Latitude D620 battery recharching

Hi,

I have a battery issue with mt Dell Latitude D620, as the battery is being recharged only very, very slowly when the Laptop is switched off. The battery indicator on the laptop lights up for a fraction of a second, then is off for a longer time. And sometimes nothing happens, i.e. although the battery needs to be recharged, it is not being recharged. The battery itself is actually very new, so I doubt its the battery, but the loading mechanism? Any ideas?


Thanks
Alex

 

Are you getting "unknown AC adapter" in BIOS?

 

Hi,

I do not get any such message in the BIOS. The power adaptor seems to be a genuine one. However, I use two batteries in my laptop, the new primary and an older secondary battery.

If I remove the secondary battery, the laptop seem to be charged 'normal' (i.e. the battery charging indicator is always on), which is not the case if the other battery is inserted as well. Also, with both batteries in the laptop, the batteries (even the primary one) is only charged for a fraction of a second, before both batteries are 'idle' for about 3 seconds. Then one of the batteries is charged again for a fraction of a second and so on.

The BIOS also states that both batteries are on 'good health', so could the reason for my problems still be the older, secondary battery, or something else?


Thanks
Alex

 

What's the power rating of your AC adapter?

You probably need the larger 90W version to charge both batteries. 65W adapters should only be used on systems with integrated graphics and one 6-cell battery.

 

Hi,

it's actually the 90W version. At least that is what the BIOS is telling me...

Alex

 

Have you tried another AC adapter (either PA-10 or PA-3E series)?

 

Hi,

I don't have a different power adapter, but I will try to ask some people.

Also, I noticed that, when the adapter is plugged in, the "Power Management" (under Linux, Fedora 12) tells me alternating that the AC adapter is plugged in, and then that the adapter is NOT plugged in. And luckily the charging state does not decrease when the laptop of on and the adapter is plugged in (but does not increase otherwise). Maybe that is something someone has seen before?


Thanks
Alex