Battery charging issues on 3 month old Toshiba

Hey everyone

I bought a basic model Toshiba Satellite with an AMD chip+ integrated graphics kit.

I've been happy with it for the first three months. Upgraded from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7.

Over the last week I've suddenly encountered a problem where the laptop fails to charge when I plug it into the AC after it has prompted with a low battery warning. It sometimes charges but, half the time I'm getting a "plugged in, not charging" message.

When the battery is not charging and plugged in it will fall to 0% charge and then finally shutdown after running solely on AC for a few minutes. Sometimes when the laptop has shutdown I can see that it is charging ( orange light for the battery is on ) but not always.

I have found that if I take the battery out and then place it in again, it will begin charging everytime.

I don't think that this is a software problem because I used Windows7 without any problems for over 3 weeks before I started having issues.

BatteryMon is showing that my 6 cell battery has lost 7% full charge capacity over the 3 months that I have been using it. I'm quite happy with this as it is probably quite normal.

I noticed a newer BIOS version for my laptop, so I've updated to it. But, I'm still having the same problem. It is not always a problem. Maybe every second occasion where I plug in AC the battery doesn't start charging.

Is the charger or the battery itself on it's way out? Or could there be any software tweeks to resolve this issue before I claim on the Toshiba warranty?

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks

 

Try recalibrating your battery. You should be able to do so via the BIOS, but if there isn't a recalibrate option, you can also do it manually:

a) Charge the battery to full.
b) Unplug the computer and reboot it.
c) Turn off all the battery alarms (Low Battery and Critical Battery). Let the battery drain completely, until the computer shuts down by itself.
d) Start Windows and recharge the battery to full. Reboot one more time.

 

Thank you David

I'm fully charging the laptop and I will do that now

 

Recalibrating the battery seemed to work for a few days. But, my problem has returned.

I work probably be making contact with Toshiba about it for a warranty claim.

I'll keep updating this thread for people who get this problem in the future. I suspect that it is some kind of hardware failure.

Thanks

 

i have a similar problem with my toshiba, and I'm begining to think its a common problem with the older models at least. For me, my battery no longer charges with the AC adaptor. I asked a techy and searched online and the problem is due to a loose DC jack. I also tried putting a fully charged battery in my laptop and my laptop can run off it, but cant charge it. So the only way to fix it is by opening it up and fixing the DC jack.

 

***I'm sorry, this is a massive bump*** Just replying for reference.

All this time later; and I've decided that my laptop is running fine. The AC adapter is working well and recharging when it is needed.

I only had ( and have a problem ) with the adapter refusing to charge if it is connected while the CPU is running at 100%

The only time I use the laptops CPU at 100% is when I'm video editing. So if I want to do a lot of video editing, I plug the laptop into the wall before I begin and I have no problems.

Thanks

 

Thanks for the update. I would guess that the PSU isn't up to the task of supply power for charging when the CPU is under full load. However, it's unusual for the BIOS to stop the charging completely - on most notebooks the battery charging continues, but at a reduced rate.

John

 

I too appreciate the update (it's never too late to post an update, because there are users like myself who found this info quite useful...)

A week ago, I purchased a T130D (in Canada - unfortunately, we do not yet get the wonderful T235D model - the U.S. site of Toshiba offers fantastic options). All was good - despite the fact that there was a hot spot on the bottom left below the silver colored sticker and hot air was coming out to the left of the machine even though it was idling. Bestbuy set it back to factory restore and now the machine seems to run cooler except when it is playing some included games. Anyway...

The battery indicator was constantly flashing amber. It would not charge, even when I left it to charge on its own when the machine was off. I followed the advice in this thread and decided to completely drain the battery. Plugged back the adapter, and... the amber light is glowing steadily (not blinking). According to the manual, this should indicate "charging" (blinking indicates "low battery and not charging" according to the manual).

It hasn't finished charging yet (been an hour, maybe 3 more to go) - will check in the morning. I was thinking that it was a problem with the battery (since the machine was a store display unit). Now this thread indicates to me that the adapter itself may be underpowered (or maybe there's an issue with the light itself, although this is unlikely).

Still, I am surprised that the battery would not charge at all when the machine is plugged in (and the cpu was not doing anything intensive). A curious situation.

Anyway, I am posting this so that others like myself, who are late adopters (due to many factors), may find this info to be useful.

A note to all: please do take the time to post updates, even if you think the thread is dated. There are many who could be helped Happy problem solving and "notebooking"!