battery - constant flashing orange

hi,

My battery went nuts today I think it was not charging for the pas week or so - even though my i6000 was plugged to electrical outlet and the battery icon was green, the power level was decreasing all the time. Today when I unplugged it accidentally for a second, the system shut down. When I plugged it again, the battery icon started to rapidly flash orange and it flashes all the time now. every time I unplug the laptop, it shuts down.
battery is cold
it's 1.5 years old and has been used occasionally
5 charge-level lights on the battery are green all the time - when I press status button, 3 of them start to flash for 2-3 sec and then they all are on again.

what happened?
is it dead?

thx in advance

zxc

 

I would check and make sure that it is making a proper connection with all the contacts in the notebook. Does Windows detect the battery? Also, if it is 1.5 years old, then it may have become to old to store a charge properly and for long periods of time. When/If it does get detected in the notebook, you should perform a calibration, so that at least then Windows can detect accurately how much charge is still stored in the battery. Have a look at the Battery Guide for more information. Hope this helps.

 

blinking orange is a pretty sure sign of dead battery. The batteries is known to be a component that can fail very early.

 

have you checked to see if its part of the mass recall?

 

it does

where can I check this? All I see is this:



but 22% did not change for past 3 hours

until last week it worked properly and I did not notice any shortness in working time. And although is 1.5 years old, I have been using it very rarely - about 10 full discharges and occasional (2-3 times a month) work without being plugged in.

again, I dont think it gets detected

it's not

complete death without any previous sign?

what should I do now? any chances to save it?

zxc

 

I would scour ebay for a replacement, you can usually find good deals on new dell branded batteries there

 

1.5 years is a long time for a laptop battery. It can fail immediately, show a lack of charge time, etc. It's dead. Like Iceman said, check eBay. I got a battery for my wife's laptop that way and saved a bundle.

 

It's not dead in the sense that all cells are completely nonfunctional. The built-in hardware has probably just decided that it's "bad enough" that using it more would be meaningless/unpredictable (or even dangerous?) and has simply shut the cells off and reports this by blinking orange.

 

I still have warranty - will Dell give me a new one?

zxc

 

I don't think the warranty covers batteries. But call Dell to make sure - it might depend...

 

I don't understand - the battery did not start to work shorter, ALL OF A SUDDEN IT DOES NOT WARK AT ALL! shoudn't this be cover by warranty?

 

If something has happened to the internal circuit, then they should replace the battery. I agree that the battery shouldn't just fail to work, and tat isn't a normal occurance, but indicates nothing wrong with the cells, but something to do with internal circuit.

 

so far Dell's response is:

1. this is normal battery wear out
2. your 3 years warranty does not apply to the battery

what can I do?

 

Buy a new battery.

 

is it true that batteries are covered with only 1 year warranty? I do not see anything regarding this in my papers

 

I'm guessing that you have never calibrated the fuel gauge on your battery. That, coupled with its age would make your battery failure understandable. 1.5 with no care and maintenance is not out of the question.

As the elements in the Li-Ion battery age, the internal resistance builds up. Eventually, the resistance becomes too high for the internal charge to supply the needed power to your notebook--resulting in failure. Since you've pretty much never used your notebook on battery power, you didn't see the gradual decrease in the battery's usefulness.

As suggested above, read through the battery guide for more information.

That sounds about right. Batteries will die as a matter of course with normal wear and tear. Only some warranties will cover the battery the whole time.

 

Don't take it personally but this sounds like Dell's official BS.
I've been using many laptops in my life and never experienced such a pathetic failure and pathetic excuse attempt. In this case the battery is obviously defected and even though the warranty may be over, saying that this is a "normal wear and tear" is a very wrong. to quote your own words:

I still have iBook Clamshell (which now is obout 7 years old) and the battery still works.

well, I guess there is nothing I can do about it except not buying dell next time

thx for your time anyway

zxc

 

Some batteries last a year some last a decade. Doesn't depend on manufacture they all have similar battery replacement warranties. Also note, most notebook batteries are made by the same company (Sony) so its not really worth blaming Dell, HP, Apple for a bad battery.

 

i also had the samr probelm - Done the following stupid steps.

1. Checked if any possiblities that i could manage? not found
2. took fone
3. called dell customer care.
4. said to come to them the very next day.
5. went submittted my prob battery.
6. replaced my battery with a new one.
7. & that was gr8

 

I'm not a genius when it comes to batteries, but I would point the finger at improper storage. It sounds like you left the battery in the notebook on charge all the time only disconnecting the AC 2-3 times a month when you needed mobility. I freaked out when I left my iPod on charge for 2 days. It sounds like you left your battery on charge for 18 months and only unplugged it 10 times. Even though you thought it was good for the battery, it's actually the reason it's not working today.

Get another battery and use chrisyano's battery guide to make it last 7 years like your other notebook. As a couple have stated, ebay is the best place to go if you're concerned about price.

 

That was a great BATTERY GUDIE. i'm going to packup my battery and putup t o fridge

 

maybe you're right but that's what I do with all my laptops and so far I've never had such problems...

@benna:
do I understand correctly that dell replaced your battery? can you give me more details?

 

It could be the way this notebook is programmed to charge the battery compared to others as well. Every time it tops off the charge, it slowly eats away at the total number of cycles available. Perhaps this Dell does a lot of trickle charging.

I have a 7+ year old notebook whose batteries were still working quite well about 6 months ago after no usage for approximately 5 years. But I don't expect my current battery to last that long. I'm expecting to be looking to buy another one in another year or so (18 months after notebook purchase) assuming I'm still on this notebook.

 

OK, so are you guys saying that whenever I don't use battery I should take it out?

 

If you seldom use it unplugged, yes, you should remove it.

 

I personally don't bother with all that and just leave mine in. I know it's going to die even if I do put it in prolonged storage, so I will just enjoy the convenience of leaving it in and replace it when it no longer holds a sufficient charge to be useful. They only cost about $100 or so...so personally I'd pay that for the extra convenience over 1-3 years.