Dell Pro Rugged Laptops have Power Issues using an Undersized AC Adapter

Summary: The following article provides information about power issues on Dell Pro Rugged laptops with undersized AC adapters. Issues such as slow performance, slow charging, failing to charge, and failure to turn on. ...

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Symptoms

Various power issues seen with an undersized AC adapter fitted

 

The battery on a Dell Pro Rugged Laptop with an undersized battery fitted continues to discharge while it is in use. The battery drains over time. Once the battery is below a 2 percent charge, it automatically enters hibernation and it does not turn on. Even with the AC adapter connected.

This is affecting the following Dell Pro Rugged models:

  • Dell Pro Rugged 13 RA13250 Laptop
  • Dell Pro Rugged 14 RB14250 Laptop

These laptops display on-screen warnings when this is happening. When your laptop first turns on with an undersized adapter, an on-screen warning message is shown. When your batteries capacity drops below 6 percent, another on-screen message is shown.

You have plugged in a lower wattage power adapter, USB-C charging device,
or power pass-through device.
Your system will continue to work, but may not perform at its peak.
Alert! a 19W AC power adapter has been detected. The system can only boot
with a 90W power adapter or greater.
Your battery is running low.
You might want to plug in your PC.
Note: It is commonly perceived that the laptop is shutting down and is not turning back on. Many people can mistake this for a startup error. (For example: No Power.) There are no signs of life and there is nothing seen on-screen. However, if the battery charges to over 5 percent the power button starts working again.

Cause

The power consumption of the laptop is higher than the AC adapter can supply. This is what causes a performance drop and continues consuming the battery to attempt to make up the difference:

  • The Dell Pro Rugged 14 RB14250 Uniform Memory Access (UMA) without a discrete graphic card requires a 65 W AC adapter
  • The Dell Pro Rugged 14 RB14250 Display Stream Compression (DSC) with a discrete graphics card requires a 100 W AC adapter
  • The Dell Pro Rugged 13 RA13250 UMA without a discrete graphic card requires a 65 W AC adapter
  • The Dell Pro Rugged 13 RA13250 UMA with the Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor 165H requires a 100 W AC adapter

Resolution

Ensure that the AC adapter which was purchased with the laptop is kept with that particular laptop. Otherwise ensure that the adapter in use is of sufficient power for the laptop it is being used with.

Note: External devices also have their own power requirements. Check if plugging your AC adapter leaves enough power to also run the laptop. Subtract the devices power requirement when connecting your AC adapter through a dock or pass-through device. (This is one of the reasons why the docks AC adapter is often a larger size than ships with most laptops.)


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Affected Products

Dell Pro Rugged
Article Properties
Article Number: 000337535
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 30 Jun 2025
Version:  1
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