N3400 charging problem

We have two Lifebook N3400's in our family which were bought in December of 2005. Recently both have ceased accurately reading the battery's charge, and give a false amount of declining charge, while saying it is charging. The factory tech said either the motherboard or connector must be replaced. We bought new batteries, but the problem remains. They run only off the adapter now. My problem occurred within a week of when the hard drive was replaced, after hearing a funny clicking noise.

Any ideas as to what this might be?

I have already had to replace the hard drive twice!

 

Gee, I woulda blamed the battery first, since they don't usually hold up much past 18 months, but you got new ones and that didn't help. I guess it could be a software problem. did you use the factory image when you swapped your hdd? Maybe there was some special program that's needed outside of base OS?

 

Thanks.

I did use the factory image in installing the hard drive. Also the other computer did not have the hard drive replaced. We just thought the battery was gone in that one, but it turns out to behave identically to mine, once we replaced the battery.

How could I find the software that it might be?

 

I was just guessing. I don't KNOW that there is any particular program missing. Besides, the exhibition of the same symptom in in the laptop with original hdd suggests that it's NOT a software problem. I guess I missed that detail the first time around.

Is there a manufacture date on the two batteries you just bought? Maybe they are old, even though they might be new to you. I was told by Ivan at P1 that Li-ion batteries only ever get 1 year warranties because, on average, their performance deteriorates quite rapidly some time between 12 and 18 months after they are made. So, if you got a battery that was on the shelf for a while, it could have a very short life in your notebook.

Otherwise, the tech might be right.