Laptop help.

[RGDave]

Can anyone offer insight or even a little logic into some Laptop weirdness?

A year ago
AC adapter failed, replace with original HP one, working fine

Last week
Battery saying 100% but not holding power. Google'd this, suggested battery holding no charge (3-4 years old), so ordered replacement.

HP "message" had been appearing saying adapter power output not enough/wrong

Laptop works with AC power cord (no battery)

New battery in, laptop says "charging" but the little graphic is not "filling up" and battery gradually dropping down but not topping up.

Could the new battery be duff?
Is it possible the power adapter is somehow able to run the laptop but not charge the battery at all?
Is there something inside the laptop which controls the power to m-board and/or battery which could be broken, i.e. laptop gets power, but broken connection/supply to battery?

I'm rather confused....and not very technical....help!

 

[surefire]

I'm not sure about HP laptops, but Dell laptops have a coded diode in the power transformer.

If the laptop BIOS doesn't recognise the diode, it doesn't charge the battery, even if the adapter is the correct voltage and current.

Dell claim this is to protect the user from using the wrong charger and causing damage, cynical people suggest it is to force you to buy a £35+ dell AC adapter, instead of a £10 normal one.

It's possible HP have a similar system, and its playing up.

 

[brendy]

Chances are your laptop needs something like a 90w charger and you have bought a 65w version, easy mistake to make. Now, if you leave it plugged in and turned off, it will charge. Its only when you are hammering the laptop that it will lose more than it receives. If you turn the power mode (windows 7) to balanced, it might well last longer or even begin to start taking a charge.
The major power consumers on a laptop are:
the screen (turn brightness down a notch)
CD drive (when not using one, remove the disc as the drive actively spins up every time the drives are referenced via my computer, save file prompt etc)
external usb devices plugged in (again if you arnt using it, disconnect it).

Hope this helps.

 

[RGDave]

Yes, it is a 65W AC adapter. I don't know what the old one was; I think I binned it after testing on a work laptop.

Interestingly, it doesn't charge with the laptop powered down, although the orange power light is on.

I think that I will try the power cord on a work laptop (and maybe the battery, if it's the same) and see what happens and either buy another AC power cord or just run it now from main power. Maybe I can sell the battery on ebay to recoup some cost in this case.

I've been out for an hour and left it sleeping (no battery, but mains power) and it had shut itself down. Maybe the connection is dodgy?

Thanks for looking into it.

 

[RGDave]

OK, two things. The original charger was rated 65W, so my replacement is identical (HP).

HP has a utility to test the battery. I ran it and it said one (or more) of the cells was not functioning properly, and that it should be replaced.....doesn't look good.