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4 Posts
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223309
Dell XPS 14 is randomly shutting off (full battery) with no warning
I have a XPS L421X (BTX) laptop.. Recently it has started to randomly shut-off. After it shuts off, I cannot turn it back on for typically 10s up to 5 minutes. To be clear, when it shuts-off, it isn't a graceful power down, its like its power was cut. When it's in the failed state, the battery power doesn't illuminate when pressing the battery power indicator button on the bottom of the laptop nor does the power switch on-top work.
I've posted a video to show the symptoms in more detail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTT4wz21HwU&feature=youtu.be
The video starts right after the laptop went "dead", you'll notice that the battery indicator is dead but comes back to life after ~40 seconds. It will tend to continue working for random periods of time and completely die again.
Anyone see this before on their XPS? Is there a known issue that would be causing this?
Thanks,
Michael
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samuelwelch
3 Posts
0
June 2nd, 2014 14:00
They replaced my battery and it stopped happening (last November or so). It wasn’t the third party power management software. Laptop no longer on warranty but if it happens again I will just buy another battery – or move on to a new laptop.
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
October 24th, 2013 22:00
Hi Michael,
Does the system overheat or display any error before turning off?
I would suggest you to drain the residual power from the laptop:
Also run the diagnostics to check the hardware functionality. You may refer to the link http://dell.to/GAxNcY for steps on how to run diagnostics.
Keep me posted with the information. I will be glad to assist you further.
mbieniek
4 Posts
0
October 24th, 2013 22:00
Hi Kuldeep,
Thanks for the reply. To answer your question, the system isn't overheating since the failure has sometimes occurred on the first boot (i.e. off all night and boot from cold). There is no error displayed before turning off - I would be doing things in Windows and everything would go black. I can try to make a video of it happening but it's very unpredictable.
For your suggestions, this is the ultrabook XPS so the battery is built into the system (not removable). The failure has occurred without any external devices plugged in so I doubt that is affecting it.
I've run the diagnostics previously, but I'll re-run them again shortly and let you know if they caught anything.
Thanks,
Michael
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
October 25th, 2013 06:00
Hi Michael,
I apologize for providing unrelated steps.
I will suggest you to update the system BIOS from the link http://dell.to/18SrX1I.
You may refer to the video on the link http://dell.to/176grvH for steps on how to update the BIOS.
Also, share the results for the diagnostics.
Keep me posted with the results. I will be glad to assist you further.
samuelwelch
3 Posts
0
October 27th, 2013 11:00
This is happening to me also. I first noticed it when I unplugged the power chord with the computer on - it would shut down then not start until the ac adapter was plugged back in. When the ac adapter is not plugged in it will shut down randomly. Often I have to plug the adapter in just to use the computer. All of these symptoms happen with the batter near fully charged, the battery passes diagnostic tests. I believe the problem is the ac adapter connection, sometime if I stress the area near the adapter connection the computer will start.
mbieniek
4 Posts
0
October 27th, 2013 22:00
So I've upgraded the BIOS as suggested and the issue still persists. I also ran the diagnostic suite prior to OS boot-up and no issues were discovered.
The symptoms you mentioned above are identical to what I'm seeing. Here is another video of my laptop dying when unplugged despite having a full battery charge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxbcl3Z72YA
Kuldeep/Dell, what should my next actions be? It looks like this is a hardware problem.
Thanks,
Michael
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
October 29th, 2013 01:00
Hi Michael,
It seems the system is unable to detect the battery as it works only with the AC power.
Check the status for the adapter and the battery health in BIOS.
@samuelwelch, please share the exact system model and the operating system.
Try updating the BIOS of the system. You may refer to the video provided in the link above for steps.
Also share the status for the adapter and the battery health.
Keep me posted with the information. I will be glad to assist you further.
mbieniek
4 Posts
0
October 30th, 2013 21:00
Hi Kuldeep,
The BIOS detects a 90 watt adapter and indicates that "this battery is performing normally". Here are picture sof hte BIOS output in case it gives any more hints:
http://imgur.com/81s4Yox,keRfNhq#0
http://imgur.com/81s4Yox,keRfNhq#1
Thanks,
Michael
Dell-Kuldeep M
621 Posts
0
October 31st, 2013 01:00
Hi Michael,
I will suggest you to check the system functionality in the system setup menu.
Go to the BIOS screen by pressing F2 at the Dell logo 4-5 times and observe the system behavior. See if the issue persists.
Keep me posted. I will be glad to assist you further.
samuelwelch
3 Posts
0
November 1st, 2013 17:00
My 14z stopped powering down randomly on battery when I deleted a 3rd party power plan and stuck with the default plans. The third party plan was from AVG that I generally liked
JASONAROSS
5 Posts
0
June 2nd, 2014 13:00
any joy? mine does this...
:(
JASONAROSS
5 Posts
0
June 2nd, 2014 14:00
bizarrely i clutched at a straw and changed the power management settings even though AVG had not interfered. I have not had an issue since
weird..
will report back later.
JASONAROSS
5 Posts
0
June 4th, 2014 15:00
jkdunne
1 Message
1
October 17th, 2014 02:00
Did anyone else that have this problem all get sorted by using a new battery? Seems it must be a design flaw. Mine was randomly powering off with lots of battery left (not overheating) but now needs the mains plugged in all the time.
Battery shows as fully charged both within Windows and on the LED indicators
Anonymous User
1 Message
0
April 5th, 2015 14:00
Having the same issues.