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Help - Laptop Charging Issues

G

guptasa1

Senior member
Hi all,

Have an issue that's puzzling me. Working on a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop with a nasty virus issue. Had it since yesterday and just noticed today the battery is draining and not charging back up. (BIOS agrees, so it shouldn't be related to the virus).

Power is getting to the system as the machine does try to start if I press the power button even with the battery not installed (quick on and auto-shutoff). The manual wasn't clear on whether the laptop should work without a battery installed (boot up and be usable work), so I don't know if that's indicative of a problem or not, but at least some power is getting to it.

With the battery inserted, the green charging light comes on, but only stays on about 20 seconds before turning back off again. Then it turns back on again a few minutes later, and back off in 20 seconds. Repeat. It should be staying on if it were charging, and it should be blinking orange if the battery's bad, so I'm not sure what's going on here.

Tried checking the chord and though the fit seems a bit loose everything seems in order and wiggling it doesn't help. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 
Power is getting to the system as the machine does try to start if I press the power button even with the battery not installed (quick on and auto-shutoff). The manual wasn't clear on whether the laptop should work without a battery installed (boot up and be usable work), so I don't know if that's indicative of a problem or not, but at least some power is getting to it.

It is standard procedure to run laptops on A/C with the battery removed. That is considered by many to be the preferred mode when in "base camp." It is also a good diagnostic tool. If the machine powers up and runs, then you know the problem is the battery itself. If it does not run, then you know the problem is in the laptop, or the A/C adapter.

The latter can be ruled in or out by an A/C adapter swap.
 
yeah, if it doesn't power on withOUT the battery installed then the problem is in the laptop itself.

If the laptop had powered on normally withOUT the battery, then the problem is the battery.

As old as that laptop is, fixing it might be prohibitively expensive. Might be time to buy a new one.
 
That's what I was afraid of - thanks!

BTW, on a curious note, laptop charged around 30% overnight, so it seems like it's underpowered. heh...
 
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