[rabiticide]

I'm hoping to get some help on a hardware issue.. My laptop (Compaq m700 ~6 yrs old) Upon boot, just after "Intel Boot Agent" it says:

103 - Charge Circuit Failure

It runs just fine with the cord but doesn't run off the battery. I've checked the leads coming out of the computer to the battery. They are:

18.7 13.7 13.7 13.7 18.7 V

I can't read any voltage off of the battery but the check button lights all 5 LEDs. I have the service manual and I think it might be the Voltage Converter Board. Does this board control the charge circuit?

rK :wave:

 

[TriggerFinger]

hi,

try powering ON using AC only (battery removed) if error occurs. try it the other way around. for best results, test your battery on another laptop.

btw, are you using a genuine Compaq battery and AC adapter?

 

[rabiticide]

Yes compaq battery. Yes compaq cable.
I took out the battery and booted. The message didn't appear. I put it back - no error. Now the error doesn't appear and control panel doesn't see my battery. I'm pretty handy with a multi meter but I can't find what the pins are supposed to read either on the battery or the connectors in the laptop. Do you know a way to test the battery. I don't have another compaq laptop handy...

rK

 

[TriggerFinger]

this type of error may be BIOS related but considering the age, it could also be the battery or the motherboard. in fact you are lucky if your battery still holds charge. some laptop batteries die after 3 years. the best way to know is to have a spare, a good working battery to test on your laptop. if the error happens again, then you can consider replacing the motherboard.

 

[rabiticide]

Could it be the Voltage Converter Board? I downloaded the service manual but it's not very good. It doesn't say what the voltage converter board does but I could make a good guess... New battery is $169 and $60 to test the old one (!!!). There are some computer repair shops around here and they probably have one lying around...

Do you really run DOS 6.0?

rK

 

[TriggerFinger]

yeah it could be the Voltage converter board - this is also the cheapest compared to getting a new battery or a replacement mobo.

as of the moment since you do not see the error come up again, try a cmos reset - hold down Fn on start up while tapping F11. a keyboard error will pop up but just accept by tapping F1.

should the problem happen again, consider replacing the voltage converter board.