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    Alienware M17 - Battery

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by tinker_xp, Jul 3, 2014.

  1. tinker_xp

    tinker_xp Notebook Consultant

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    Hi Guys,

    Think I know the answer and will go Alienware in the morning. I seem to be having issues with my batter, it seems to last as it usually does, however once it get's to 10% to the laptop turn's off as soon as the warning comes up. It turn's off flat, no shut down, no hibernation nothing. The hibernation should kick in at 7% but the laptop turn's off way before then.

    Dell's system check show's the battery is fine and can still retain 100% of it's charge.

    It's weird and it's acting like the battery is a dud but everything else points otherwise.

    Thanks for any assitance, don't seem to have much luck with Alienware, this is 2nd laptop and already the GPU has been changed in this.
     
    tinker_xp, Jul 3, 2014
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  2. tinker_xp

    tinker_xp Notebook Consultant

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    photo 2.JPG photo 4.JPG

    Ok, now I ran the laptop from 100% on battery, I just let it sit there, screen on, wifi on, and did nothing with it, within about 45 minutes the battery was flat, I plugged it in and I had this, the battery does feel warm, but I don't get whats draining it so much. There's no OC'ing on my laptop.

    Specs: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz / Display Adapters NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600 / Alienware 17 1080P screen /
     
    tinker_xp, Jul 26, 2014
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  3. DDDenniZZZ

    DDDenniZZZ Notebook Deity

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    Faulty battery I think. Task manager showing no programs draining the CPU or anything?

    Drivers all up to date and working? Intel / nvidia drivers are ok?

    Very weird problem even mine without the HD4600 lasts longer somehow.
     
    DDDenniZZZ, Jul 26, 2014
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  4. gibson00

    gibson00 Notebook Evangelist

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    My battery on my 2013 Alienware 17 acts the same. Battery hardly lasts at all even after charging to 100%, and the computer shuts down right after the warning. I just found your thread because I was going to post a question about the best way to get a replacement battery... I guess I'll give Dell a call tomorrow...
     
    gibson00, Jul 26, 2014
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  5. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It could also be the motherboard. Let's just hope it's the battery.
     
    J.Dre, Jul 26, 2014
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  6. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    The battery wont charge if its too hot (you just discharged it pretty much as fast as possible), heat will reduce a batteries lifespan so they let it cool a bit before charging (which will make it hot too).
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jul 26, 2014
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  7. jameslee3978

    jameslee3978 Notebook Consultant

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    yea +1 on call dell if its under warranty you might get lucky... make sure you have a good laptop cooler like a Coolmaster u3 with some upgraded fans
     
    jameslee3978, Jul 27, 2014
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  8. gibson00

    gibson00 Notebook Evangelist

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    Just got off the phone with AW tech support (I called from Canada). Kudos to them. They remote connected into my laptop, ran a bunch of diagnostics, all of which passed. He also updated my bios for me. After that, I figured he would just say so sorry, everything looks fine. But he had me unplug the computer and watch the charge level. It was dropping by about 1% per minute. After a few minutes, he said they are sending me a new battery and charger, being sent overnight delivery on Monday. 10 months in, no regrets with this laptop, love it (especially with the SSD drive I installed... :)).
     
    gibson00, Jul 27, 2014
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  9. MogRules

    MogRules Notebook Deity

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    Great to hear ! They are so good about getting replacement parts to us in Canada :) I have never waited more then 2 days for parts no matter what it was unless we are trying to get them over a long weekend or something like that. Even after the problems I have had and two replacement systems I just can't get mad at them because the support has been pretty good and I have a much better system then I originally bought from them.

    Honestly if it is hitting thermal limits and not charging I would take the battery out and just run on AC until the replacement gets here....if it is getting that hot I wouldn't trust it in my machine :(
     
    MogRules, Jul 27, 2014
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  10. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It's always nice to hear good stuff about Tech Support. I hope your issues are resolved!
     
    J.Dre, Jul 27, 2014
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