XPS 13 9350, Flashing LED, battery replacement

Question

I have a Dell XPS 13 9350. Like all 9350s, the battery life was quite low, the battery swelled, and needed to be replaced. Battery life prior to replacing was about 1 hr at best with little to moderate usage.

Fast forward - I've replaced the battery with a battery that I bought off of AliExpress (stated "legit Dell stock"). Now, using the laptop today, I noted that once the battery reached 100% charge, an error code started flashing on the front led. The flashing code is 4 flashes of orange, 1 flash of white. If I disconnect the AC power (normal DC jack) at any stage now, the laptop will turn off, as though it doesn't know how to switch back to battery power or something?

Does anyone have any suggestions for what this error code means, and how I may repair? The error code stops flashing if I remove the cover of the laptop, disconnect and reconnect the battery. Though, having said this, the failure does reoccur after some period of time.

Luke.

XPS Luke · Answer

Hi @JOcean,

Thanks for the super quick comment. This strikes me as odd for the following reasons:

1. The battery is being correctly identified in the BIOS, showing a charged status.
2. The AC adaptor is showing correctly in the BIOS.
3. The battery functioned properly for a good week or so before the problems started to show.

Whereabouts are the flashing LED codes documented on the Dell manuals / site?

JOcean · Answer

That sequence of lights would be a bad battery or a battery the system does no recognize. The following forum post will help.

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/xps-13-9343-not-charging-4-amber-1-white/td-p/6221488

JOcean · Answer

Just wondering, is the battery and the adapter genuine Dell? Also a number of posts with battery error issues.

https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/Blinking-battery-lights-4-amber-1-white/td-p/4472564

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/Dell-xps-l702x-battery-light-4-amber-1-white/td-p/6056120

http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-3750975/battery-light-flashing-amber-white.html

https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/XPS-15-battery-blinks-4-orange-and-1-white/td-p/3852070

XPS Luke · Answer

So, upon further investigation, I've looked closer at the battery that I replaced the old battery with. Definitely not legit Dell stock. I'm kind of mixed as to whether or not this is a good thing - if Dell restrict their firmware to require only legit Dell batteries - this is exceptionally poor on their behalf.

For all the problems that the Dell XPS 13 9350 has documented RE: batteries, this is firmly the last Dell I will buy.

XPS

XPS 13 9350, Flashing LED, battery replacement

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