New Battery Issue (4 amber, 1 white) Light Code

Question

Hello,

I own a Dell Latitude 7440 that was given to me as part of a scholarship I received when I enrolled in my college (the laptop belongs to me, not the college).

I found that the long amount of time that I've let it sit on the charger (over the entire summer) has ruined the battery, and decided I would replace the battery myself, rather than bother with the warranty I have with Dell (because I'm a college student and need my laptop for taking notes, even though the battery doesn't last as long as I'd like, it's just barely sufficient for now).

Anyway, I ordered a new battery from a 3rd party seller (Amazon). The first one they sent me prompted the laptop to give the light code (4 amber, 1 white) when the laptop is plugged in via the laptop charging light indicator. After a few cycles, the light indicator begins to repeatedly flash amber until unplugged. Keep in mind that this light code ONLY appears when the laptop is plugged in, and the screen (and presumably the OS) do not boot up. The moment I remove the power cable, the lights from the charging indicator LED stop.

The same thing happened with the second battery they sent me.

I should mention, the packages they sent me did not include screws to secure the battery. Since the original battery from Dell that came installed in my laptop has those type of screws that unscrew but don't fall out of the plastic housing, I cannot use them to secure the new batteries, so I currently just have a new battery sitting in place, unsecured by screws. I'm not sure if this would make a difference though.

ALSO, the new batteries did not come with the power connector that connects the battery to the motherboard, so I have been using the one that came with the original battery and laptop.

What I have tried:

Disconnecting the battery, holding the power button to drain the residual power, and reconnecting the battery (same result)
Reconnecting the original battery (works fine, boots to OS)

My questions are as follows:

What am I doing wrong? Would this issue be solved if I got the right screws to secure the battery? If so, what screws are those? If not, are both batteries the seller sent me defective? Or am I doing something wrong while installing it?

DELL-Daniel V · Answer

A flash code of 4 amber, 1 white or a constantly flashing amber light would be indications of a Temporary Battery Failure. The 4,1 code in particular would be due to 2 possible reasons. Either the battery has become too hot and has shut off the charging function to try to cool down the battery, or the computer has experienced an Over Current Protection event while charging and has shut off charging temporarily to protect the computer. Both of these scenarios are recoverable. However, the computer does not charge until the Temporary Battery Failure condition has been removed.

This is working as designed to protect the computer. Use the following steps to recover the charging capability of the computer and stop the blinking LED code from being displayed:

Reseat the AC adapter. This can be done by disconnecting the AC adapter for ten to fifteen seconds and reconnecting it to the computer. If the Over Current Protection circuitry has triggered this, it resets the protection and resumes charging
If the battery has gone above its thermal threshold, move to a cooler ambient temperature environment and wait for the computer to cool. Once the battery temperature has decreased, the computer should resume charging.
If still unresolved, remove the bottom cover and reseat the battery cable to the motherboard.
If still unresolved, test with a known good OEM battery if available

The issues with the OP would be attributed to using a 3rd party battery as a 2nd replacement resulted in the same issue and reinstalling the OEM battery resulted in a working system. I would have to recommend using OEM batteries with our systems to avoid incompatibility issues. Should issues remain with the above steps, then contact Dell GHN (Get Help Now) chat technical support Monday through Friday. Click the blue "Get Help Now" on the right to start a private live chat session. Share the private Service Tag with them so that they can verify the ownership and warranty status. This will also generate a unique Technical Support case for your unique Service Tag. If already out of warranty, click here for the Dell out of warranty offerings.

See this video for additional battery troubleshooting.

RoHe · Answer

Did the original battery swell up?

I don't see a 4 amber/1 white error code listed for Latitude 7440.

Many of the laptop batteries you see on that shopping site are total garbage. They may not meet the battery specs for this PC model, regardless of what they claim. The PC and/or your charger may not recognize a non-Dell battery.

Does your college have an IT group that diagnoses and fixes student PCs? If it's still under warranty, they should be able to get parts from Dell to get it working again, without any cost to you.

The more you mess around with it, the more likely you cause serious damage...

niko_ke · Answer

You can try to see if the same error occurs when the battery is not connected. The official website description document does not provide information about the 4-1 error, but from experience, 4 flashes generally point to memory-related issues.

dontfallinlove · Answer

@RoHe​ Thank you for your reply. The only times I've seen/held the original battery is when it is not at full charge because I've been disassembling the clamshell after a full day at school. So in short, no, there is no swelling I can visually see on the battery.  However, one of the motivating factors for me to seek out a replacement battery was that my trackpad is depressed (most noticeable when battery is on full charge). After a quick googling, I found many individuals blame a bloated battery for this issue, and this makes logical sense seeing as the battery lies directly under the trackpad when assembled. I also have seen the page you linked before, and was a factor in my making this post, since my device SHOULDN'T be throwing a diagnostic light that isn't explained in ANY capacity in official service manual documents. I might be getting the seller in trouble by pointing this out, but the batteries that were sent to me ARE official Dell manufactured batteries intended for my device. Seeing as they likely sent me defective batteries anyway, I don't really care if they do get in trouble for it. They are word for word, marking for marking, identical to the battery that was originally installed in my device. The only difference being a sticker of the company's name that sent me the batteries covering where Dell's logo should be on the battery. The Amazon listing described the batteries they sell as 'OEM, pulled from new machine,' confirming that they are in fact manufactured by Dell. Also, I have been using the same chargers I have always used for the device, so I know this is not a factor. I could try to reach out to my college's IT department, but I have a feeling they would come to the same conclusion I did: that my laptop needs a new battery. I mainly made this post to see if I should be returning these batteries sold to me by the Amazon seller or if I was somehow doing something wrong. However, I am pretty confident in my skills since I have lifelong experience and in-depth knowledge of computer software, hardware, and operating systems. I appreciate your concern, but for the most part, I know what I'm doing.  The only snag in contacting Dell at this point is that I might have voided my warranty by even opening my laptop housing, let alone attempting to replace the battery myself (gotta love anti-consumerism and the objection to the right to repair).

dontfallinlove · Answer

@niko_ke​ Thank you for your reply. I might not have been clear enough in my original post, but I can clarify now: the same diagnostic light code is not thrown when no battery is connected. The same diagnostic light code is ALSO not thrown when my ORIGINAL battery is connected. It is only with these two batteries from Amazon that the light code is prompted. Seeing as this diagnostic code is not thrown when the original battery (or no battery) is installed, I don't believe the diagnostic code is signifying an issue with the memory of the device.  Thank you for your insight, though.

RoHe · Answer

Anybody can put a label on something and claim it's an OEM battery pulled from another PC. Even if they really are re-manufactured Dell OEM batteries, they may not meet Dell's standards for quality, voltage, amperage, etc. Send them back and get a full refund. And after getting the refund, I'd post a review on the site to warn others that these batteries are total garbage.

If you only see the 4A-1W blink code when either of the replacement batteries is installed that implies the PC doesn't like them for whatever reasons. If it was just a RAM issue, you should see that blink code regardless of whether it's a replacement or Dell's original battery.

You don't violate your warranty by opening the case. The only thing Dell could require is you re-install their original OEM battery. So I'd contact their Tech Support directly and see what they say. If the trackpad was affected while charging the battery, that could indicate swelling. So don't try charging it again. And unless Tech Support says otherwise, leave the original battery out to prevent possible damage to the PC, even during shipping to Dell.

If you have to send the PC to Dell for inspection/repair, if nothing else, ask the college's IT group if they have a loaner you can borrow until yours gets fixed. Some schools do that...

FWIW, I'll see if I can find out what 4A-1W blink means...

ItsDvance · Answer

I'm having this issue as well, 4 amber lights, 1 white light. Error code is still thrown with the original battery as well, checked battery connections with a multimeter, - side, + side, and center data signals make good contact. Unsure what the issue is.

The laptop DC jack was replaced recently, and since Dell is SUPER picky about OEM charging parts and having enough data signals to tell the computer to charge, replaced it again by ordering the exact $10 part Dell has listed on their website. Same issue. I believe everything's functional, but Dell's OEM part tantrums really cause charging issues. I've seen this before; laptop is operational if it's plugged into the wall, but the firmware of Dell is terrified about letting ANY power get to the battery. It's awful.

nothingtoseeherewhy · Answer

The thing is that the replacement battery is kinda receptive to USB-C charging but somehow allergic to charging by the round AC port. I tried using the 30W AC charger (not from Dell!) overnight for the battery and it worked, but when I switch to the AC chargers it gets this error.

user_56b630 · Answer

I Got the same error after servicing my dell latitude 5420 upon stumbling on this page i came to know its a battery issue so i inspected my battery and found that the cable that connects the battery to the motherboard was not correctly seated and it had bent one of the pins on the battery side so 2 pins were going in 1 hole on the wires connector on battery side i simply bent back the pin and inserted the cable properly this time and my laptop booted up after 2   3 minutes as i had drained it multiple times during troubleshooting

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New Battery Issue (4 amber, 1 white) Light Code

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