Charging problem !? :( please help

I have XPS M1530. Got it from outside the US (international) over a year ago. so the warranty has expired.

Never had a problem until 2 months ago, when I had a "Plugged in, Not charging" issue, stuck at 4%. After I tried every possible mean I found online to solve this, (none worked, I even called dell support (60 minutes call, 50 min before anyone asked me what was my problem !!!!) , I bought a new battery.

After installing the new battery i bought, everything is back to normal. until yesterday :

I was on battery power, using the new battery at 73% charged, and suddenly the computer turned off by it self...
I plugged in the charger, powered on the laptop again, the battery meter shows:
" 73%, plugged in, CHARGING ", but it's stuck, it is NOT charging. and whenever I remove the socket , it shuts off as if there is no battery installed whatsoever !!!

The battery is almost brand new less than 2 months old. the LED on the battery is at 4 lights.



Please help !!!

Thank you

LR

 

Did you purchase a generic battery?

 

Here is the extremely helpful thread that offers a very interesting discussion on notebook batteries:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846

I'd read the information and discussion about notebook batteries and the dos and don't of battery maintenence. Maybe you'll discover why your battery went dead so quickly.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the other posts, it's very helpful..

Yes I got a generic one since the DELL one costs around $150 and more....

The one I got is compatible with xps m1530, and the battery number, and was working fine for the past less than two months.

could this be a software issue (vista ?? bios ?? ) or what ?
I do not know, but i have a feeling it can't be the battery... it's something else (charging circuit...?!).

the problem this time is not like the first time;
- the first time the computer would still work on battery power even though it's 4% of battery power, and then fades and turns off. (indicator shows : plugged in, not charging)
- this time, it's showing the battery is charged at 73%, (indicator shows : plugged in, charging. but it is NOT filling up) , and the moment i disconnect the charger socket the computer turns off immediately as if there's no battery in place whatsoever. (instead of using battery power, or fading).

Please help
thx

 

Hard to say anything conclusive with these generic batteries. You might've gotten a dud that's actually dead now (yes, after just a few months; it does happen).

On the other hand, you might actually have a more serious problem with your charging circuitry, though this seems unlikely since the battery was working fine for two months. How did you know it was working properly during those two months? Did you discharge it, charge it, discharge it, charge it, multiple times?

Seems unlikely that you'd have two battery failures in two months (generic battery or not), though. Try buying like a used genuine battery on eBay just to see if that works?

 

Yes, I did charge / discharge multiple times over the past 2 months, I usually use my laptop as desktop-replacement more or less, but I do fully discharge the battery on purpose around once a week. and everything was normal. not a single incident until yesterday....

I'm currently overseas and I can't buy via ebay here....

Is there another way to know for sure ?