Battery Status

If the computer is connected to an electrical outlet, the battery light operates as follows:

• Alternately blinking amber light and blue light — An unauthenticated or unsupported, non-Dell AC adapter is attached to your laptop.
• Alternately blinking amber light with steady blue light — Temporary battery failure with AC adapter present.
• Constantly blinking amber light — Fatal battery failure with AC adapter present.
• Light off — Battery in full charge mode with AC adapter present.
• Blue light on — Battery in charge mode with AC adapter present.

Battery Charge and Health

 

To check the battery charge, press and release the status button on the battery charge gauge to illuminate the charge-level lights. Each light represents approximately 20 percent of the total battery charge. For example, if four lights are on, the battery has 80 percent of its charge remaining. If no lights appear, the battery has no charge.

To check the battery health using the charge gauge, press and hold the status button on the battery charge gauge for at least 3 seconds. If no lights appear, the battery is in good condition and more than 80 percent of its original charge capacity remains. Each light represents incremental degradation.  If five lights appear, less than 60 percent of the charge capacity remains, and you should consider replacing the battery.

no prob! :smileyvery-happy:

I am having the problem of " Alternately blinking amber light with steady blue light", that you mentioned in your post. Its an Inspiron 1420 battery which is just over an year old. Till yesterday it was showing 3+ hrs backup capacity, and suddenly this problem appears. I tried to discharge the battery and then recharge it. But now the battery won't charge and is stuck at 5%. Since it's a temporary failure, please advise how do I resolve this.

The battery has failed and needs to be replaced.

Thanks Balaji. Seems Dell makes sure that its 6-cell batteries die just after they are an year old!

I think the cost-cutting in the laptop industry is becoming apparent in things like this.  I have a 5-year old laptop that has better battery life than a 2-year old laptop (both use 6-cell batteries).  My dell is only about 7 months old, but I have a feeling I will be shopping for batteries within the next year.

Factors That Affect Battery Life

The following factors affect battery performance:

• Processor speed - Enabling features such as Intel SpeedStep® or AMD PowerNow!™ will extend battery life by automatically adjusting the processor speed to meet system demands. These features are typically enabled by default on computers that support them.

• CD, DVD, CD-RW and hard drive access frequency - Moving files and programs directly to the hard drive, when possible, reduces the number of devices requiring battery power. Adding more memory can also help by reducing the need to use a swap file on the hard drive.

• Programs - Running only the programs that are necessary reduces demands on the system processor and memory. Programs that cause intensive use of the processor and drives (such as playing a DVD movie or 3D games) can more than halve the amount of time that the computer can be used on battery power.

• LCD brightness - Lowering the brightness of the LCD screen reduces the amount of power required by the screen.

• Power management - Set the computer to enter suspend or hibernate when idle to conserve battery power when the computer is not being used.

• Battery age - A battery's average life expectancy is 1 year. After this time, it is normal to experience a decrease in battery life.

 

but sir i am using dell ac adapter ? and it is showing not charging and Alternately blinking amber light and blue light....plz sir give me some suggestion and also sir laptop start hanging after plugin the ac adapter .