If the BIOS doesn't recognize the AC adapter (F2 at powerup), the battery won't charge.  If you've already tried a new Dell adapter and it's not recognized, replace the power jack.

www.parts-people.com/index.php

I'm still getting an error at the bios though about the battery not being recognized. This happened with the stock battery and the new one. So it makes me wonder if the power jack is the issue here.

Hi mcconnelln89,

I appreciate your effort in having the issue fixed. The Motherboard on the laptop has gone bad and has to be replaced.

I have added you as a friend. Please accept my friend request by clicking on my name highlighted in blue and then click on “Friends” tab at the top and then click on “Request to Review” and finally click on “Accept” button.

I am sending you a private message as well. Click on “Inbox” to respond to the message and provide system’s Service Tag and contact details so I may access your system records and check for further course of action. You could also click on Start Conversation to send a private message. This will help me to check the system details and provide a best possible solution.

I hope this helps.

Please let me know in case of any queries.

Thanks and regards
Harish R
#iworkfordell

I have a Dell Studio 1737, and my laptop will not charge at all either. I bought a new Dell battery and 2 new chargers and it still won't charge. It says on the taskbar "plugged in, not charging" and when I boot it up it says something about the charger not being compatible, but it is the proper Dell charger. This has been going on for about 3 months or more but I never had time to look into it getting it fixed. I would guess its something to do with the charging circuit on the motherboard. Anyways, I  need to get this motherboard replaced or get this fixed however possible. This was an expensive laptop and this issue is very frustrating. It will work when its plugged in but as soon as the plug is bumped a little bit it shuts right off because the battery has no power. Please contact me or let me know how to arrange to have this problem fixed. Thank-you.

Mike

It likely won't need a board replacement.  The power jack on this model can be replaced inexpensively.

www.parts-people.com/index.php

Crap, Its actually a Studio 1747. Do you have a link for that one too?

Thanks for the reply, very much appreciated. This has been driving me crazy. How difficult do you think it would be to do this myself?

www.parts-people.com/index.php

would this be the one I need? Looks like it would be pretty easy to replace?

I just replaced the power jack in my 1737 and it was a huge pain to do. I literally had to strip the entire computer  down, remove the keyboard, screen, and a whole mess of other things. At last the power jack is installed. However I'm finding the new power jack seems to be doing the same thing. The first time I booted the laptop up I didn't get any errors but it still wasn't charging. The second time I booted it I got the error about the charger being incompatible again. Mind you I've replaced the charger too. I'm about to give up at this point. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Note when I connect the battery the first light on the battery lights up like it is getting power but does not seem to do anything else. I've taken out the battery and plug it back in and it says 100% charged plugged in not charging but when I remove the cable it powers off the laptop immediately. If I don't unplug it the battery will eventually say 0% plugged in not charging.

I had this same problem yesterday. I searched EVERYWHERE for a solution, and nothing..... Finally I reflashed the bios to an older version, restarted everything , and updated it back to the correct version. Now, everything works fine. Hope this can be of some help.. Have fun !