Inspiron 1526 battery not charging while plugged in....

Actually this is showing up across the board, i've seen complaints about it on HPs, Lenovo, Acer, VIAO, everybody. I've seen it on XP, Vista, Windows 7, and i actually saw one person claiming it was on a MacBook Air. So the main reason i think i've seen half a dozen ways to fix the issue that only work for some people is this is not a specific symptom. It's either a general indicator of a dozen odd problems. My personal Theory is that this issue is caused by battery preservation firmware. The code is probably messing with allowing the computer to charge, my girlfriend's comp has the problem most often after it sleeps or when it's overheating ...

...That or we have stumbled across yet another peice of damage caused by everyone's favorite worm, Conficker.

Oddly enough it seems almost everyone's computer will charge while turned off. If your computer DOES NOT charge while turned off, this is a strong indicator off a physical issue, such as the battery or charger problem.

Long story short, this isn't just Dell, It's everyone who makes laptops.

well, I'm not a super computer expert or anything, but usually that is the first thing you do when you are having issues with your computer. Turn it off, un-plug then plug back in. I'd think anyone would know to do that first.

My laptop has been un-plugged and plugged back in at least a dozen times and it still hasn't solved the problem. I have even tried different outlets in my house and it still won't work.

It has got to be something in the computer, my husband has a Dell latitude and he used my charger last weekend because he left his charger at work and it worked fine on his computer, charged his battery and everything.

Lord only knows what the issue is. But I am pretty sure this will be my last Dell. My father-in-law warned me, wish I would have listened. But hindsight is 20/20 as they say...

JoeCoat -- very interesting !

Reading this this thread with interest. I have the laptop XPS 1530 and it is 18 months old. Suddenly the battery has stopped charging and now i can only use it plugged in to the power socket. I have tried a new cable and it doesnt work. I havent tried a new battery. However - when I reseat the power cable it starts charging for 10 seconds and then stops again.

I also have trouble with double key taps also reported elsewhere.

I too will probably never buy a Dell again. !8 months is hopeless.

After that your mother board will over heat and you will no longer have a laptop....and because mine was over the one year by a few months WITH AN existing problem, FYI i started this whole conversation....way way back....34 comments ago. they would not cover the 2ND mother board because it was no longer under warranty, SO THANK YOU DELL VERY MUCH.....

I have found a solution for my 1526 and that is not MOBO replacement either.

Background info:

We have Dell Latitude E5500 at work which has similar AC adopter as Inspiron 1526 with small difference, E5500 adopter is 90 Watts where as Inspiron 1526 and 25 both use 65 Watts AC Adopter.....Using E5500 adapter allowed me to charge the battery over %10 so I could upgrade the BIOS...........I thought my problem was fixed so I went out and purchased a new AC adopter.....all was good, then I decided to plug the original adopter to see if it would work .......:( , that was a wrong move, now both adopter stop charging.............I knew it had something to do with the AC adapter........so I sliced it open the connector part and noticed it was ground wire was disconnected.......EVEN THOUGH EXTERNALLY IT LOOK OK ......so I reconnect it.....but still no luck.....here is what I did to fix it, I don't know why I try this but it worked.... go to Device Manager, under battery setting remove all the setting "Microsoft ACPI adopter and what not"....then shut the computer down...remove the AC Adopter and restart the computer with only battery once again.....when fully booted up.....(don't cheat here)...turn off once again , and now plug in the AC adapter and start the laptop........it should work. I have repeated this twice and it worked both times...once with my laptop and second time with friends laptop.

hope it works for you

E5500 Adopter replacement if you are looking for one:   http://www.mobilepowersupply.com/product_49759.html

I have exactly the same issue. Not long out of warranty and the battery stops charging. Tried the usual with a new battery etc bit it will not charge at all. Clearly from reding these posts it is a very common theme without any solution or interest from Dell. I WILL VOTE WITH MY FEET AND NOT BUY ANOTHER. If anyone finds a solution let us know.

I agree this has to be a recall the only way  to get around it  is to have someone who has the same model  charge your battery for you in order to turn on your laptop maybe for just 15 or 30 minutes if you lucky. Dell needs to recall all inspiron 1525 and 1526 models or fix them for free. I've seen so many people with the same issues. It's a shame  that Dell just ignore us.

AND the Inspiron 1530 - thats what mine is and has the same problem - wonder how many more dodgy models have got this fault.

I guess they wont recall as it will cost them a fortune!! But they could offer to fix the ones that have gone bad for free.

I found some of the laptops (Dell Latitude) has this feature to not charge the battery if the laptop is on using AC untill you turn it off. this is a feature.

So the same comp had windows 7 booted for a while (see earlier posts for that debockle, tho for sure not dell's fault, HDD manufacturer error), and it stopped having the charging issue once 7 was loaded. For a week. The problem came back but in a lesser form. All that was needed was a single attempt at re-seating the charger and everything went back to normal.

One try became 2 on average. Became 3, and 4. Now it has ceased entirely. Old tricks such as discharging starting capacitors (hold down on button for 10-30 secs when turning on), and charging while turned off no longer work. As far as running the comp off of AC only, some trouble has been had with this as well.

I'd like to know what the most common cause for this on Windows 7 is, most likely discounting hardware.Even though the nature of re-seating it sounds degenerative, the plug and port have taken no physical wear or damage. Is there a likely software, BIOS, firmware, or OS fix?

Inspirion 1420, port and charger in good condition, BIOS 1.10 A10. This thing isn't 2 years old and has been upgraded specifically to overcome this problem. Please, anything you can suggest.

How on earth could it take 4-6 weeks for repair, what sort of warrenty do you have?

Having read through this issues it seems that a lot of people on here have the issue just after having the laptop for  just after a year.  Now while this is not acceptable if people got 3 year warrenty's on their system's instead of just the standard year they would get a longer support from Dell and therefore would not be paying for repairs in a short time, eg. 13  mths. 

Me again. Problem still plauging girlfriend, and about an hour and a half ago, it struck home.

My comp is now effected however i beleive i have the requisite 3 year warranty. Now to see if Dell will honor it's contract. This is going to be interesting because i have had my computer repaired once before (A cop accidently pulled it off my desk while my hippy college roommate was being arrested. honest accident, all repairs went fine). However, Dell makes no warranties on thier repairs... and if they claim the charging system was effected (but only presented with symptoms 18 months later) i'm going to raise hell.

I'll keep updating, espeacilly if they bother to tell me the cause. 3 year warranty is worth it, accident prone or not. Now to delve into the confusing hell know as 24 hr tech support.

Inspiron 1525.      Core Duo T8300, 2.4 Ghz, 800 Mhz, 3M L2 Cache.      4 GB DDR2.      160 GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive.

9 Cell Extended Batt and FA65NS0-00 Model Charger

There are many components involved in charging a laptop battery.

Therefor diagnosis of a "laptop battery not charging" situation is not easy.

For an impression have a look at "laptop battery not charging"

BIOS setup has 2 important indicators to facilitate the decision if the problem
resides in the laptop battery, AC adapter or Motherboard.

1) BIOS - AC adapter type

2) BIOS - Laptop battery type

If either one is listed as unknown - the laptop battery will not be charged.

For situation 1) it could be either the AC adapter including cable and plug or
the Motherboard including DC jack and related circuitry.

When its clear it's the Motherboard circuitry (not the DC jack) MOBO replacement
is one option. If that's too expensive consider a standalone laptop battery charger.

For situation 2) it's usually the laptop battery - which is complex device also.
When it causes a "plugged in not charging" situation, it's usually because it's
identification is either wrong or it's tampered with.