Blinking battery light? Even when plugged in

I am experiencing the same problem with my Latitude D510. The laptop is now dead, the battery is drained and I cannot get it to start even when plugged in. The power cord indicator is showing that it is functioning. Any thoughts?

I have ordered a new battery anda  new charger just to be sure. I'm just waiting for them to get here.

 

For $1700? I expected a lot more from this as far as battery is concerned. The battery life on this laptop is horrible!

There was a battery recall, did you have a look at that? I did, and while my battery was among the numbers on the list, when I tested the serial number on the website it came out ok. My laptop is less than a year old so I have contacted Dell Support. Doesn't help me get into the info I need on it for today.

 

I have the same problem with my 9300 that I bought in April 2005. The whole day today the battery light was blinking orange and laptop shut off when I unplugged the adapter. It says battery is 99% (charging). Please let me know how your new battery turned out.

I checked the recall, mine was not part of it.

This just started happening to my 9300 also. I'm not sure whether the battery is overheated or what but the symptoms are identical. The light began flashing orange and the system will no longer run on battery when the AC adapter is unplugged. The battery self test shows the end and middle lights flashing green. I bought my laptop in March of 2005 as well.

I ended up contacting Dell and they replaced the motherboard, under warranty of course. They sent out a tech with the part and fixed it. But I am in contact with them again with a different issue.This time it's the hard drive they are replacing and I will be losing all my information PLUS I have to install it with on the phone help. Did I buy a lemon?

Message Edited by LynnC17 on 07-19-200606:51 AM

This is my 6th Dell computer but my first laptop. I really like Dell they stand behind their product and this is the only one I have had problems with. I'm just wondering if it is a batch problem or ....what?

The battery recall has made me look at the manual! I had forgotten about the battery lights on the bottom since I haven't had a problem. I have an Inspiron 9300 that I bought last Sept. or Oct. and the 6 hour and 9 hour batteries seem to hold a charge well, but we just took a long (5 1/2 weeks) road trip and I used the laptop a lot. I noticed the blinking orange light I think, but it always charges to 100%. I just checked the 9 hour battery and it is not on the list. I have yet to check the installed battery, but all 5 green lights came on when I pushed the test button. The directions for installing the batter are lousy--put it in lengthwise--that is subject to interpretation so why don't they show a picture? I'll keep watching this board as I want to be safe.

My first Dell desktop died way too soon and I had to reinstall Windows on the second one. What a hassle with Dell phone support--one tech asked me if I needed Microsoft Office when I was having problems reinstalling programs!

 

Good luck to all.

photobug41

At least you can get a blinking light, my laptop is DEAD.

Wouldn't you know my warranty expired about 3 months ago.

I ordered a new AC cord and that wasn't the problem, so I ended up taking my laptop to the computer repair shop.

They have determined that the recalled battery has caused damage due to overheating.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to go about discussing this situation with Dell. Seems that since my warranty is expired they expect me to pay for tech assistance.

I am sorry to hear about your Dell problems. When I had all the trouble last summer, I wrote to the CEO and finally got some satisfaction. I had to pay our personal guru way more that I had paid Dell for technical support to fix all the problems they caused. I kept getting different people each time I called and they rarely agreed with what to do. The worst one asked me if I needed Microsoft Office when I called because I was having trouble installing it after I had reinstalled Windows! If you can't get better help than I got from Dell, I suggest going to a local repair facility that you can trust.

 

Good luck.

I love teh challenge of writing to the top. Of course, they don't read the letters, but someone higer up than a secretary will read the letters. I have also written to other CEOs and it is interesting to see the responses I get. Some prove to be worthwhile. Even if you get another brand of laptop, I would still suggest writing to the CEO  (you can get a list of officers by searching "Dell corporate officers" (no quotes).

A friend who teaches computer stuff recommended HP to me before I got mine, but I liked being able to order it as I wanted it. I think you can do that on the HP website too. CNET and PCWorld review equipment and I have found it helpful to see what they say about different products. I don't think anyone's technical support is worth much. It took 4 calls to Netgear to get the help I needed and all I wanted was for them to correct the email address they had on file (it wasn't any of ours) so I could email tech support! Now I will have to wait and see if they are any help.

 

Good luck.

 

photobug

Thanks photobug Actually I am so disgusted with Dell at this point I am thinking of saying to heck with them and going out and buying a new HP laptop.

Ummmm writing to the CEO sounds like an excellent idea.
Sad to say but sometimes a person has to skip the middle guy and go straight to the top to get results.

I definitely plan to pursue this because I feel Dell knew those batteries were defective and should have acted sooner.
According to the computer repair service the battery was actually overheating and that has caused the damage.
My laptop is completely dead it won’t do anything.

They did not repair my Inspiron 6000 but gave me a written letter that Dell should repair this even though my warranty expired 05/02/2006. They told me I need to fight Dell on this because it is very obvious that the overheating of the battery has caused the damage.

In the meantime I’m using my sisters HP Pavilion and it’s just an awesome laptop.
It’s the 5000 series with a larger (wide) screen. After using this laptop it would be hard to go back to my Dell!

I’m going to email/write everyone I can think of and try to get this issue resolved.