Odd Dell Inspiron Power Issue

[xxsilk109xx]

Dell inspiron 1501 laptop.
Customer brings to me because it would not charge the battery, a power issue.
He has a 3rd party battery and a 3rd party charger.

Basically what is happening is that it would not recognize the battery upon boot and when it booted into windows it would say that the battery had zero percent life and to plug it in.

I updated the BIOS and it made the message go away. I tested the point at which the battery charges and it is getting the 4.8 volts like it should when the power adapter is plugged in, ok so its not the DC jack.

When you take the battery out, the computer will not power on. When you put the battery in, it will turn on. You can take the battery out while its running and it stays running, it will even restart if you ask it to without the battery in.

I have a similar laptop i think its a 1525 or something so I took the 3rd party battery and charger that I have replaced in my own laptop and tried it with his computer and I get the same results, however my battery works normally and my charger will charge the battery normally.

**His battery, when you click the button on the bottom shows full battery and the computer runs off of it fine, but windows shows it at 0%**

For some reason it doesnt seem to be charging the battery, even though there is power to the port.

The battery light is flashing orange while its running........When you take the battery out, the battery light flashes green once, then orange 3 or 4 times.

When I have the battery out and its turned off, when I try to hit the power button, it flashes green once, then i hit it again and it flashes orange once, hit a third time and it flashes orange, then i hit a fourth time and this cycle repeats without the computer starting...

weird

Any suggestions?

 

[NETWizz]

The battery is bad or incompatible.

I would try the good Battery in the Insprion 1501 and make sure that it recognizes that battery. If it does, there is nothing wrong with the customer's laptop (except a bad battery).

With the good laptop & the good battery, make sure the non-Dell power adapter is recognized by Windows & that it is charging.

...

At that point bill your customer for diagnostics only and simply tell them they need a battery. <== This is what happens when they try to save $1. Had they bought a Genuine/Authentic Battery & Charger from Dell, that laptop would NOT be in your shop.

 

[xxsilk109xx]

My good battery that I use in my laptop charges and works fine, however it does not in customers laptop.

It appears that the charger is recognized by windows, I say this because when I take the battery out, the icon changes to the plug on the battery with a red x...

Would the bad battery explain why it wont power on without a battery plugged in??

I might also add that the customer explained that he has been using this battery for about a year with no issues and all of the sudden this issue appears

 

[NETWizz]

No. I have a personal owened Inspiron 1564 and it won't turn on without a battery present, so I presume that is the same for all the Insprion 15's.

 

[xxsilk109xx]

ahhhh ok gotcha...

I have a 3rd party battery that it wont charge as well, maybe they are both incompatible? Even though it charges on mine?

I also noticed that in windows, I have it set to when its plugged in that it wont turn the screen off or go to sleep, but it still does even when the battery is not plugged in.

 

[sys-eng]

Did a new battery fix this?

 

[xxsilk109xx]

Well I advised the customer to order a new battery, but they decided against it.