Inspiron 11z battery/power adapter issues

Question

My Inspirion 11z will run off of AC power from a wall outlet just fine. However, (even with the battery in and all software saying it’s operating correctly) if one unplugs the AC adapter from the computer itself, it will immediately shut off (as if there were no battery connected). Strangely, if I unplug the a/c adapter from the wall (but leave the other end in the computer), the laptop will run off of battery power (the light on the adapter slowly glows on and off). If I shut down or hibernate the computer, and unplug the AC adapter (from the wall, but leave the AC adapter connected to the computer itself) I am able to boot the computer back up and run off of battery power perfectly. If I unplug the AC adapter (from the computer) at any point (without the other end in the wall), it will shut off and not power back up (even with subsequent plugging in of the AC adapter to the computer itself). I can regain the ability to run off of battery power by reconnecting the AC adapter to the computer and a wall outlet (regardless of whether the computer is powered on or not), and unplugging from the wall outlet (but leaving the adapter plugged into the computer itself - I.e. I plug one end of the AC adapter in the computer, plug the other end in the wall then immediately remove it from the wall leaving the other end in the computer). The light on the adapter slowly glows on and off and I can run off of battery power provided I keep the AC adapter plugged into the computer itself without interruption. To summarize (and/or beat a dead horse): the computer works as it should only when the AC adapter is plugged into the computer itself without interruption from the last time it was plugged into the wall. Without the AC adapter in the computer itself, (or with the adapter in the computer itself after it has been disconnected from the computer without the other end in the adapter in a wall outlet completing the circuit) the computer 'acts' as if there is no battery. I understand that BIOS issues can cause weird battery/AC adapter problems, so I checked and there aren't any BIOS downloads on the 11z drivers & downloads support page. The battery itself obviously works fine; as does the AC adapter (I have tried a different one with the same effect). I doubt it is a software problem since, the computer won't even boot up (i.e. it happens before any software is running). I haven't come across anything like this after some Googling so comments/suggestions/solutions appreciated.

DELL-Harish R · Answer

Hi merkaba9,

The issue seems to be with the 'Motherboard' on the laptop. I request you to send me your system service tag number in a private message. To private message accept my friend request; click on my user name and click start conversation. This will help us to check more details of the issue and provide a faster resolution.

I hope this helps

Please reply in case of any queries

Thanks and regards
Harish R
#iworkfordell

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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