Battery on M1330 won't charge! Is it the AC Adapter or the battery?

For about a month and a half now I've noticed that my battery won't always charge when I start up the computer or when I plug it in. Sometimes it take about 3-5 times of me taking the cord from the laptop and inserting it again for the little battery icon in the status bar begin to charge up.

Now I don't know what to do because I don't know if its the battery that's the issue or the adapter. I'm leaning towards it being the battery because the adapter appears to work fine (it lights up when I plug it in a socket.

I don't know why it's the battery though because I always use the adapter when I use my laptop. I rarely ever use just the battery.

So which one do I need a new one of, and does the Dell warranty cover battery and adapter replacements?

 

On my laptop it won't charge unless below 95%

 

Right now mine is only at 3%

 

Could be the battery bug....

Turn off your notebook

Take out the battery pack and AC power

Hold the power button for 30 seconds or more

Try turning it on and charging the battery now

 

I tried flipfire's suggestion but it still won't work.

What now? It's at 2% charged now. I need to know what to do, buy another battery or buy another adapter and whether either of them are covered by my warranty.

 

Someone please help me with some suggestions.

 

Download RMClock and check the battery status using the utility built into it. The Battery Info menu will tell you charge rate, as well as battery designed capacity and current charging capacity.

http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml#rmclock

http://cpu.rightmark.org/download/rmclock_235_bin.exe

 

Okay I did this but I don't know what any of the information means.

My battery charge is at 0% now and it does tell me that.

 

So no other suggestions/advice?


I guess I'll have to call the Dell Reps. though I've been dreading it.

Anybody know about how much a new battery or adapter costs?

 

Nothing if it is under warranty.

 

it may be the wire extending from the adapter to your laptop. the connection there can be easily damaged if tugged upon.

 

have you checked the voltage on your ac adapter using a voltmeter?

 

No I haven't and I probably wouldn't know the first thing about how to go about doing that lol

 

Ok...this kind of happened to me... ...a few months ago I had per usual the connection from the wall outlet > to the brick > to the adapter to my 1530...Now the Adapter had always been slightly *loose* in the socket..but I didn't really worry as it wasn't bad.

Then, one day I checked and the battery was not holding a charge at all.

So I took out the battery, put it back in, checked the connections (even the brick was powering on its own)...as my battery % went lower...I placed a call to Dell. They had me do all these things ~ I just listed and I said..*Are you sure that the soldering isn't bad on the internal socket*????

Well, they decided it would be best to send the on-site technician to replace my *Motherboard*...I was without a laptop for 2 days (I had my old desktop as backup)

The techn. came w/in 48 hours to my house....replaced my Motherboard and I have had no probs since then..(he also took great care of everything, as I was a tad worried).

Oh, they also gave me a new *brick* along with adapter, to be for sure.

I know this isn't the best news..but that's what happened in my case..So I'm wondering if this is what needs to be done with yours????

Hoping that helps.

Cin

 

Thank you so much for you advice. I will call them and see what they say. I've already had 1 motherboard replacement due to a screen problem. If I have to get another one I guess I'll do it but I'm this close to sending this comp. back for a refund so I can get a Macbook lol

 

I hope it works for you I really do.... You would think it would be easier to just fix (solder) the socket...but whatever makes it easier, I guess!

Oh, and if they do the same thing for you....BE sure to have them add a new brick and adapter... You just don't know...I asked for that and they agreed.

I hope you don't have to send it back, and things work out for the best...Please keep me posted!


Cin