XPS 15 not recognising AC adaptor - not charging battery

Hi jbtaylor1103,

Please try releasing the residual charge from the system. Here are the steps:

• Disconnect any external peripherals (flash drives, printers, external hard drives) from the computer including the battery and AC Adapter.
• Press and hold the power button for 20 seconds.
• Reconnect the battery and the adapter. Check if you are facing issue with the system.

Check the system using alternate known good Ac Adapter with the system.

Make sure the Ac adapter port is not loose. Wiggle the AC adapter connector and check if the system is able to charge the Battery.

Please check the status of AC adapter in BIOS.

Switch On the system and press F2 as soon as you see Dell logo. The system will enter in system setup (BIOS).

Make use of arrow keys and select AC Adapter type.

Please share the status of AC Adapter.

Keep me posted with the results. I will be glad to assist you further.

If the system is in warranty, call Dell - if it's out of warranty, first try a new Dell adapter (most computer shops should be willing to let you try one if you don't have one).  If that doesn't fix the problem, replace the DC jack

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=9793

And if that doesn't do it, replace the mainboard.

Thanks for the help.

I tried releasing the residual charge as you said, but it didn't make any difference. It still comes up with the error message on startup. The AC adaptor isn't loose, I've checked. Lastly, in the BIOS screen it says "AC adaptor type: Unknown".

Any other suggestions?

Thanks for the suggestions though.

Hi jbtaylor1103,

@ejn63: Thank you for the inputs; appreciate it.

If the system is covered under warranty, you may provide me the Service Tag and the name as it appears on the account via private message (click my username and then click Start a Private Message) so I may access your records and we will take it further from there. 

If the system is not covered under warranty and you are residing in the US, you may contact dell spares to check for the price. Please refer to the link: http://dell.to/11GOIPD.

Keep me posted with the information. I will be glad to assist you further.

I am re- posting this a 3rd and final time in this thread so that someone that has the problem I had can find what it was:

I had this same problem with a Dell XPS 15 502x computer recently. The ac charger would power the computer but would not charge the battery  When plugged in it would say something like ac adapter not recognized.......or ac power adapter type cannot be determined...

 The ac adapter/charger has 3 wires that connect to the laptop at the jack that plugs into the computer. 2 (white and black) are for power and the 3rd wire sends a signal to let the laptop know that it is a "Dell type " or the correct type of charger. This 3rd wire is pretty fragile it seems.  I took my jack apart and sure enough this 3rd wire was broken off right where it connects to the jack. I cut back a little of the black insulation and could see where the wire had pulled loose and wasn't connected to anything. I re-soldered it back to the jack and now the charger works properly with no error messages. It was real hard to get to the wire with it buried in a plastic coating and I lost the blue led light in the process but the error message went away and the battery charges now that I've reconnected that 3rd wire. If you don't work on electronics much it might be best to order a new charger. I guess you could potentially have a different problem but this was my experience. If someone ends up getting a new ac adapter to fix this problem be sure to try and keep the wire pretty straight and not bent sharply right by the jack coming out of the computer because this is where mine broke. Other than this it's been a great computer.

My .02 cents

I am having the same problem.  All I did was change where I had the adaptor plugged into normally and it stopped working.  Odd and frustrating.

seems unlikely that we are all purchasing new adapters with broken red wires.

I am having exactly the same problem.

Does buying a new charger help?

I already bought a new battery to no effect.

I would be interested in knowing if anyone has any luck with a new charger as well. I have had to repair my original charger like I said in the earlier post more than once.Frustrating to say the least. There may be different types of problems that people are having that require different soulotions. One guy might have charger problems and the next guy might have a software issue or somthing else. I just know for sure that mine is an issue directly related to the AC charger.

A common laptop problem is damage to the DC socket connection to the power board or system board. Note that ejn63 posted this above. It is easy to damage the solder connections by rough handling, such as tripping on the DC cord and stressing the socket connections. Symptoms can be no charging if the DC connections are damaged, or the charger warning if the signal wire connection is damaged in the charger wire/plug (easy fix - replace the charger) or in the laptop. The solder connections in the laptop can not be easily repaired, but it's possible. There are repair companies on-line that do this repair, usually with no charge if they can't fix it. The other option, again stated above by ein63 is replace the power board ($100) or the system board ($300), depending on the laptop. If you are handy, you can purchase the replacement board rather inexpensively, and do your own replacement.

I have an XPS15, it's just under three years old and it has had this problem for a few months now. It's gradually got worse, so now it rarely charges the battery.

I'm sure any manufacturer and customer would expect a few failures relating to power/cables after three years. But with Dell it is not a few, it's a huge number. I have used computers and laptops pretty much all day every day since the 1980's and I have never had a power supply go this quickly. If I'd done a Google search for this error and found a few people moaning, that'd be about as expected. But there are countless unsatisfied customers - it's a major issue.

Dell, you have a problem here. Everyone is screaming it at you and we understand you won't acknowledge it because that would cost you money, but you are losing so much credibility over this. When (not if) the class action comes, it will be all the worse for you because you clung onto an indefensible position for so many years in the face the overwhelming evidence. The longer you fail to address this with a recall or promise to fix for free, the higher the damages and loss of reputation will be when you are forced to act.

Amazing that some companies still try and ignore their responsibilities like this.

I'm now in the market for a new laptop, don't think it will be a Dell this time.

Have you, as recommended, tested with a known good charger or used your charger on another machine?

Chargers do fail as do DC socket failures. The majority of failures occur from rough handling, although everyone with problems claim they NEVER abuse their system. When you check the machine you usually find things like broken signal wires, insulation pulled away fro the DC plug, loose sockets, broken sockets, broken solder connections, dented cases, etc. These are ALL caused by mishandling, and it happens with most laptop brands. Laptops have high failure rates because of the type of service. It is possible to build much more durable laptops, but you would never pay the price. A military grade Dell Latitude lists for almost $5000. 

If the charger plug slides out of the socket too easily, then the problem is the socket. There are several tension springs inside to keep the plug tight. These springs get loose from only one thing, torque on the socket. If the power problem is intermittent, then the charger is OK

The power problem is NOT intermittent. It's persistent, just as the others have described.

Chargers have been sliding easily out the socket ever since I first bought. Never reported it as I just learned to live with it.