Dell Laptop Pluged in But No Charge

omega59

Member
Aug 10, 2012
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0
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Hi, so i'm having a problem with my Dell laptop. When I plug it in it doesn't go on to charge. It just says Plugged in, not charging. It sometimes goes into charge but quickly stops, I googled it and tried a few things.

  • Removed the battery to see if it works with just PSU, it does work.
  • Uninstall the Power drivers in device manager
  • Unplugged the PSU and removed battery, let it sit for 1hr and tried again nothing.
  • Shaking the battery? lol can't believe it was suggested.
  • Check the BIOS diagnostic tests, everything is detected and no errors found.
Any suggestions??
 

daveybrat

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jan 31, 2000
5,805
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It's either the AC adapter that's failing or the battery. That's about the only 2 things that would cause that as it works on just AC alone.
 
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omega59

Member
Aug 10, 2012
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I will try another battery tomorrow and see if there is a difference. I will report back.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,574
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Is this an Official Dell adapter? I've heard some of them can be "picky", that there's a third pin in the middle carrying a serial data signal, identifying the charger as a "authentic Dell". If that pin is bent, missing, or not there, then you may get the symptoms that you're experiencing.
 

Lanyap

Elite Member
Dec 23, 2000
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What model is the Dell laptop? And what VL asked above, is your charger an original Dell charger or a generic charger?
 

omega59

Member
Aug 10, 2012
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0
66
Hi, it's a Dell Latitude 3330 the PSU is original. I tried another battery when i plug in the PSU, the battery light comes on for a second then goes away. So that did not work at all :-(
 

Lanyap

Elite Member
Dec 23, 2000
8,260
2,358
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Sounds like either PSU or internal power jack. I would order a new genuine Dell PSU from eBay and try it. Make sure it’s new and genuine. They should be reasonably priced (~$20). I don’t trust third party PSUs.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
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Gotcha, so it's genuine Dell as well. Are the battery contacts on the laptop in good shape? I wonder if the friend would let you borrow his charger. Do you still have a good contact when plugging in the charger?
 

omega59

Member
Aug 10, 2012
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0
66
Hey just an update. I turned my laptop on and the battery went from 33% to 100% idk what is making it work suddenly I just left it on for 4hrs lol. Took the plug out and put back in, and it's detected it connected and says it's charged 100% battery.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
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Such a love/hate relationship with that! Hopefully it stays working though.
 

C1

Platinum Member
Feb 21, 2008
2,386
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You may not be out of the woods yet. There's a possibility that you have a bad wire in the power adapter cord that results in an intermittent. (Happened to me once and just replaced the power adapter.)

When the battery is in the process of charging, flex and pull on the PSU connector wire throughout particularly at the connector joints (adapter and connector end) to ensure that power remains uninterrupted.
 

omega59

Member
Aug 10, 2012
63
0
66
So today i went on my laptop was playing Lumines, i did not have it plugged in, it said battery is 73%. 15mins later the battery warning came up saying it's going dead so it dropped to 7% rapidly. I have it plugged in now it says charging and the battery light is on. Another strange situation.

https://imgur.com/a/jPpilch
 
Last edited:

LTC8K6

Lifer
Mar 10, 2004
28,520
1,575
126
That's a bad battery. You possibly also have a charger problem such as the broken wire described earlier.
 

PliotronX

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 1999
8,883
107
106
Is this an Official Dell adapter? I've heard some of them can be "picky", that there's a third pin in the middle carrying a serial data signal, identifying the charger as a "authentic Dell". If that pin is bent, missing, or not there, then you may get the symptoms that you're experiencing.
Just experienced this with my 14z, the wife decided to use an HP charger that has the right size terminal and registers as plugged in but not charging. I freaked out until I found the Dell charger in the bedroom lol
 

ankit3302

Junior Member
Jun 1, 2018
14
1
11
Seeing all the conversation above, it seems that there is a problem with your charger. Try to replace it with a new one.