Power Companion 12000mAh Charging Problems

That is odd, what does the battery status light indicate about the Power Companion? You should be using a Dell AC adapter when charging the power companion.

Diagnostic Indicators

• When the Dell Portable Power Companion is over heated the 1st and the 2nd LED will flash interchangeably in amber and white color respectively.

• When a wrong adapter is connected first LED will glow in solid amber, until wrong adapter is disconnected or correct adapter is used.

Checking Battery Health

Battery health can be identified by pressing and holding the power button on the Dell Portable Power Companion for five seconds.

Have you noticed the first and second LEDS flashing white or amber? Have you noticed the first LED glowing solid amber? After charging the Power Companion press and hold the power button for five seconds, how many LEDs light up?

Have you noticed any problems with the notebook itself when charging directly from the system AC adapter? No use diagnosing the Power Companion if there is a problem with the AC adapter / notebook.

TB

Dear Terry,

Thank you for getting back to me. And, yes, I agree that this is rather odd indeed. That's why I am looking for assistance.

I did use a Dell AC adapter to charge the power companion. Three of the LED lights identify the charge at 60% (presuming one of 5 LED lights equals a 20% charge), independent of how long I hold down the power button prior. Neither of the three (or five) are flashing white or amber. The notebook charges perfectly with the same AC adapter. 

Any suggestions? Have you encounter this before? Please advice.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Prof Phil

The Power Companion isn’t giving any indication that it is over heating or an incorrect AC adapter is being used. I don’t know how often the device has been used, typically you shouldn’t fully discharge a lithium ion battery, but after 30 or so partial discharges the battery in the device may develop digital memory (different then the charge memory that plagued Nickel Cadmium batteries) that and the battery simply will not power up to full. If this is the case discharge the battery until nearly empty (just one lit LED) and then charge and see if you get better results.

Other than that thing that can affect the device is just operating environment, if the device is getting too hot or too cold.

If the device is straight out of the box, and you have only recharged it a couple times I would have to say that either the power adapter or the device itself is defective and you should consider having it replaced. If you are in either the US or Canada I may be able to help.   Please accept my friend request so that I may get your information.

TB

I have exactly the same problem with a PW7015L.

I have contacted Dell Customer Services in the UK 6 times now and have been told that they will contact me by e-mail to help resolve the issue as I currently travelling, but after a week I still have received no e-mail and no support for my problem.

I use the Dell charger supplied with my Inspiron 13 7347 to charge the PW7015L, the LEDs indicate a full charge but when either the laptop or a USB device is connected for charging the LEDs indicate that it is not charged

samuraiakita

I may be able to help. I will be sending you a friend request shortly so that I can get your information. I can investigate your case and possibly escalate it with tech support in your area.

TB

Hello! Sorry, but i have problem with Dell Power Companion 18000 too( i buy it with new XPS 13.....  i try to charge, and AC adapter its good, coz notebook charging good, but its doesn't charge at all(((( all the time its or 1 LED or 3 LED((((

Tryed to call to support, but its all the time nobody answer ((((

Sory for my english(

I left it plugged in all night again, and it still has not charged past those 2 lights, so about 40% capacity I'm assuming.

After discussions Dell eventually arranged for mine to be replaced.

I believe I have the same issue but slightly different.  I plugged in my power companion to the AC adapter and it basically said 5 leds thinking it is fully charged.    Holding down the power button for 10 seconds, then letting go shows 1 constant led.  Again no problem.   Plugging in the battery to my latitude laptop doesn't charge at all.  Tapping the button once on the power companion turns it on and briefly (15 seconds) charges my laptop and then stops.  I did this maybe 5 more times and then the power companion was completely dead.  Tapping the power button shows no leds showing.  Holding down the power button again shows no leds.  This battery is now completely dead.  I plug my dell ac adapter into it and the battery now starts charging (shows 1 led).  Eventually it shows 2, 3, 4 ,5 leds and shows it is fully charged.  I still need to test how much power it really has but I think it is fully charged.

This is the interesting bit.  I think there is a bug where it doesn't properly show the correct amount of power it has when it close to dead.  Because the battery thinks it is fully charged, it doesn't charge itself at all even though it is almost dead.   Probably there is no way to fix this unless there is a way to update the firmware through the power cord.

Dell uses some cheap ink and it shows.  My power companion isn't close to a year old and the ink is really coming off.  They should use better stuff but who cares about dell quality control?

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