Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
6 Posts
0
65493
Battery Plugged In, Not Charging. 0%
My laptop is just over a year old, and out of the warranty. I'm particularly upset about this.
My battery, which was working just fine yesterday is now giving me a "plugged in," not charging message. The lights on the front of the computer (Dell Inspiron 14z, 2012 model) is flashing orange 3x then white.
My mom has the same laptop as me and hers is working fine. Her adapter (which works for her) would not charge my battery. Her battery worked in my laptop but would not charge. Using her battery, I updated the BIOS since I couldn't previously as it was less than 10%.
I'm really upset about this, and after several hours of searching the internet and attempting to fix the problem, nothing has worked. I think I bought my laptop at the end of January, beginning of February last year and already got stuck with a dud hard drive that Dell replaced.
Any possible solutions for this that do not involve the motherboard being bad? Because if it is I'm going to cry.
sk98
6 Posts
0
April 7th, 2013 19:00
It listed adapter as 65 watt, so I'm guessing it's not the jack.
ejn63
9 Legend
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
April 7th, 2013 19:00
First thing to check: does the BIOS recognize the AC adapter, or is it listed as "unknown"? If it's "unknown", and neither battery swap nor charger swap worked, replace the power jack first:
www.parts-people.com/index.php
If that doesn't solve the problem, and/or two batteries are not recognized, chances are it's the mainboard, not the power jack.
ejn63
9 Legend
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
April 7th, 2013 20:00
They're no prize either - actually, there are PCs that are more reliable than Macbooks, and repairs on Macbooks cost quite a bit more. And most Macbooks are assembled by Foxconn or Pegatron - two suppliers who've also made Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba ... etc.. systems.
sk98
6 Posts
0
April 7th, 2013 20:00
I'm just really annoyed because like I said, I got a bum hard drive that needed to be replaced (under warranty at least.) And now a bad mainboard? This shouldn't happen on a 15 month old computer that's been treated well. I'd rather buy another computer (definitely another brand) than to pay to get this one fixed.
ejn63
9 Legend
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
April 7th, 2013 20:00
Unless you can replace the mainboard yourself, you may want to buy a warranty extension -- with labor, a mainboard replacement will be north of $300 -- probably about what a warranty extension will cost, but at least you'll also get an additional year's coverage on the system.
ejn63
9 Legend
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
April 7th, 2013 20:00
If you didn't, remove the battery, unplug the system and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Try your battery in the other system - it could still be a bad battery that's causing the problem.
If you decide to replace the system, be sure you get a 3-year warranty up front. Doesn't matter whose name is on the outside - all notebooks are built with the same parts, and the vast majority of them are made by just a few companies -- you're likely to find your next system says "HP" or "Toshiba" on the outside but was built by Quanta, Compal or Wistron - same as your Dell system. In other words, you could well end up trading a problem Chevy for a Buick. Same manufacturer.
sk98
6 Posts
0
April 7th, 2013 20:00
Guess I got spoiled with my MacBook. I'll probably save up and switch back.