Sony Vaio Pro 13 Battery Woes and Rubber Strips

A month or two ago, my Sony started randomly turning off while on battery power. I would plug the power cable in, and it would say the battery is fully charged and that it was in excellent health. I read online and found the "fix" to press the battery reset button on the bottom, but that was not a permanent fix - it still happens, even immediately after pressing the button.

My hunch is that it is a bad battery or possibly a bad battery connection because the machine will power on, it just will typically lose power within the next 2-5 minutes. My frustration is compounded because the Vaio Care diagnostic tells me that the battery is is excellent condition. Is there a way to further diagnose the problem?

Does anyone know how I could fix this myself? I am outside of Sony's warranty (bought Aug 2013), so I'm more inclined to fix this myself rather than send it to Sony to fix. Also, because I've taken the computer apart so many times to check the battery connector and make sure nothing else is wrong, the little rubber strip underneath the keyboard has started to lose its adhesive and fall off. Does anyone know of a good temporary adhesive to have it stick in place but me movable? Oh, and I also have a few bright marks on the screen like others have reported, but I understand there's nothing to do there aside from replacing the screen.

Thanks so much, I'm really stuck on what to do and I'd like this laptop a lot more if I wasn't tethered to the wall.

 

What does BatteryBar say?

 

This? https://batterybarpro.com/

I'm downloading the free version and will let you know

 

Percent: 79.0%
Capacity: 29,630 mWh of 37,500 mWh
Charge Rate: 1,295 mWh
Time Remaining: 6:05 @ 5:17 (Charging)
Elapsed Time: 0:00 (since 79%)
Full Runtime: 4:21
Battery Wear: 0.0% of 37,500 mWh

T-that's good, right?

 

The charge rate is not looking good. In mine it is close to 30,000mW. Are you using the 80% battery care feature?

Anyway, unplug the adapter and run on battery for a few minutes. BatteryBar will start showing the discharge rate and time remaining. Do this a few times and let BatteryBar build a profile of your battery.

 

It ran for like an hour, but the battery indicators, both the system on and BatteryBar, indicated it never dipped below 79%. This whole time, the charging LED on the side of the laptop was rapidly flashing. During this time, BatteryBar was not updating the other information either.

Curious as to how the battery had remained at 79% for more than an hour, I restarted the machine and now the battery was listed at 68%, which made more sense. After the restart, the charging LED was no longer flashing.

Suddenly, and without my input, the machine shut off like it had lost power. I tried restarting again, and got to the login screen, but it quickly shut off again.

I then plugged it back in and this is what BatteryBar told me:

Percent: 66%
Capacity: 24,750 mWh of 37,500 mWh
Charge Rate: 1,365 mWh
Time Remaining: 7:56 @ 9:36 PM (Charging)
Elapsed Time: 0:06 since 66%
Full Runtime: 0:02
Battery Wear: 0.0% of 37,500 mWh

I don’t think that was long enough for BatteryBar to make a profile, as nothing comes up in the graph no matter what options I select. I do have the “charge to 80% to extend battery life” option selected, but I doubt that is the issue because, prior to this sudden, strange behavior, I got typical battery life for this laptop.

Also, any tips on how to get that rubber strip to stick to the body?

 

Looks like your battery is not communicating properly with the software/driver/OS. You can try uninstalling and reinstalling the Sony utilities (VAIO Care, VAIO Control center, Battery checker, yada yada yada). I have a different model, so my toolkit for fixing this is different.

Fixing the rubber strip shouldn't be a problem. You need a tube of rubber adhesive. I don't know the brand names in your part of the world; out here we get stuff like Fevibond, Maxifix, Bonfix, etc. Comes in a small tube (and bigger packing, including large drums). Looks like honey.

 

I'm still not sure it's a system/OS problem - it has gotten worse lately, to the point where the battery will often not show connected to the system at all, but I can flex the bottom case and it will show up.

My next question is, because I'm out of warranty, how can I get a replacement battery to test if it is an issue with the connector on the board or on the battery itself?

 

If flexing the bottom case has ANY effect on the situation, you need to take a close look at the battery connector. Are any of the pins bent or worn or discoloured, or anything like that. Will a bit a packing - pieces of paper or plastic sheet - help to create a better contact?