Battery "plugged in, not charging"

So, like some other posts in the past have said, I started my laptop up one day not too long ago (R2, after 3 years of use) and saw the "this power adapter is not recognized" startup message. I assumed it was some mistake and just continued on, selecting the option to forget about the warning because I've never had power adapter problems or used a different one.

Well, just yesterday I noticed that the battery was at 93% and wasn't charging. I receive the power information from the title of the thread that the battery isn't charging, but that the laptop is powered by the adapter. If I restart the laptop or unplug the adapter and plug it back in I'll get it charging for maybe 2 seconds before it reverts back to the problem. Also, the battery is slowly losing its charge.

I've tried removing the battery and adapter, holding the power button for 30 seconds and replacing everything and nothing changes. I've also checked the bios settings and even tried unplugging and reinserting while in the bios as someone at some point said that it might somehow recognize the adapter, but I've had no luck. I've been checking ebay for a new battery, and although sketched about the "used" and "seller refurbished" conditions I've been looking for the best or closest to best deal I can find on a replacement. I'm looking at anywhere from $30 to $120 depending on if I go for the one with a broken screw mount or a newer manufacturer refurbished. I'm just assuming it's the battery that needs replacing as that's what other threads have come to the conclusion of.

My question though is if there's any other trick someone knows to fix a seemingly broken battery. I'd imagine that there's nothing necessarily wrong with the battery and am even skeptical of planned obsolescence in that the battery doesn't seem to suffer any other symptoms. I don't know what could be wrong that would prevent it from charging, as I've always treated it well and haven't put it through an obnoxiously large amount of discharge cycles.


FINALLY - So if there's an expert out there or someone with experience, I'd simply like to know if I can do something about the battery not being able to charge itself. Not that I'm hardware modding capable, but I just don't imagine there's that complex of a system for the battery to understand itself or its capacity/charging ability. Also, thanks to anyone who makes it all the way through the post or has any insightful input.

 

Have you tried flashing the BIO? Any way for you to get another adapter just to test (from a friend or relative)?

 

If you check the BIOS does it list the AC Adapter wattage? Under "Power" it should say A/C Adapter Rating and the wattage.
If it says unknown you either have a faulty charger which isnt telling the laptop what it is or the power jack on the laptop has gone faulty and isnt receiving the wattage details from the charger. A New battery will not resolve the issue.
It is a known Dell quirk that the battery will not charge if the power adapter wattage cannot be read. This is to stop you from overloading and underrated charger.

 

So I've flashed the BIOS to A04. It was previously A01 which was fine (also I didn't want the constantly louder fan noise that someone earlier said about A03 from A02, so I've just been comfortable at A01). Everything else is running similar.

Anyway, before flashing (and now) the power information will change to say that the battery is at 100% and doesn't need charging. But it's also intermittent to a certain extent, because just now I reconnected the power adapter again and got the usual (plugged in, not charging) after a second if it trying to charge. It should also be noted that I've been successful at getting it to charge properly twice in the past week, but I've no clue as to the difference that allows it to.

The BIOS doesn't show any information about the power or adapter so I can't give any more information on that. And I don't have a similar power adapter on hand, but I'm assuming one with the same voltage and amperes (or one and wattage) would work if I found one?

Again, thanks very much for the help.

EDIT: I just wanted to close the thread by mentioning that it was indeed the power adapter that was causing the problem. A new one from amazon and everything with the battery works well once again.