Battery has gone??

Question

I purchased my Latitude E5440 with 9-cell battery more than two years ago, and was very satisfied with the design and production quality. I also took all measures to conserve battery, like restricting charge level.

However, yesterday the battery stopped working, and now the computer only works with connected power adapter. There are several strange symptoms:

Front panel battery indicator blinks amber permanently.
Indicator in the taskbar displays normal state: 83% available (plugged in, not charging).
If I press on the taskbar indicator, the pop up window displays: Battery 1: Not present, Battery 2: 83% and not charging (???).
Dell Command | Power Manager displays error in Battery 1 Health: Your battery no longer operates and needs to be replaced (Battery 2 - not present).
Dell SupportAssist executes battery test successfully and displays: Battery - Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery - Passed.
Hardware test executed with F12 at startup reports that battery is not connected.
The problem came from blue sky; there was no sensible drop in battery operation time, I could work on battery 3-5 hours depending on load; all tests that I ran before reported battery state as excellent.

At this point, I am pretty sure the battery itself is OK, and real problem is some malfunction in software or maybe in the processor inside the battery. The question is: if something can be done to fix the problem other that replacing battery?

DELL-Chris M · Answer

3 test show battery failure. SupportAssist test must be wrong.

Constantly blinking amber light = Fatal battery failure with AC adapter present

Last test, battery is installed, AC adapter is connected. Power on, press F2. General shows Battery Information. If nothing is listed, the battery is defective.

Sasha H · Answer

Hi Chris, thank you very much for quick answer.

Per your suggestion, I have checked BIOS state of the battery (on startup/F2). General/Battery shows Primary Battery: 83%, Idle, The battery needs to be changed.

This confirms your point that the battery is defective.

However, I still think the battery itself is OK, but some processor element in the battery supplies wrong information.

Is there any way to reset this processor?

Don't you think 2 years and 3 months of savvy use is too short for Dell battery?

DELL-Chris M · Answer

No idea on resetting the 'processor element' ? Personally, I think 18 months life for a consumable battery is good. I do not expect anymore out of them on my laptops.

Sasha H · Answer

Understood, thank you.

nytonv88 · Answer

Chris, I have a similar issue.

Laptop will power down when AC power is unplugged. Battery life says it's at 67%, but I can't run the laptop on battery - it HAS to be plugged in. Also, the orange light on the indicator in blinking rapidly. I've never had a battery issue with a laptop before and this one is about 16 months old. Thoughts?

Jefak007 · Answer

I got my latitude PC in 2014, battery issues started in 2015, and packed up in 2016, I got another battery in 2016, December to be precise, but I woke up one day to use it and found a amber light blink continuously, my system says battery needs to be replaced but dell power manager still shows the battery at a excellent health state and at 69% charge, although it has refused to charge since the amber blinks.. Does this mean my new battery is bad or a software issue that is needed to be fixed?

LSUFAN51 · Answer

:emotion-2:

What is the battery setting on the system? Is it Adaptive, Standard, Express Charged, Primarily AC or Custom? You can check in the BIOS or in Dell Power Manager Application, see image below:

LSUFAN51 · Answer

Hi Jefak007

Please check status of AC adapter and Battery's health in the BIOS by follow steps below:

1. Power off system.

2. Power on system, quickly start tapping F2 key continuously. You should be in the BIOS. The status of adapter usually listed under the main screen and Battery health listed under the Advanced tab or Battery information.

The adapter should say the adapter type, if it says 'Unknown' or 'None', then it's a issue with the adapter, and most likely needs to replace with a Dell genuine adapter that suitable for the system. Note: Wiggle the adapter's end while checking it in the BIOS. The battery health should say "Excellent",....

Jefak007 · Answer

I always switch but I guess it was adaptive before It happened, then I started to try different options

LSUFAN51 · Answer

Removing the Battery:

LSUFAN51 · Answer

Just to be sure, follow steps above to check the battery health and adapter in BIOS. If battery health says Excellent and adapter says it's type, change battery settings (charging) to Standard, and then power off the system. Remove all peripherals from system, adapter, battery and then press the "Power On " button for 15 seconds to release 'Static Flea Power". Please wait about 30 minutes, replace battery, adapter, and then power on system. Hopefully battery is charging again and there's no blinking Amber light.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Battery has gone??

Was this post helpful?