AC Adapter issues - What is the Voltage of the adapter supposed to be?

HP Pavilion ZV5000

I've been having a similar problem that I see many other HP owners have. My battery will not charge, and my notebook has trouble recognizing the AC adapter. The problem is VERY intermittent, but seems the worst when I first power up , and when I am running many programs. It switches to the battery, which is dead, and I have to quickly unplug the ac adapter from the notebook, and then plug it back in until it recognizes it again before the notebook shuts down because of the drained battery. Sometimes, the notebook recognizes the AC adapter immediately, other times I may have to unplug and replug several times until it is recognized. Then, it may last for hours recognizing the AC adapter or only a few seconds!

The problem does not seem to be a loose connection, as when I wiggle the ac adapter at the notebook, it does not seem to affect anything, and does not appear loose. I also popped one of the back covers off the notebook, and the jack seems to be soldered firmly to the board.

Another thing I checked with a multimeter, was the output of the AC adapter when it is plugged into the wall, it reads 16V, but it says on the AC adapter itself that the output should be 18.5V.

Could someone please test their AC adapter with a multimeter and see what it reads, so I can compare my findings?

This problem is highly annoying, as the notebook is awesome otherwise!

A good thread I found regarding this issue for others that may have a similar problem is here: http://broken.typepad.com/b/2004/03/compaq_laptop_p.html

Also, a neat idea I found for notebooks that actually do have a loos AC jack is here: http://www.delanoscientific.com/cpq1675.html

Thank you for any advice!

I have read and reread many of the threads on this board related to similar issues, but nothing has worked so far. ugh!

 

My DV4000 uses a 90W 19V 4.5A adapter and the volt meter reads 19.3V. I got a second power supply for my DV4000 which is also 90W but 18.5V 4.9A. The volt meter reads exactly 18.5V. What is the part number on your power adapter? I mean the series PP number.
I think your problem is mainly due to an underpower adapter. It won't charge the battery if either the voltage or current is too low.

Edit:
It seems yours is a 120W 18.5V 6.5A adapter. You can find a bunch at eBay for ~$25.

 

PPP017L 18.5V 6.5A

I've been convinced for the longest time that it wasn't the power supply, since this problem started within the first year of owning the notebook, and the adapter had never left my house, so I knew I hadn't damaged it.

As I'm typing this, my notebook has been working without shutting off for several hours now, but I know that at anytime, it will start acting up! And my battery reads at 100% fully charged, but as soon as I unplug the AC adapter, I get a LOW BATTERY warning! I bet my battery has been fried now, too.

THANKS SO MUCH for the info and help, Billcsho. This is really helping me narrow down my problem.

 

TechExcess carries the power bricks too. Check your battery wear level with MobileMeter, they have a neat brick/battery bundle deal if your battery is getting due for replacement.

 

I think your faulty power adapter causing mis-calibration of the battery. I hope this would be reversible when you get a new adapter with sufficient power. I once have an Inspiron 8200 that uses a 90W adapter. When I plug in a 75W travel adapter, the laptop still run (at lower performance) but cannot charge the battery. Techexcess sells OEM HP product while the ~$25 one is generic. I just got a second adapter (the 18.5V one) for $20 that I thought to be generic and turned out to be OEM. Good luck to you.

 

Ok, I'll try a new AC Adapter next!

I'll post the results, hopefully good!

 

Ok, I just got a brand new AC adapter. And it still does not look like the battery is charging. The battery meter says "3% remaining (charging)"

Mobile Meter reads:
Frequency: 800 MHz
Temperature: 35.0 C
Charge Rate 0.00w
HDD #0: 29.0 C

The battery stays at 3% remaining for about 5 minutes, then jumps to 100% charged. When I unplug the ac adapter, the battery lasts about 1 minute, then I get a low battery warning and the notebook goes into hibernation

What does this mean? Any suggestions or ideas? THANK YOU!

 

Get the system board replaced.

 

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but see airbird's reply in this thread. He fixed his power problems with a 135W HP adaptor. I had both a 120W and 135W adaptor for my zv5000z and never had problems with either.

 

Sorry to hear your problem persists. Did you try re-calibrating the battery? Because your battery has not been properly charged for a while, you definitely should re-calibrate it. I hope your battery is not completely dead due to shallow charging. To re-calibrate the battery, you plug the power in to "fully" charge the battery. Turn off the power option in Control Panel by selecting "Always On". Unplug the power to let the battery drain completely. It should not take long in your case. Wait until the computer suddenly shut off (someone suggest to put the computer in DOS or BIOS page when the battery is almost dry to prevent potential damage), plug the power back and restart the system. Turn the power option back on and let it charge to 100%. This is according to HP's recommendation and I am doing it once every 1-2 months.

 

Good point if it is the typical power port problem of ZV5000, however, if this is the case, the laptop cannot be powered even by the adapter. It seems to me the battery is killed by repeat shallow charging due to the faulty power adapter.

 

Thank you all for your advice. I'm definitely going to try the process you explained, Billcsho!

With the new power adapter, I still have the second problem as well, which is that my computer will just randomly switch to battery power, and I have to unplug the ac adapter from the notebook, then plug it back in to have it recognize the AC adapter again. It seems to do this mostly when I open multiple programs, or web pages with lots of flash or java type stuff on them?

Again, the jack itself does not appear to be loose... jiggling it has no effect at all.

 

That does not sound good. You probably need a new motherboard.

 

Yep, better get it before your warrany is up, whenever that may be.

 

Hmm... I wonder if that second problem would go away if you undervolted the CPU? You shouldn't have to do that but if the problem is an abnormally weak power brick...? Pick between RMClock and CrystalCPUID, then set your max CPU speed to be 1.8GHz at 1.3V. That will dramatically lower your maximum power consumption. Don't forget to set your Power Scheme to Always On if you do this.

 

It's the DC jack on the motherboard...It's loose on the motherboard probably from having the adapter plugged in while moving the laptop or with stress on it. If it's in warranty, send it in...if not, you can usually have the DC jack soldered back on for about $150. I do these repairs all the time at work...be careful though that you go to the right place because I have seen a several technicians that can't get your laptop back together properly and leave a bunch of screws out of the inside, sometimes even the outside.

 

Good idea, a damaged AC connector is covered under HP warranty.

I Hate it when that happens

 

I hate it too, I can't understand why people try to do something they can't and don't ask for help. If I find that I think I'm going to have even one screw left over..I stop and backtrack and make sure that thing gets in there...Don't trust major laptop repair to Big Box shops...I have worked in a couple of Fry's service centers....they have a couple of guys in some of the stores that can do stuff like this but they soon leave...

 

LMAO yep. In a previous life I worked in a Fry's Service center. One of our supervisors would take a laptop apart meticulously, to make sure no liquid spills were present. Other than that, if it was a warranty issue, we'd send it directly to the manufacturer/repair depot. Kinda funny now that I'm the other side of the equation.