XPS 18 Tablet not charging while plugged in??

Just to add to this long thread, I also have an XPS 1810 with charging issues, purchased in May 2014. Around 3 months ago I got the dreaded "plugged in but not charging" message when using the stand. I started plugging the charger in directly, and all was fine.

However last week, this too stopped working. I've purchased a new charger, and stand, but this has had zero affect. The charger is correctly identified as 65W in the bios, but just not allowed to supply charge!

The XPS 1810 will slowly trickle charge when switched off, but the battery drains quickly in use, the net result being a useless paperweight on my desk!

Does this sound like a new motherboard is needed?

Being based in the UK, 1810 motherboards are not readily available, and the occasional ones that do appear are £200+ for an i3 .

Has anyone had any luck in getting Dell to acknowledge this is an inherent design fault and repair outside of warranty?

Any suggestions on how to proceed, as I'm loathed to bin a £1000 computer, and until this point I've owned dozens of Dells and never had a bad experience (apart from the occasional DoA or cheap component failures).

Hi , yes it is almost definitely the motherboard. When mine stopped working I managed to get it to charge normally couple of times onlly when tablet was off but lasted for a few times and then stopped charging altogether. You need a new motherboard. I am from New Zeakand and you can't buy xps 18 any parts locally so had to buy one from the states and ship to here via address forwarding services. My advise is just go ahead and buy a replacement motherboard

Both ports could be bad now or the battery could have failed.  Was the battery health in the mid to low 60% range or lower?  Did you ever get a "battery is nearing its end of life" warning?  Did you happen to run the battery test in the diagnostics?  If it fails the battery test, a replacement battery might get your charge port back, but there is no way to know for sure.  It is a good sign that it recognizes the charger type from the charge port, but not conclusive.

Was the battery health in the mid to low 60% range or lower?  Did you ever get a "battery is nearing its end of life" warning?  Did you happen to run the battery test in the diagnostics?

Prior to the charging problems, the battery was healthy, and passed the diagnostics with flying colours.

Seeing as it looks like I'm going to have to order from the US without an easy return route:

1) Are the motherboards in the 1810 models interchangeable .e.g can I put an i3 (YN9W0) motherboard in a system that originally had an i7 (GWH76).

2) What about the later 1820 motherboards with the Haswell processors - will these work?

Are there any gotchas I should be aware of when swapping motherboards over?

Dell in the UK quoted for replacing both the battery (£165.62) and motherboard (£756.84), ouch - I think I may have a go myself!

Thanks - Rufus.

I can't really say for sure on the mobo interchange.  We always got like-for-like on warranty repairs and my employer hasn't wanted to spend the money on out-of-warranty systems other than battery replacements so far.  The Parts People could tell you for sure.  They have refurb boards, but I wouldn't go that route due to this problem and they are pretty pricey as well.

Good luck with the repair!

I don't see any reason why you couldn't swap motherboard for other models. Unless the connectors places have changed on different models that I am not aware of. When you take out the motherboard then there is no other  boards or major parts  left in your computer (excluding the charger board) so everything is  on one board and you are swapping it. Problem is that you would not find i5 or i7 boards easily.  While I was looking there was only one i5 for sale and that cost 4 times the i3. A motherboard shipped to me from the states cost Nz90 all inclusive so it was well worth the trouble and cost etc . You can do the repair yourself easily if you are a bit technical. There is no complications you just need to be careful around connectors and their clips. You have already spent a thousand pounds for your tablet so another 50 pounds for a motherboard I think worth the try even if you can't fix it. Don't you think so?

Thanks everyone, a second hand i3 1810 motherboard has now been ordered from the US (around £55 delivered), just need to wait for it to turn up. I'll post back when it arrives to confirm it has solved the problem!

Rufus.

Hi to everyone with Dell XPS18 battery problems.  Dell clearly know that the large battery is and has been a problem.  It is probably one of the reasons why the XPS18 has been discontinued and why there is no similar product replacing it.  Mine was in its 3rd year with an extended warranty.  Turns out they only cover the battery for a year.  Next they inform me that they have no new replacement batteries.  So they can only offer me a "reconditioned" battery for £84 (about $150).  They explained that this is a faulty battery that has been repaired and comes with a 3 month warranty.  Well, they've got me as I have a £1,000 XPS18 that needs a battery so I guess I will pay.  If you have a red X over your battery level on screen I suspect that a new MB or adaptor will only mean that you have wasted more money on this product.  The highlight of all my various discussions with technical support was when they told me that I should not expect the battery to last much longer than a year!  All the Dell people that I dealt with were courteous and tried to be helpful.  they clearly have been instructed to not make any accommodations or small gestures to customers.   I think the problem was a new design that was not properly tested and where the company has decided to walk away from it and not support customers left with a problem product because legally they don't have  (which is absolutely correct).  I am surprised because they have lost me as a customer for life and I cannot believe I am the only one.  This was my first Dell product.  I was very excited about it and I showed it off to all my friends.  They laugh out loud at how it has turned out for me.

Question: will the XPS18 run on wall power if the battery is removed?

no i don't think it would. i tried it on mine but it didn't work. although i had a faulty motherboard and not a faulty battery. i don't know how it would react if battery is faulty and mother is fine. 

you might be right about the red X over battery, i don't think i had it on mine. mine had simply just the ' plugged not charging" message.

Yes, it should.  I am currently running Acronis on an XPS 1810 from a bootable flash drive, and there is no battery in the system.

The tablet works when connected directly or through the cradle.  Unfortunately I want the xps for its portability so need a battery that charges.  I am not equipped to remove the battery myself

I haven't had many batteries fail.  We have a lot of XPS systems that are well over 2 years old and out of Dell warranty, and have very few failures, maybe 4 in the last year.   I expect to see the failure rate increase as these systems age even more.  Replacements are available through the usual online sellers but true OEM ones are hard to identify.  We are getting ours through a Dell reseller and they are expensive.  They are used in veterinary and Medical X-ray systems so we don't cut corners.  You can!  A super quick search found a seller at $62 which is about 1/3 of what we pay IIRC.

A lot of the discussion here has been about charging issues that had nothing to do with battery problems.  Those are a mobo problem and a mobo is usually the only fix for charge port issues.  Be happy you have a bad battery!  Its an easy fix.