CF-AX3 battery not charging

Hi all,

I've had a search through the forum and elsewhere but can't see anyone else with similar problems or solutions.

I recently purchased a CF-AX3 off eBay sold with a dead battery and broken SIM port. Fine I thought, buy a new battery and fixed as I won't use the LTE.

Nope - it appears that the charging port is broken but I'm wondering if there's anything else I can check first before selling it on for parts? It's a shame as it's a very nice little machine and still capable for all my needs.

Initially the internal battery also wasn't charging (but HOLD + Power button without AC power for 5 secs solved that) but now even with a new battery it's still just saying that battery 1 is not detected. I've tried the various reset methods (unplugging both batteries, AC power, CMOS battery, holding power button for 30 secs/1 min, resetting BIOS to defaults) but no difference.

I can't see any obvious damage to the battery connector or surrounding motherboard and the fact that the internal battery still charges and discharges as normal suggests the other circuitry is all okay.

Many thanks

 

I've just discharged the internal battery fully with the new battery plugged in, and am now leaving it to charge up again but I'm not optimistic.

Otherwise I will just return the battery I bought and list the machine for sale again - it works fine on AC power and 10-15 mins on the internal battery but that isn't really viable for my use.

 

Panasonic does sell external battery chargers.

Does wiggling the power cable / port change anything?

Is it a Panasonic ac adapter? I have seen cheap ones and even some IBM adapters that won't insert fully into the laptop.
Some trimming with an xacto knife solved the issue for me.

If you can solder, changing the power port is not extremely difficult.

 

Hi,

The AC adapter is the one supplied with the laptop - model CF-AA6413C.

The power port appears to be fine as the laptop works plugged in and charges the internal battery as normal.

I've attached a picture of the battery port - I don't think it's something that easily replaced on this model?

https://imgur.com/a/9mPc93W

Thanks

 

Okay - I think I've found the issue thanks to the help of the seller of the battery (as I started a return for the new one I bought).

There's a small plastic switch that tells the laptop that a battery is in place. I've found some pictures online and even in some of those it's missing! What a stupid design.






I'm not sure I'll be able to get hold of a replacement for it - may have to make my own somehow. I'm waiting on the battery seller replying (they're a panasonic dealer) to let me know if they have any or can get hold of one for me.

I've spent so long trying to get this working haha now I feel stupid that it was something so simple. The battery is now charging with the button pressed.

 

Look for numbers on the switch itself.