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Just bought the wife a new laptop and struggling to understand its charging behavior (or lackthereof)
So for the first few weeks, no matter what i did i couldnt get it to charge. (10th gen inspiron 75xx or some such).
Checked the adapter with a meter and it was fine so i figured either the laptop itself was defective (battery is inside in their infinite wisdom and i wanted to avoid opening it up if at all possible)
fortunately after re-installing some of the innate dell bloatware, updating windows, updating some drivers, and removing/reinstalling the battery stuff in device manager - i got it charging.
a day later my wife used it for work, put it on the charger overnight, and woke up to a laptop just as dead as when she set it there the night before. At this point i was beyond annoyed.
I was able to ascertain that it was seemingly due (preliminarily) to the battery charge power setting which I had set as "primarily AC use"
I'm trying to select the setting that allows for the longest battery life as most of the time my wife will be using it plugged in. It was my understanding that all this setting does is lowers the charge threshold from 100% to 80% (aka shows as 100% charged but really its 80%)
I guess i was misinformed because the laptop is now at 20% and simply says "plugged in, not charging" until I change it to another setting and it immediately starts charging.
So can someone explain the way "Primarly AC use" is supposed to work? When does it actually charge the battery?
Is this my best option for longevity of the battery? Whats my #2? Adaptive?
Thanks for any clarification
klepp0906x
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October 12th, 2020 17:00
because it doesnt seem to be faulty. as per my post - its charging as we speak. Its just not charging when I use the "primarily AC use" setting.
Charger is identified in system and bios. Adapter was checked with a meter.
I believe/hope its a misunderstanding surrounding the way that particular battery power setting is supposed to function
ejn63
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October 12th, 2020 17:00
Why did you not contact Dell to have the system replaced when it proved faulty out of the box?
From the sound of it, you may have an unrecognized AC adapter (check setup; F2 at powerup -- NOTE: just because the system powers up, does not mean the adapter is recognized. Check it).
If the adapter isn't recognized, the battery will not charge.
If the adapter is recognized, but the battery won't charge, it's either a bad battery or a bad system board. Either problem is covered by warranty (as the adapter will be as long is it shows no physical damage).
One way or the other, you're in need of a warranty repair (which could have taken the form of a system exchange within the first 30 days, but will now likely involve shipping the system to Dell for repair).
ejn63
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October 12th, 2020 18:00
Primarily AC use should by default cut the charging at 80% (and the battery should register that -not 100%). You can set both lower and upper limits for charging as well.
klepp0906x
7 Posts
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October 13th, 2020 04:00
hmmm.. it doesnt seem to be charging even at 20% as we speak. If i flick it over to adaptive, starts charging right away.
It doesnt have any other stipulations? like wont begin charging until it reaches xx%? or only charges when off? Or only charges between xx hours?
Frustrating. Apart from that setting not "working" rubbing my OCD the wrong way - I want to ensure this thing lasts for some years to come so i'm trying to determine the best setting to do so. Assumed/that sounded like it. Go figure its the one that I either misunderstand or is giving me trouble.
Appreciate your time