laptop and have 5.5mm pin. However, this would appear to be a 4.8mm pin. Is there anything to denote what the pin is as I'm struggling to tell the difference between a 1.5mm and 1.7mm pin.

Pretty sure it is 5mm outer diameter - which is probably the 4.8mm pin diameter.

Here is the model with a 3mm pin:

https://www.shopping-battery.co.uk/adaptor-19v-2.1a-chicony-40w-in-united-kingdom-1300.html

4.8mm pin:

https://www.replacement-batteries.co.uk/laptop-ac-adapter/clevo_w950ju_laptop-charger_66816.html

4.8mm pin, but higher current rating:

https://www.power4laptops.co.uk/p/clevo/w950ju/compatible%2Blaptop%2Bpower%2Bac%2Badapter%2Bcharger%2B2447231?gclid=CjwKCAiArOqOBhBmEiwAsgeLmc-P9R9gnECqsDu5DsNXij4rRt4WBBeJaLJFhiOolDm3l0u0_G9SSBoCqYQQAvD_BwE#.YdrZLdHP1CA

as said, any charger that I've seen, the cable from the charger to the laptop port is not removable

you don't have to buy the official charger

there will be non-OEM versions

try aliexpress - search by the volts amps watts spec (e.g. 19.5V 3.34A 65W) and visually look at the connections and check connection measurements if given

funkey_monkey

Cable not the problem. Replaced the part from the PSU down to the laptop connection and it still doesn't charge.

Can anyone recommend a good battery supplier website?

Thanks.

Is there a pin reset hole on the underside of the laptop? Same thing happened to me, tried everything and then the pin reset worked.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118490186#Comment_118490186

Is that to reset the bios?

No, to reset the battery itself.

https://community.acer.com/en/kb/articles/75-acer-internal-battery-reset#:~:text=Unplug%20the%20AC%20power%20adapter,button%20down%20for%205%20seconds.

funkey_monkey

Seems to be working again now. I followed a different process for disabling drivers than previously

1. Remove cable
2. Remove battery
3. Attach cable
4. Power up
5. Uninstall drivers for battery in Device Manager.
6. Shut down
7. Remove cable
8. Attach battery
9. Attach cable
10. Power up

Atlantic Dawn

Great result, I thought it would be more hardware related and requiring replacement(s).

funkey_monkey

@Atlantic Dawn - me too! I only posted back on this thread on a whim instead of purchasing a battery. Surprised that it worked, as these things usually don't do anything for me.

Glad to be back in business!

Good stuff.

10000maniacs

.

funkey_monkey

And its not working today.:(

Any ideas as where to go from here? Is it the charging circuit or the battery? Would seem to be the charging circuit to me, but I can't get it to work again.