Help: laptop - battery...

[InGearX]

Good day all...

A strange issue began happening to my laptop.

All of a sudden it would switch to battery power and begin working of and discharging the battery - ignoring the power supply which appears to be working.

What is making it worse is that it will switch back to power for one second and then back to battery for one second and then back to power and keeps going on like this.

If I take the battery out it shuts down and seems to accept power just for one second and then as if though rejecting it, on an off like this...

At times after trying it will accept the power! And I can walk around the BIOS indefinitely, but as soon as I being booting up into OS - at safe mode exactly at load of "agp440.sys" it switches off! Why? Not enough power? But on the battery it is able to boot up fine!

If I walk around in BIOS with the battery in, it will charge the battery during this time.
If I attempt to calibrate the battery in BIOS (Charge>Discharge>Charge) at that request it will immediately begin ignoring the power and switch completely to battery after what it will die.

It kind of began after it was left in a laptop bag and it turned on and got extremely hot.

Looks like it is rejecting the power supply for some reason.

Where could be the problem?
Anything I can do to solve this issue?

It's a nice 3 year old Compaq X1000, running Win XP.

Any tips, tricks, links, suggestions are much appreciated

Thank you all...

 

[Lord Evermore]

Something's obviously wrong with either the power supply brick, or the power circuitry in the laptop. It really doesn't matter what on the mainboard specifically, since all that's integrated into the mainboard or perhaps a small daughter card, neither of which is likely to be worth replacing. The power supply you can probably find a cheap third-party replacement for to see if that makes any difference, or the local computer shop or CompUSA-type place with a tech support department might have a model that would work for testing purposes.

 

[corkyg]

Milord's last sentence is an excellent suggestion. There are several good after market A/C adapters with a variety of selectable tips that you can buy. But - take it to a store that sells laptops and try it on one of their floor models or service department A/C adapters. The question should then be answered rather quickly as to whether it is the power adapter or the internal charging circuit. It is hopefully, the former, and it usually is.

 

[InGearX]

Thank you all;

Very informative...

I hope it's the "power brick" - then I can just pick up
"Targus Home/Office 90 Watt AC Notebook Power Adapter" http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=APA03US

My X1000 power tip is included and I guess it's compatible...

I will also check the connections...

If it's something inside the laptop - my guess is that it will be expensive to repair? Although it may be just worth trying to send it to Compaq or some manufacturer to evaluate it...

I will let you all know what happens...

Please any advice is much appreciated...

 

[knght990]

Sounds like a loose connection. Could be the cable running from the transfomer (the brick) to the laptop could have a partially broken wire (this would cause a limited power available) or a short in the cable. Do as the others suggested, try a good condition transformer as a trouble shooting tip. If it doesnt correct the problem then you might need to send it to a repair shop where at minimum you will have to pay a bench fee for them to finf the problem for you. Usually around $50.
-TL

 

[imported_goku]

If you get an aftermarket power brick, be absolutely sure it provides ENOUGH VOLTAGE! And Watts.

 

[InGearX]

Originally posted by: knght990
Sounds like a loose connection. Could be the cable running from the transfomer (the brick) to the laptop could have a partially broken wire (this would cause a limited power available) or a short in the cable. Do as the others suggested, try a good condition transformer as a trouble shooting tip. If it doesnt correct the problem then you might need to send it to a repair shop where at minimum you will have to pay a bench fee for them to finf the problem for you. Usually around $50.
-TL

I hope it's the power supply...

Originally posted by: goku
If you get an aftermarket power brick, be absolutely sure it provides ENOUGH VOLTAGE! And Watts.

You mean even if I get exact same one from eBay for X1000 series ... I still should make sure?

In what case can it damage the laptop? if there is too many watts and/or volts I believe... what about damage to power brick? if the appliance is eating more watts then it can provide it can burn out I believe... correct?

I will keep you all posted...

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: InGearX

You mean even if I get exact same one from eBay for X1000 series ... I still should make sure?
[/quote] On the back of your adapter is a sticker that gives the volt range and the amps. Just make sure that you get that range on any replacement.

 

[bruceb]

It could be nothing more than a BAD Solder Joint on the computer Motherboard
where the Power Jack is mounted ... they have a tendency to fail due to the
constant flexing of both the power wire and multiple inserttions and removals

I would open the bottom of the laptop and check that first ... if it is bad, you
will see some small cracks in the solder or the circuit board foils, right
near the power jack

You can get the HP Service Manual for your model here:

http://h20181.www2.hp.com/plmcontent/NACSC/SML/Kits/SML_Product_331683_Setup.exe

You will also need this program installed to be able to view the manual:

http://h20181.www2.hp.com/plmcontent/NACSC/SML/download/SML_UI_Setup.exe

 

[InGearX]

OK great news everybody!

I went to BestBuy and got the "Targus Mobile 70 Universal AC/DC Adapter"
http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=APM10US

And it works great!!!

I did not want to get a new laptop... I am OK with this one...

So it is a busted "power brick"...

I wonder if I can get something compatible for my laptop from eBay or from some other store for less then $131 that it was at BestBuy...

Any ideas?

And thank you all!

 

[Lord Evermore]

I'm not sure of the exact model of X1000 you have (there's like 8 of them that HP lists after you search for that model, don't know if the power adapter is any different between them), but you can order a new adapter from HP for about $56.

 

[corkyg]

To one one step further, I have an HP laptop, and I ordered a 2nd adapter from them - and it includes the necessary travel connectors for car, and commercial air. I keep it in my travel bag ready to go, and keep the original one Velcro'd to the window sill above my laptop. That way I always have a spare.