ZeroDarkness

Hey, I have a laptop thats been having a problem with it's power. When it's plugged in, it takes some fiddling before it will start to charge. Even if it's charging and unmoved, it would start to flicker or just stop charging. I discussed this before on another forum and it turned out that the power cable the repair shop gave us for the new power pin was the wrong type. For a while, it was working alot better with the right cord but then it went back to being a pain. But now, the battery is acting up. After letting the battery fully charge overnight, I turned it on. Less than five minutes later, it went into hibernation mode. When I turned it back on, it was complaining about not having enough power. The battery said it only had 4% of power left. I know it was at 100% before. I let it charge and after a few moments, the charge light turned green and I turned it on and it said 100%. Not even 2 minutes later, back to hibernation mode. After doing this several times, it seems that it will go to 100% to 4% and occasionally 46%. When I push the power indicator button on the battery, it agrees with what the laptop says. I was thinking that the power issue might have damaged the battery. Any clues? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

(by the way, it's a Compaq laptop that's about 4 or so years old. I don't really want to spend the money on a new battery if it's gonna damage it again. The power pin was already replaced before and broke again and the combined cost of these are almost enough to buy a new laptop thats significantly more powerful.)

Oh, and a new issue to, in the few minutes it was working, I was messing around and the recycling bin is empty, but the icon shows otherwise. When I click on empty recycling bin, it asks if I want to delete the 'Windows" folder. Show hidden files is selected and theres nothing inside. I'm still curious as to what the actual problem could be. With all that and the touch pad going out, I'm not expecting this thing to get fixed. I'm just want to know how bad the situation could possibly be and what might be causing this. (it's my uncles laptop and I would recommend him buy a new one but he's stubborn) And as a side note, is there any websites anyone would recommend for a cheap laptop? It doesn't have to be high end by any means. Cyberpower and abs charge to much for a low end configuration (but mid to high are actually pretty good) and I have a grudge against Dell.

dai

it sounds like the battery needs draining and recharging a few times
http://www.techsupportforum.com/hard...aff-picks.html

ZeroDarkness

So... how can I drain it and recharge it if it won't do either? I can't drain it if it won't stay on. And I can't recharge it if it's convinced it's full. I appreciate the help.

Edit: Ah, and I didn't realize that staff picks was for laptop vendors. Thanks.

laboye

Hi and welcome to TSF. Go into Control Panel -> Power Options and click the Alarms tab. Uncheck both alarms and click OK. Drain the battery this way. When it is completely drained (the system powers off), charge the machine with the power off so the battery gets the "full flow". I hope this helps! Also, what's the model/make on that laptop?

-Eddie

ZeroDarkness

I did that already. But the problem is, when the system goes off, I charge it and moments later the light turns from yellow to green and the power meter on the battery says 100%. Well, except for the last time, the light turned green and the power meter lights went up to 80%. I let it "drain Completely" and afterwords I hit the power button a few times and the power light flickered. I waited about 5 minutes and hit it again and it still said it had no juice. But it wasn't even plugged in for ten minutes before claiming its full. Lastnight, I let it charge all night and it's still the same story. Thank god it's my uncles laptop or there'd be a bunch of little pieces of a presario 2100 all over my room. Bipolar technology, haha.

laboye

Sounds like the battery's "smart" chip is shot, or the lithium cells have finally given in. You can expect that from old batteries.

ZeroDarkness

Ah, so is it an age thing or could it be caused by the already existing power issue. The power pin is solid still. Before, the laptop was dropped and the pin wobbled around. I tried moving it and all but it won't budge, possibly a bad solder? When it first got back from the shop, it was workin perfectly. But we were using the cord they gave us for the new pin and it was + - instead of - + or something like that and the symptoms returned. Thanks for the replies, I don't want to sound clueless when I tell my uncles he should spend $600-$800 on a new one istead of $200-300 to fix his broken one that's on the verge of dying from several things.

dai

you need to put it to him in a way that he thinks it his his idea a new one is the way to go

hwm54112

If this is true, you may have a reverse polarity issue. Most laptops (probably all laptops) have a reversing diode that prevents the forward flow of current through it. However, the diode doesn't stop all current. There is "leakage" current and that current may be sufficient to cause the lights to flicker and/or damage the diode itself. You really need to make sure of the power adapter's polarity and try an adaptor with the same polarity as the dc jack. If the diode is the problem, you may be able to get it repaired but that's as far as my knowledge goes. I think diodes are cheap. I stumbled across this site
. The prices seem pretty reasonable to me, but never used them

ZeroDarkness

We used the correct cord after we discovered the mistake. Yet another symptom happened. I kept it on till it turned off on its own. I pushed the power button until the light flickered and didn't have enough power to startup. I pushed the email button and it forced it to come on. I did that over and over until it was about as dead as it was gonna get. When I plugged it in to the charger, a high pitched "whistle" noise started. It stopped the moment I unplugged the adapter. I thought it was gonna explode or something so I was a bit freaked.

laboye

You shouldn't have to worry about anything like that unless you're giving those lithium cells a nice, warm bath in a large tub of ionized H20 (kinda redundant, there... Anyway, don't dip lithium cells in water...). Leave the charger in for a few seconds and see if the noise dissipates...

-Eddie

ZeroDarkness

I tried to leave it in for as long as possible but that's unnerving as hell. The noise didn't go away at all, just the same high pitched buzzing. I listened closely to see where it was coming from to be sure and it was the battery slot. I took the battery out and fiddled with the cord and I got it to flash the battery light, but it wouldn't turn on. Hmm, I suppose I should give up and wait for my uncles response about getting a new one.

laboye

When you remove the battery and keep it plugged in, does the noise dissipate or go away?

ZeroDarkness

remove the battery and there's no noise at all. It just stops.