E1505 9 cell battery issue - flashing red!!!

Hello everyone. Haven't been on this forum for a while. I have an E1505 with 9 cell battery that started acting up lately. What I am experiencing is following. When running on battery, or pluged-in, the charging indicator would be green, then flash couple of times red, then go back to green again. Even after being charged overnight, I still experience the same. The battery life has reduced significantly (1.5 hours max - if that, compared to what it used to be when new - had it for liek 10 months, used very little - hardly more then 1 hour a day) has anyone experienced anything similar? Any reason why it is flashing red, or what shold I try to do? Thanks in advance

 

If the sequence is 4 red, green, 4 red, green and so on- that's a code that indicates your battery is failing and is only providing less than 25% of its normal charge capacity. (There's more to it, but that's what I recall as being one of the factors)

That would mean your battery is basically dying and will probably keep headed downhill in a hurry. You should probably go ahead and start looking at getting a replacement.

Post the flashing code back here (green, red, green again, red twice, etc etc) if it is different from what I assumed.

 

Thanks, I guess I will be calling Dell today! It is still under warranty, so they will give me a new one (hopefully!)

 

Please note if you have over a year and if you bought extended warrenty, then the extended warrenty will not work. The battery is only cover for 1 yr top, not just E1505, but every Dell's notebook.

JC

 

Yeah, batteries are considered consumable supplies (like ink cartridges or toner) and are not covered under warranty unless due to manufacturer defect within the first year of ownership.

Did you ever check your battery's serial number to see if you were eligible for a replacement via the battery recall? You might be able to score a freebie if it is.

Pop the battery out and enter the code here:
https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

Batteries aren't too expensive thankfully, buying another genuine Dell battery from a reputable eBay seller will probably run you 80 dollars or so. Generics are hit and miss, sometimes worth the risk, but often not. If you can afford a real one, buy the real one.

You might be able to get the rep to offer you a reduced price for a new battery if you complain a bit. They're authorized to do that kind of thing to keep your business with them!

 

If you are under warrenty they should give you a new battery

 

Thanks everyone. I bought the laptop April 06, so everything should be well! I will keep you posted!

 

Update: spoke with Dell Technical Support and they had me go into BIOS and monitor the battery. It recharged to 86% within 5 minutes or so... which is kind of scarry... and when plugged in, it would charge, but very slowly. I am supposed to get a new battery within 2 days! Tech suggested keeping it plugged-in as much as possible to prolong the life of the batery. It better last at least another year...

 

Well, I guess that they considered it a manufacturing defect- good deal. Sometimes you get the 'sorry, that's not considered under warranty' answer.