XPS 18 Tablet not charging while plugged in??

The XPS 18 does seem to have problems. My first one was fine initially but after a month or so would only charge in the dock. It wouldn't charge at all when plugged in. After contacting Dell Support and jumping through the hoops it was determined that I would need a new motherboard. The motherboard was on backorder for a month or so. Dell decided to replace the XPS18.

I got my new replacement in which was actually a newer model. After a month or so it would not only not charge in the dock it wouldn't charge when plugged in. I contacted Dell. They sent a part which was the back cover only. I contacted them and they sent another part. This time they sent a new battery which I knew wasn't going to be the problem. That didn't fix it. They then sent me a new motherboard. After the new motherboard was installed it wouldn't boot at all. So Dell had to send me yet another one.

This time Dell sent me a refurbished unit which was an older model. The newer ones have the Logitech Unified Receiver built-in. This one didn't which meant I had to take the USB receiver with me. It also filled up 1 of my 2 USB ports. I have had this one about a month. Earlier today I left for lunch and came back and it was dead. I could only get it to come up when it was plugged into the charger on the side. It doesn't charge or boot up when in the dock. It doesn't charge when plugged in. It remains at 0% but does come up.

So I have had 3 and all 3 have had power issues, one would only charge in the dock, the others would only boot but not charge with the AC adapter plugged in. It looks like I will be getting a 4th one. So year I think there is a problem with this model.

Dell support on this has also been rather horrendous. The last session on support was really, really bad. Synopsis below:

• 6.9.2015 – initiate a chat with Dell about a charging issue with my tablet. During the chat I wait and wait. When I finally get through I am told that I am in the wrong chat area. They saw that they can transfer me. They transfer me and I wait and then they tell me that I am in the same chat area and to call and they cut me off.
• 6.9.2015 – call Dell and get someone who puts me on hold for a couple of hours after I tell her the problem. Finally she tells me that Dell will have to order the part and will let me know when it’s in so the tech can come put it in.
• 6.9.2015 – receive email from Dell Tech 1 about the chat.
• 6.10.2015 – receive email from you telling me that I will need a new motherboard to resolve the issue…available 6.15
• 6.10.2015 – reply back that I will be out of town the week of the 15th and leave alternate contact person.
• 6.10.2015 – Dell reply back that you have updated the records with the alternate contact info.
• 6.11.2015 – email telling me that the part has shipped.
• 6.12.2015 – email from you telling me that the motherboard is backordered
• 6.13.2015 – email from you telling me that the motherboard is still in backorder status
• 6.15.2015 – email from Dell Tech 1 telling me that the motherboard is still backordered until 6.22.2015
• 6.17.2015 – email form Dell Tech 2 at Dell telling me that the motherboard is in backorder until 6.22.2015
• 6.18.2015 – I get a text from the person that I left as the alternate contact telling me that the part has arrived. He opens the box and tells me it’s the back cover of the tablet only.
• 6.18.2015 – I get a voicemail from the tech who will come by and install the part. I am out of town at a water park and not able to call him back. The alternate contact is never called. The tech never comes out even though the tablet was left and alternate contact was given.
• 6.22.2015 – email from Dell Tech 3 telling me that my repair has been completed and my case is archived. At this time no tech has come and the only part I received is a back cover.
• 6.22.2015 – I reply back saying that nothing has been done to fix the issue
• 6.22.2015 - email from Dell Tech 4 telling me that he is sending on behalf of Dell Tech 1. He wants to clarify that no tech arrived and the only part received was a back cover.
• 6.22.2015 – I reply back confirming this and giving him the part number of the back cover on the box.
• 6.22.2015 – Email from Dell Tech 1 letting me know that my motherboard and battery were supposed to be replaced and not to worry.
• 6.22.2015 – Email from Dell asking me to do a survey about my experience. I am tempted but I ignore this.
• 6.23.2015 – Phone call from Dell Tech 1 asking me about my tablet. Despite all of the prior communication she acts as if this is the first time she has talked to me asking the same questions as the initial contact 2 weeks prior.
• 6.24.2015 – Email from Dell asking me to clarify whether it charges on the cradle or off.
• 6.24.2015 – Reply back from me giving the details.
• 6.24.2015 – email back from Dell
• 6.25.2015 – email from Dell telling me my part has shipped.
• 6.26.2015 – another email from Dell about my customer experience…also ignored.
• 6.26.2015 – Call from the tech telling me that he has the part and will come by and install it.
• 6.26.2015 – Tech arrives with part. It is not a motherboard. It’s only a battery. It did not solve the problem.
• 6.27.2015 – Email from Dell telling me that you have sent me several emails that I haven’t replied to. I look and the only ones that I didn’t reply to were the surveys. I responded to all other requests.
• 6.29.2015 – Email from Dell telling me that the history shows only a battery was sent and the case will be escalated to a Resolution Specialist.
• 6.29.2015 – Email from Dell telling me that the Resolution Specialist in in a meeting and will contact me.
• 6.30.2015 – Email from Dell telling me that the an on-site tech will come and replace the motherboard.
• 7.2.2015 – Email from Dell telling me that the on-site repair dispatch is now in progress.
• 7.2.2015 – Email from Dell telling me that the part has shipped.
• 7.4.2015 – Email from Dell telling me that the part is ready to be picked up by the on-site tech.
• 7.5.2015 – Call from tech who comes out and replaces the motherboard and the system won't post. He explains that they need to replace the unit.
• 7.6.2015 – Email telling me that they are sending me another XPS18.
• 7.8.2015 – New XPS delivered. Now I begin the fun process of wiping the hard drive on the old system before sending back. It's fun because the system doesn't post so I have to remove hard drive to wipe.

Mairving,

  Sorry to hear about your problems, I've been there.  If it makes you feel any better I spent 9 months with HP trying to resolve an issue on a unit that was under warranty.  I had to start the process all over but got an exchange system after the on-site tech completely rebuilt it a second time.  What a waste of time and parts, and it amazes me that the system wouldn't fix.  Virtually everything in the system was swapped, twice!  So Dell isn't the only one that can drive you crazy.

  On a positive note (sort of) I was able to repair one of the 8 sick XPS systems under my desk.  I talked management into buying some replacement batteries, 2 or 3 of the sick ones just need batteries.  I can't swap used batteries between the systems as most are not owned by the company I work for.  Tomorrow I will send one working XPS back to its owner.  I can fix 2 or 3 more I hope, the rest would need mother boards which I do not have and they are too expensive out of warranty.

  The newer XPS models we are now getting do not have the 32GB mSATA drive so they can't be set up as RAID.  We don't have to have that, but it does seem to help with performance.  Is that what was different on your replacement system?  Just curious.

  I have noticed another interesting behavior on some of the XPS systems I service.  On some systems when in the BIOS diagnostics, the battery charge current will periodically drop to zero then come back up.  Not all systems seem to do this while charging.  I don't know that it means anything, it could be a different firmware for the charge circuit.  I hope it isn't related to the failures I have seen as these systems are out at customer sites.

  I'm still hoping to find someone that can help with info about the actual mobo fault that takes out the charge port.  If it can be reworked, I'd like to do it.  If someone can repair them at a reasonable cost, that would be acceptable as well.

My XPS 18 i3 just stopped charging today. Googled and found this thread. I live outside US without XPS 18 products on sale or support here.

Side charging doesn't work when it's powered on but when turned off, it trickle charges and reaches 100%. Really weird.. 

I just decided to grab an XPS stand hoping that it would at least charge the computer for me. Hope at least that works so I don't end up with a big sheet of glass!

When charging works when the laptop is off but not when on, the problem is usually the charger itself - not enough watts to do both. First thing to do is acquire the next higher power charger. This usually does the trick. Usually a replacement charger at the same wattage could fix it, but the higher power supply is best. Several years ago, Dell sold a laptop that just wouldn't charge while running for many owners; the answer was the higher power charger.

With over a hundred of these XPS Tablets in the field, I have never seen a problem due to the stock charger not being able to source enough power.  We have never had to uprate a brick, and have only had a couple of faults with the bricks.  Of those, one or maybe two were problems with the LED at the end of the cord becoming intermittent, and the brick still worked fine.  We think we had a brick fail completely, but it was before I started working with them.  I would have broken the failed one open if I had access to it, I like to autopsy failures.  I repaired a brick for a LaCie external USB HDD just this weekend!  Not to say your scenario couldn't happen, but the stock power brick has more than enough power to do the job.  I would still disconnect any devices that could be pulling power from the ports to see if it makes a difference.  Trying another stock brick would certainly be one of the first things I would try if I had access to one.  They are rather expensive to obtain just for a test.  

I have seen bad XPS charge ports that would charge up part way overnight if left plugged in and turned off.  My lead has had at least one XPS start to charge normally after being left plugged in and turned off for a day or longer.  I have not had such luck.  When the port just fails to recognize the charger, it will run off of the charger but will not charge the battery.  You can usually simulate this failure by going into diagnostic mode and pulling the power connector out a very small distance until it stops charging.  Once it can't read the charger's data over the center pin, it will drop into zero charge mode but will still be powered from the inner and outer ring on the plug.

My belief is that in some cases the charging control circuit will allow a trickle of charge current when the XPS is off.  It may be related to the condition of the battery as determined by the charge controller, or it just might let a little charge current flow on some units when they are off, but not when they are on, or not enough to notice when they are on.

I doubt the stand will fix this problem if it does not charge through either port, but I have read here where some folks have had success with a different stand.  Each of the ports can fail and not affect the other, so there is hope the stand port can be made to work even if the charge port will not.

Good Luck!

Thanks KirkD and X-ray Tech.

I have already ordered the stand plus with included adapter. Will just have to wait for it to arrive I guess to try out one of these tips.

My XPS 1810, started doing this yesterday, been fine up until then. Being just out of warranty by a couple of weeks, i'm hoping they will extend it.

I don't have a stand, I just plug it in, but get the "plugged in, not charging" notice. It does appear to charge whilst turned off, although not fully.

Hi Mairving,

I does seem like support is variable, good sometimes, spotty the next.  It doesn't seem to matter what company it is.  I have an HP story about a one-year long repair fiasco that ended with a refurb replacement PC.  It is a much nicer new model that I can't use my production image on so I can't send it to a customer.  At least we got something after all that time, I'll make a test bed out of it someday.

Several months ago I was told Dell would do a Depot repair on an XPS for me, but got a box that was too small for the XPS.  When I wrote and asked for the correct box I was told they don't do Depot repairs on the XPS and that I'd have to do another on-site.  I never did get the Depot repair but we eventually got a tech in that was able to fix it.  Then last week I had a them offer a Depot repair on another XPS that on-site was unable to repair, and they sent me the correct box.  I hope they actually fix it and get it back to me, it has been at the Depot for a week or so.  They have been pretty good for me lately. 

Hang in there and be decent, it eventually works out but you do lose time with problem repairs.  I never did find a cheap source of motherboards so I can fix the pile of XPSs with dead charge ports under my bench.  I did finally get some replacement batteries to fix a few of them.  By the way, on some of the XPSs they stuck the CMOS battery onto the back of the main battery with some wicked double-stick tape.  The newer ones I have been in seem to have the CMOS battery on the mobo as you observed.

Hi All,

I found a solution to this problem. Actually, my colleague did: shut down your computer, have the power supply cable hooked up to your computer; then hold your finger for a long time on the start button and do a reset/hard re-boot.

Start your computer, and in about 5 seconds you see it charging again.

Hi frouke,

I think the XPS charging gods smiled upon you.  If only it were that easy for the rest of us.  If anyone else has success with a simple hard reset please chime in.  I always try resetting the system before I even start to get serious about troubleshooting, and if inside  the system even disconnect the CMOS and main batteries for a while.  I haven't had your good luck!  I'm glad yours started working again!

Didn't work for me. When doing a hard reset it boots into the dell logo and shutsdown and loops all over again until I stop pressing. Not sure that's a hard reset.

Hi X-Ray Tech,

I had to push the button for about 30-40 seconds just to get all power off (even though my computer needed to be plugged in). It has to kill anything power. Then let it start. After about 20 seconds it started charging.

Frouke,

I took a few minutes and just tried this on some of the units I have under my bench.  The ones with little life in the batteries just powered on and off several times while the button was pushed and still wouldn't charge.  One had only 2 percent battery so after the battery depleted I tried it again.  The ones with totally dead batteries did not change after the long button push either.   I played with the concept a bit and nothing seemed to get any charging function on the bad ports.  I had done a normal reset on these before and had reset the BIOS on some, and even disconnected the BIOS battery on a couple of them.  Nothing short of a mobo swap has worked so far, unless the charging problem was just a failed battery which is a different issue.

It is worth a try, but I suspect you were just lucky!  

I would like to confirm Frouke's fix. I did the same as he instructed, holding down the start button for about a minute or maybe even a bit longer. Then I released the button and pushed it once to boot it up, as usual. I saw right away that the battery was charging and it still is charging. Hopefully this does the trick as my warranty has expired and I am out of the US long term, with no service center to look at the problem. Give it a try and let me know how it goes for you.

Incidentally, my battery was down to 5% before I tried this fix. If it goes down to zero, can I still use the power chord (I never bought a stand) to power the unit, or does the machine completely shutdown dead. With other laptop computers that I have had, a dead battery was never an issue for using the power chord, but I was wondering if this is different case.

I hope this fix is not a one-time fix and I don't have any more issues. Besides this issue, I have had no other problems whatsoever.

Good luck! .. up to 18% now ... charge baby, charge!