Laptop shuts down at 50% battery life

SantiClaws

Senior member
Sep 2, 2000
439
1
81
It's an HP 4430s and has started exhibiting this behavior recently. It's set to hibernate at something like 20% and I used to get a low batter warning long before it shut itself down. Now, it suddenly shuts down with no warning. When I plug it back in and turn it on, it shows the battery at about 50%.

I checked the advanced power settings (which I did not change before this started) and there is nothing there which would suggest it should turn itself off at 50% battery. Any ideas? TIA
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,222
991
136
Sounds like you might have a bad battery. How old is the laptop? Does it seem to be shutting down properly, or is it just turning off due to lack of power?
 

SantiClaws

Senior member
Sep 2, 2000
439
1
81
Sounds like you might have a bad battery. How old is the laptop? Does it seem to be shutting down properly, or is it just turning off due to lack of power?

It shuts off due to lack of power. Instant shutdown. Not sure how old it is, I did not buy it new. Probably around 3 years old. HP Probook 4430s
 
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mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
18,593
11,277
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Faulty battery. When you connect power and restart it, does it say that the battery is flat?
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,222
991
136
Sounds like the battery has developed one or more bad cells. You should be able to get a replacement 6 cell battery on ebay for $15-$16. I also saw a 9 cell extended capacity battery listed there for between $30-$35 as well.

Probably worth the investment if the laptop is otherwise functional and meets your needs.
 

SantiClaws

Senior member
Sep 2, 2000
439
1
81
Sounds like the battery has developed one or more bad cells. You should be able to get a replacement 6 cell battery on ebay for $15-$16. I also saw a 9 cell extended capacity battery listed there for between $30-$35 as well.

Probably worth the investment if the laptop is otherwise functional and meets your needs.

Yeah, the laptop is fine and for web surfing and an occasional word doc, more than sufficient. I'm a little leary buying a third party battery on ebay. I don't really care if it dies in a year, but I would be a little disappointed if it caught on fire or exploded. Anyone ever have any safety issues with cheap third party batteries?
 

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
3
0
I have bought a bunch of them over the years. They are fine, just not as strong as what will typically come with a new laptop.
 
Jan 20, 2013
70
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I started having a similar issue with a battery that is about 2 years old.

You can probably try downloading BatteryBar to check the wear of the battery.

Third party are probably not as strong as noted by Matt1970. I recently bought a third party battery by LaptopBattery1 thru newegg.com for a Toshiba. It does the job.