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Battery plugged in, not charging?
Well, the charger is plugged in, but it says not charging. This has happened twice. I would have thought bad battery or bad charger, except luckily the first time it occured right after buying a new hard drive. I did a hard reset on the battery and that worked.
Now, it has happened again. I tried the regular battery reset, but that did not work. I tried uninstalling device and reinstall..did not work either.
Oddly, what did work was the following:
I had about 38% battery left. I unplugged the power cord from both laptop and wall outlet.
I removed the batter. Computer went dead.
I wiped the battery connectors with a clean cloth several times.
I put the batter back in and turned the laptop on with battery only.
I plugged power cord into side of laptop, then into wall outlet.
Immediately, the laptop began charging again!
I am not sure why this worked. Maybe some techy out there may know. When I tried the battery reset, I turned the computer off before taking out the battery. Then took it out. Plugged in laptop with power cord and powered it. Then shut down and placed battery in. I turned back on..but nothing...
It may have to do with having the laptop already on when taking out the battery, or placing back the power cord, or could just be the wiping the battery with cloth????
DELL-Saharsh K
4 Operator
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1.5K Posts
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June 5th, 2012 16:00
This issue can be sometimes be fixed by installing the latest BIOS update for your specific Laptop model.
* Either the external power adapter is connected to the Laptop or the battery charge is at a minimum of 75%
* The Laptop is not connected to any dock, external monitor, hard drive, printer, etc.
* Go here
* Enter the Laptop service tag number in the blank [press Enter]
* This will take you to the main support page for the Laptop model
* In the gray bar click, DRIVERS & DOWNLOADS
* Change Category to BIOS
* Download/Save the BIOS file to the Windows desktop
* Close/end task all unnecessary software applications (Browsers, Dell SupportAssist, Dell Update Application, Steam, Anti-virus, etc.)
* Find the saved BIOS file on the Windows desktop
* Right click the file and choose, "Run as administrator". Note, you do not need to "extract" the file. Just run it
* Follow the prompted instructions. The Laptop will reboot on its own, do not force it
Updated Video:
(edited)
MicroTest
934 Posts
1
June 5th, 2012 18:00
Dell uses an "intelligent" power adapter system.When you turn on the laptop the BIOS program on the mainboard tries to identify the charger via special control wire.If - for instance - the cable that connects to the power jack is damaged or the power jack itself is loose / broken the BIOS might not be able to recognize the power adapter and refuses to charge the battery.
To check if the power adapter is properly recognized press function-key "F2" at powerup.That takes you to the BIOS screen where you can find the information.
CarrieSobers
10 Posts
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June 6th, 2012 02:00
Hi
Remove the Adapter and battery from the computer. Re-seat the power cord bricks in the adapter and then connect only the adapter start the computer by tapping F2 and look for AC Adapter type: If it shows Unknown. Could be problem with adapter. 90% that will fix the problem by getting adapter replace. Even you can try with different adapter if you have one and do the same step. Suppose if the alternate adapter doesn't show any report like Unknown. Confirm its problem with Primary adapter. If that shows the same message like Unknown then it would be a problem with the Motherboard adapter connector.
If everything is fine with Adapter. Now come to battery part. Connect the battery to the computer while the system runs and check for the battery error message. if it still persists. then go for BIOS update from the support.dell.com using the computer service tag.. make sure battery has charge like greater than 15%.. Also try check the battery with alternate adapter.
This would be the fix.
Regards
Carrie-Dell
Dell-Rajesh R
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3.3K Posts
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June 6th, 2012 14:00
Hi,
Welcome to dell community forum.
Kindly check with another wall outlet first .If that doesn’t work remove the battery from the computer and connect the adapter and check if the computer works and also try checking the status of Adapter in bios by restarting the computer and tapping F2 on dell logo and check for the adapter type.. Another step would be trying with a known good adapter, if known good adapter works fine that means it should be an issue with the original adapter. If the computer works fine with known good adapter connected the issue is not with the adapter might be an issues with the motherboard port where the adapter connects to.
Warranty status: http://dell.to/zEE2Cm
Let me know the system model as well and post back.
If you have active warranty, you can contact me directly by clicking on my user name, add me as your friend, and send me the system service tag, phone # with address.
CarolRock
2 Posts
11
July 29th, 2012 09:00
Pamela:
I found the same thing out, however, this only works a few times, so currently I have to keep plugged in. I haven't had the extra cash to invest in $150.00 for a new battery, hoping that this would resolve the problem. I have only had my Inspirion for about a year and this has been happening for the past 6 months. I was originally considering a MAC and probably should have gone with it. Extremely disappointed in Dell!!
CarolRock
2 Posts
1
July 29th, 2012 10:00
Tried this, too. Worked 1 time and went back to not charging
Joe Lenk
1 Message
0
October 19th, 2012 17:00
I found a solution. I had the computer lead plugged into a rather thin extension lead. I simply unplugged it from that and plugged it straight into the wall. Problem fixed. I tried the uninstalling Windows 7 drivers but that did not work.
nasyh
1 Message
6
November 4th, 2012 23:00
what if the the battery is already 0%?
cannot install BIOS at battery less than 10%
the "plugged in, not charging" problem is a prolonged issue and very frustrating.
MicroTest
934 Posts
0
November 5th, 2012 06:00
> If your system has been working fine in the past then there is no need to update the BIOS
> press F2 at powerup and check the power adapter status in the BIOS : if the power adapter is not recognized
watch the video I already included in my previous post
> additionally read this:
en.community.dell.com/.../19369809.aspx
flux1
18 Posts
0
November 8th, 2012 20:00
I found on another site that overheating can cause this problem, so in the time you take out the battery, wipe it off, and restart, it has cooled down. That might be why. My computer actually just had this problem and I quit the heavy program, my computer cooled down, and it started charging again.
gfulkers
1 Message
0
November 30th, 2012 11:00
Saharsh,
My computer is a couple years old and I have recently upgraded to Windows 8. Is this advice still good?
Thanks for your help!
Geoffrey
Paul U
4 Posts
0
February 6th, 2013 08:00
thelights007
2 Posts
1
March 19th, 2013 09:00
I had the same issue, but it won't let me update the BIOS with 0% battery. Is there another solution for this?
DELL-Saharsh K
4 Operator
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1.5K Posts
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March 19th, 2013 21:00
Hi thelights007,
Please share the system model and the operating system installed. The error 'plugged in not charging' can be caused due to various reasons such as faulty adapter or faulty charging board.
You may try below mentioned steps which may help in fixing the issue. Steps to perform Flea Power are:
Hope this helps. Please share the findings.
thelights007
2 Posts
0
March 20th, 2013 20:00
Thanks for the suggestions. I still haven't fixed the issue though. I reset the BIOS defaults and was actually able to get the battery to charge while running diagnostics later. I flashed the BIOS and that didn't fix the issue. Now I get an error message that says the adapter type cannot be detected. I tried another AC adapter that I know is in working condition and it yielded the same results, so I know it isn't an issue with the adapter. Also, the battery is new, as I initially thought the battery was the problem. It charges, so I know it isn't the issue either.
I know that it isn't the BIOS, battery, or adapter causing the issue. Do you have any other suggestions?