laptop not charging

[magicman]

ive got a laptop that would at first sometimes charge and othertimes not now it wont charge up at all but the strange thing is that when the laptop is not on and you plug in the charger it charges the battery but as soon as it is turned on it stops charging up. its got me stumped. I have tried the usual take at the battery and hold down the power button to discharge it but it doesn't help

 

[Computer Bloke]

...when the laptop is not on and you plug in the charger it charges the battery but as soon as it is turned on it stops charging up.

Does it stop charging as soon as it is turned on or as soon as Windows is running? They're very different things - one points to a hardware fault, and the other to software.

As a simple test, try booting it from a Linux Live CD (yes, I know we always say that). If it charges under Linux then you're looking at either a driver problem in Windows or some kind of weird battery-life extension software that refuses to charge the battery fully because that might not be good for it. Sony, Acer, and especially Lenovo have this kind of stuff, and unless you're expecting that behaviour it just looks broken.

If it doesn't charge under Linux, it's time to start looking for hardware faults.

 

[glennd]

ive got a laptop that would at first sometimes charge and othertimes not now it wont charge up at all but the strange thing is that when the laptop is not on and you plug in the charger it charges the battery but as soon as it is turned on it stops charging up. its got me stumped. I have tried the usual take at the battery and hold down the power button to discharge it but it doesn't help

wrong or faulty charger. if it's not delivering sufficient power the laptop will stop charging the battery when it's switched on.

 

[Porthos]

Official charger?

 

[HFultzjr]

Sounds like the charger is putting out enough watts to run the computer or charge the battery. Just not enough to do both at the same time. Time to try a new charger. Make sure someone didn't switch out a 65 watt in place of a 90 watt, etc.

 

[Computer Bloke]

Make sure someone didn't switch out a 65 watt in place of a 90 watt, etc.

Most laptops will warn about this as part of the POST, though a truly sneaky user will have turned off this message in the BIOS.

I still think you should try Linux.

 

[brandonkick]

A few things to look at really.

Is that power supply testing good? Does it read the correct voltages?
Even if it does... this not under load.

Is it OEM, or some chinese replacement power adapter?

Can you find out if that model of laptop had power adapters that would
fit of varying wattage? It could very well be the 65 / 95 issue... The system
needs 95 but has been given a 65.

Can you confirm, that if you remove the battery, you can power the system
up just fine using only the AC adapter?

Could be a faulty battery, or a faulty charging circuit. Could be a lot of things.
Try booting to a live OS from DVD, see if that will load up.

 

[Computer Bloke]

Try booting to a live OS from DVD, see if that will load up.

Hey, that's a good idea! I wonder why nobody suggested it earlier.

It takes two minutes and will tell you immediately whether it's a hardware or software problem. Why wouldn't you?

 

[Altster]

Not enough info on laptop to make a true determination regarding this issue.

How about make / model of laptop AND power adapter (AC adapter/charger) info?

 

[brandonkick]

Hey, that's a good idea! I wonder why nobody suggested it earlier.

It takes two minutes and will tell you immediately whether it's a hardware or software problem. Why wouldn't you?

That's why I "resuggested" in a very subtle way

 

[Computer Bloke]

That's why I "resuggested" in a very subtle way

Thanks for noticing! It's starting to look a bit irrelevant as @magicman hasn't been back here since posting his question.

Some days it's like writing poetry. You pour what's left of your soul into a tiny piece of perfectly crafted prose, sprinkle liberally with blood, sweat, and tears, and nobody even cares. <Sniff>

 

[frase]

Thanks for noticing! It's starting to look a bit irrelevant as @magicman hasn't been back here since posting his question.

Some days it's like writing poetry. You pour what's left of your soul into a tiny piece of perfectly crafted prose, sprinkle liberally with blood, sweat, and tears, and nobody even cares. <Sniff>

..awww you ok

 

[Altster]

Some days it's like writing poetry. You pour what's left of your soul into a tiny piece of perfectly crafted prose, sprinkle liberally with blood, sweat, and tears, and nobody even cares. <Sniff>

But really, the rest of care. You've done such a good job with all of this.

+ + + + + for your efforts

 

[magicman]

Sorry been away for some time with family commitments I tried to boot from live CD and it is doing the same power light flashing

 

[GTP]

Thanks for noticing! It's starting to look a bit irrelevant as @magicman hasn't been back here since posting his question.

Some days it's like writing poetry. You pour what's left of your soul into a tiny piece of perfectly crafted prose, sprinkle liberally with blood, sweat, and tears, and nobody even cares. <Sniff>

There there! Here's a virtual hug.

 

[GTP]

PSU.
Either a third party one with the wrong connector or, as has been suggested, not strong enough to run both comp and charge battery.

 

[glennd]

PSU.
Either a third party one with the wrong connector or, as has been suggested, not strong enough to run both comp and charge battery.

Gee I wish I'd thought of that...

 

[GTP]

Gee I wish I'd thought of that...

Sorry @glennd
Another case of I should read ALL the previous posts before adding my own thoughts!

 

[Krynn72]

Sorry @glennd
Another case of I should read ALL the previous posts before adding my own thoughts!

A problem magicman apparently has as well.

 

[magicman]

Thanks for your help I'll read the whole forum now just so I don't miss anything