Is it the battery or the charging circuit that is fried?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
C

chiwawa626

Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
12,013
0
0
Is it the battery or the charging circuit that is fried? How can you tell?

My girlfriend's laptop's battery seems to always be at 1% power in windows and thus as soon as you unplug it from the power source the computer turns off. I know that this laptop has been literally on and plugged in for the last 2 years on a daily basis for atleast 12 hrs - it was never used only on battery power. So im thinking, if the battery is in and the laptop is plugged in - wouldn't the charging circuit just bypass the battery and send power right to the computer? This leads me to think somehow the charging circuit is bad and not the battery - I mean the charging circuit did get a workout in the last 2 years right?

How would I find out if its the battery or the charger? The laptop is something her mom picked up at frys a few years ago, its a 1.3ghz pentium m, its based off the Mitac 8080 also known as the Winbook 100c. (Because of this I can't just find someone who has the same laptop and test with them....grr)...

anyone have any insight to such a problem?
 
A

Abhi

Diamond Member
Sep 13, 2003
4,548
0
76
As far as I know, even if the power is plugged in and the PC runs directly off the mains, the battery continues to discharge itself slowly.

Whenever a certain level of discharge occurs (say 95% battery) the laptop charges the battery to full. This counts as charging cycles for the battery.

But even considering that, a battery should not become so weak in a 2 yr usage.
 
C

CrispyFried

Golden Member
May 3, 2005
1,122
0
0
The battery will read its rated voltage out of the notebook, it needs to be under load to get a correct reading.

Disable auto power off and unplug the brick, see how long it lasts. That will recalibrate the battery charge gauge, it might be way off.

Dont get your hopes up though from what I understand leaving the notebook always plugged in without exersizing the battery once a month or so is bad for it.
 
C

chiwawa626

Lifer
Aug 15, 2000
12,013
0
0
Disable auto power off and unplug the brick, see how long it lasts.
Click to expand...

It lasts about 2 seconds :)...

Is it worth it to put down a $100 for the battery when im not even sure thats the problem?...better check the suppliers return policy - unless anyone has more insight...
 
C

CrispyFried

Golden Member
May 3, 2005
1,122
0
0
well with the two laptops I have, both with nimh batteries, even with toasted batteries the charge still reads 100% after an hour or so charging, but even the worst battery lasted about 30 minutes with the brick unplugged so thats a lot different than your problem.

The new lithium batteries and their charging circut are much smarter than my older gen ones so maybe its the batterys or chargers circut is not allowing a charge to protect the notebook as the new lithium batteries are very picky about how they are used, stored and charged.

Given its age I would assume the battery though but thats just a guess :(

 
W

winston9t4

Senior member
Apr 2, 2001
406
2
81
My sister-in-law killed my laptop battery by always using it with the AC power plugged in. It seems to be utterly dead, and is a Li-Ion one as well.

Sucks that these batteries are so pricey. Anyone know of a way to revive it, or replace the cells?
 
A

andrewbabcock

Senior member
Oct 2, 2005
561
0
0
If i keep a battery in it while its plugged in for a long time, will that decrease the life of the battery or is that only with older gen ones?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom