E1505 battery will not charge

[Mr Smiley]

The battery for my Dell E1505 unexpectedly stopped charging. When I plug it into the a/c with the battery attached, the battery indicator flashes amber once then turns green for about one second. Then it flashes amber four times before turning green again for a minute or so until it turns off. The BIOS indicates that the battery is "preforming normally". When I boot into Vista, it tells me that my battery is charging but it stays at 0%.

Searching Google tells me that my battery is dead. What is strange is that the battery was working fine a week ago. I could get 3-4 hours off of a full charge. I have had the laptop for 2 years and it isn't under warranty anymore. I saw that Dell was recalling some of its batteries. My model is RD850 which doesn't seem affected...

Anyone have a similar experience with their Dell laptop? Is there anything else I can check or do? I really don't want to spend $100 on a new battery.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Have you ran the unit off the battery allot over the past 2 years?

After 2 years of good use a battery will start to loose its ablity to keep a charge. Often if its allowed to fully discharge it won't take a charge again. Weather the battery is dead or not it may not be a bad idea to try a new battery.

 

[Mr Smiley]

It didn't get too much use. It was mostly plugged in. I would take it to class occasionally but even then I would plug it in when I could. My 4th gen iPod's battery lasted longer than this.

I saw that Dell recalled some of it's batteries. My model is RD850, they recalled RD857. You think mine is affected?

Has anyone dealt with Level8thechnology.com? They have my batter for $90 which is $60 less than Dell.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Put the battery in a ziploc bag, remove the air, and stick it in the freezer overnight. This has worked for me before on my dad's HP battery, although not on my e1505 battery which as gone kaput too after two years as well. I did a search on the battery a while back and rarely have people gotten more than two years life out of these models.

 

[WackyDan]

If you get 2 years out of a lithium ion battery, you are most fortunate to begin with.