Tech Support Forum - View Single Post - Battery doesn't always work, sometimes not detected

PTRACER · 08-02-2008, 07:00 AM

I've just bought a used Toshiba Satellite 2450-101 on eBay and it seems fine other than this battery problem.

The battery isn't always detected by the laptop and I'm unsure whether the problem is with the battery or the laptop.

Here's a quick run through of my problems:

- When I start up the laptop with the AC adapter plugged in, it doesn't always charge the battery and therefore sometimes doesn't detect the battery. The amber light doesn't always come on. When it does come on, it charges the battery and goes green when the battery is fully charged.

- When I have fully charged the battery, the laptop doesn't always start. I'll press the On button and the On light will flash on and go straight off as though the battery wasn't charged at all.

- If the above happens (can't run laptop on fully charged battery), I can plug the AC Adapter in, load the laptop, pull out the AC adapter and it'll continue to run on the battery. In Windows, the Power Saver will continue to tell me I am running on AC Power even when the power cable is disconnected.

- 75% of the time, if I take the battery out of the laptop and leave it out for a few minutes, it'll suddenly start detecting it again when I put it back in.

It's obvious the laptop is quite a few years old and the battery is probably the original. I'm not inclined right now to buy a new battery and test it out in case it's not the problem.

Is it likely to be a problem with the laptop, or a problem with the battery? The problem is rather intermittant.

08-02-2008, 07:00 AM	#1 (permalink)
PTRACER Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 7 OS: XP SP3	Battery doesn't always work, sometimes not detected I've just bought a used Toshiba Satellite 2450-101 on eBay and it seems fine other than this battery problem. The battery isn't always detected by the laptop and I'm unsure whether the problem is with the battery or the laptop. Here's a quick run through of my problems: - When I start up the laptop with the AC adapter plugged in, it doesn't always charge the battery and therefore sometimes doesn't detect the battery. The amber light doesn't always come on. When it does come on, it charges the battery and goes green when the battery is fully charged. - When I have fully charged the battery, the laptop doesn't always start. I'll press the On button and the On light will flash on and go straight off as though the battery wasn't charged at all. - If the above happens (can't run laptop on fully charged battery), I can plug the AC Adapter in, load the laptop, pull out the AC adapter and it'll continue to run on the battery. In Windows, the Power Saver will continue to tell me I am running on AC Power even when the power cable is disconnected. - 75% of the time, if I take the battery out of the laptop and leave it out for a few minutes, it'll suddenly start detecting it again when I put it back in. It's obvious the laptop is quite a few years old and the battery is probably the original. I'm not inclined right now to buy a new battery and test it out in case it's not the problem. Is it likely to be a problem with the laptop, or a problem with the battery? The problem is rather intermittant.