Laptop switching to battery while connected to AC adapter
Laptop switching to battery power while turned on with AC adaptor
Model: Toshiba Satellite A70-TS100E
I was wondering if you could help me in identifying the cause of this problem.
While turned on, the laptop will switch to battery power even if connected with the AC adaptor (sometimes during boot-up, or after a while) until the battery drains out, he then goes to hibernation (the battery light is off). If no battery in the laptop, it will shut down, and the AC light will blink very fast. The battery (li-ion) will only charge up to 10%, where it then jumps right up to 100%, and will discharge from 100% to 90% then jump to 0%, go to hibernation, and fails to complete the process, shutting down. The adaptor makes a small “camera flash charging” sound, stabilizing at 19v. When charging, it repeatedly makes the “charging sound” Faulty AC adaptor? Or Faulty battery? Or Both?
I think you might have a few different problems at the same time.
First problem: the laptop switches to battery power even with connected AC adapter. Most likely you have a faulty power jack. It’s either broken or loose. It’s a known issue with Satellite A70/A75 laptops and you can fix it by replacing/resoldering the power jack or relocating it outside laptop case.
It also could be a problem with the power cord. Find a multimeter and check the AC adapter. See if the power cuts off when you jiggle the power cord. If it does, replace the adapter.
Second problem: the battery will discharge from 100% to 90% and then jump to 0%. It sounds like a bad battery.
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:12 pm
I have a sony vaio pcg-v5050dx with the ac charger problem mentioned above. It reads as fluctuating in the mid 15s, not 16v as it should the jack seems loose as well. I was quoted $150 to repair the jack. This seems excessive, but I was told it takes approx 2 hours. Is this something a complete non0techie can handle? they guy told me my model does not have the jack soldered to the board, instead sits in a plastic well. Any input is appreciated. thanks!
October 23rd, 2009 at 4:51 am
i have an acer 5720 laptop. i have just purchased a new battery. i keep on getting a message which says battery not comptible. Is it an software issue, if yes kindly let me know the solution.
regards
sameer
June 29th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
My laptop battery only charges when the laptop is upside down. I have an MX6447 with a history of charging problems. I replaced the motherboard a year ago. I removed the jack from the motherboard and soldered in a pigtail wire w/ an inline connector on the end to plug into the power supply. It worked great for a couple of months, then it quit charging. I’ve checked connection to motherboard and it is good. When I flip the laptop upside down it starts charging! Any idea why? Is there a way to jumper the motherboard battery connector to bypass the battery?
March 24th, 2009 at 8:55 am
I am having issues with our laptop a dell inspiron 1525, my son had spilt a very little amount near the laptop and it ran a little under it. After a day it started working again fine. A few weeks later we now have an issue where to computer screen goes black and if you hit control alt it comes back on,and it also dies after a little bit. We have a power cord connected because we can tell the battery was messed up so we dont have it in at all. We plan on replacing the battery but is there another issue with it?
March 13th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
i have an Hp Pavillion dv7 and the charger beeps when its plugged when i plugg it to the labtop it doesnt charges but it beeps
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:03 am
When issue is not bad connection, appears is voltage from power supply. When I use hp ps rated at 18.5v or aftermarket rated at 19v, no problem. When use old Compaq ps rated at 18.75 v and 3.15 amps–I had soldered in a second, slightly larger jack from an Armada 4100–I get the cycling from AC to batt. As stated by others, setting maximum brightness eliminates the brightness fluctuation. When it fluctuates, battery continues to run down, maybe slower. I am getting to the opinion that the fluctuation results, as suggested by others, from the ps voltage and/or amps/watts. Either the old 18.75v rated ps is giving less than 18.75 or the amp output is low–sorry, do not have the amp rating for the ones that work. Yes, there can be a bad jack or a good jack but a plug that needs to be squished a bit to snugness; and yes, there is a reset technique involving turning off, removing battery, maybe even removing bios battery, I forget, that works for reset; but as stated, am coming to opinion that new ps is best solution. Stuart
September 15th, 2008 at 3:51 am
I have a Toshiba P30 auto switching to battery when AC power adapter is plugged in. The battery drains away and system hibernates, despite AC power light staying on. There is no flicker in the AC power light when moving the AC input jack around to indicate a loose connection. When turning-off the system after it has switched across to battery, the power-on button remains illuminated even after shut-down until the AC jack plug is removed and re-inserted. At the point of re-insertion, the battery charge indicator and AC power lights illuminate as normal.
Surely a fault in the switching mechanism which assume is solid state electronics if that still exists?
Thoughts would be appreciated as my laptop dies!
August 4th, 2008 at 3:03 am
Hi, I just had this switching problem today.
When I used the battery, all was alright. When I charged the battery, the switching came on and off. When I took out the battery and just used AC, everything was ok.
Is it the problem with my adapter? I lent my laptop to a friend today, and he mentioned that he dropped the adapter (I am not clear how or how high he dropped it).
My laptop model is Dell Inspiron 6400.
Thanks so much.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
i like universal ac adapter if it do not go overheat and burn users
whatever ,it is easy and convenient
via http://www.sourcingmap.com/laptop-adapters-c-1355_1758.html
June 25th, 2008 at 11:42 am
BMJO,
Find out witch BIOS version is installed on your laptop and then visit Lenovo website and search for the latest BIOS release. If your BIOS is outdated, try updating it to the latest version. It’s not difficult if you follow the instructions. I think updating the BIOS may help.
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Hi
I am facing the same problem with my lenovo laptop. Then I switch off the laptop and keep it connected for charging. Once it charged fully problem disappears. But if I worked some time on battory then connected the power the problem comes back again. I think this is some problem with the battory driver which senses incoming power as low when battory gets charged from that and switches the system back to battory.(just an assumption.) To be frank the discussion materials here i found is not addressing the point.
BMJO
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:06 am
I have read the commentary that is currently posted and I have a more specific problem that has yet to be discussed.
I own a Toshiba A75. For no reason, the battery light will go out and the machine will go to battery power. The power light remains on and the a/c light remains on.
If I turn the machine off, the battery charging light will come back on. SOMETIMES, when I power it back up it remains on, charges the battery and stays on. SOMETIMES, when I power it back up, the light will immediately go right back off. SOMETIMES, if I take the battery out and put it back in, it will remain on for hours and others??? it will go right back off. All the time the other two lights (power light and ac light will remain on).
Sometimes if I take the power cord out and put it back in, the battery light will flicker but really does nothing.
My input plug has been re-soldered sometime back in the past. So it is not the “WIGGLE” problem!
Signed “Frustrated”.
October 6th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I have a Satellite A55-S3062 w/the same power jack problem. Sometimes it powers via AC, sometimes it does not. The jack is loose. Looks like I can get a new one on ebay, etc. Is it simple enough to open the case and plug in the new one (looks like it is NOT soldered, but just plugged in)? If so, is there a manual I might look at? Thank you!!!
James
September 13th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Hi dudes,
I have a problam with my HP nx9105 from a long time.
It suddenly stopped working. When I plug in the power supply the power light in the laptop turn on form 3 seconds and then turn off. Even if I press the laptop power button it also turn on for 3 seconds then stopes with no sound at all. I took it to the agent and they said the motherboard needs to be replacem but I don’t agree that I should do so and spend too much.
Please, help. What’s can I do??
September 10th, 2007 at 6:31 am
Harry,
Battery won’t charge at all, so I can’t recalibrate it. I also don’t use MS Windows so I can’t use that kind of applications.
Machine is HP Compaq NX9105, and i also suspect that there is some lifetime counter on the battery but i’m not into electronics so much…
September 10th, 2007 at 6:01 am
Hi guys
I agree with freak, though the battery says is has enough volts, it might not be pumping enough AMPS to turn on the machine. also have you tryed re-calabrating the battery? since you don’t say what laptop you have, I know most have calabration programs you can download (for their particular machines) and lastly some machines have what is called chargeble hours (or life cycle) and a diode in the battery to basically turn off the damb thing once it reaches that point. way to get you to spend more money LOL
Harry
September 9th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
DVSoftware,
Sounds like a bad battery.
September 9th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Sorry i put my original question in the wrong section. I’m unfamiliar with the site.
Original question:
“Hello,
I have a problem with my laptop battery, and i’m not sure whether a battery is faulty or it’s the laptop. Computer itself works fine, but won’t startup on battery. Software says it’s 23% charged and won’t charge anymore, so i suspect the battery is dead. Ok i took the battery out, and out of curiosity, i disassembled it, took a multimeter and measured 14 volts, and that’s designated voltage. How can i identify if it’s just faulty battery?”
September 6th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba P30 Satellite.
It used to completely switch off at random, and was diagnosed with a known Toshiba manufacturing fault, and the motherboard was replaced.
However, it is also switching from mains power to battery, and seems to be only doing this when the DVD drive is used, either to burn to, or copy from. Battery lasts about 25 mins on the P30 at the best of times.
Any suggestions as to the cause, given that a new motherboard was installed, and that fixed the shorting error?
thanks, hamish
June 11th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I have a problem with my ac adaptor for my sony pcg-fx370. when i plug it in, the computer turns on but it doesn’t charge the battery at all. if i take out the plug, the computer will turn off. i did a bios update but still nothing. how can i fix this problem.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:49 pm
James,
It’s possible you have a power jack connection problem. Even though it’s not failing now, it might fail later.
Try completely discharging and then charging the battery a few times. 90 minutes sounds normal to me.
March 20th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Hello.
Last June I purchased a Toshiba Equium A60-692. 8 weeks after it arrived I was using it on my lap with it plugged in when I noticed that the power connection was constantly flickering on and off. To my horror smoke started coming out of the back so I switched it off and sent it back. They told me the circuits on the motherboard responsible for the power connection had fryed. They replaced the motherboard and returned it to me. Unfortunately I occasionally experience the flickering again but as it only happens occasionally I don’t think they’d take it back.
However, I have noticed that my battery’s life is considerably shorter than it once was. It is 6450 mAh battery but only manages 90minutes at a strech. Could this have been caused by the faulty connection (could it kill battery cells?) and so entitle me to a replacement battery?
Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I am very impressed with this site! Thanks.
February 28th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Vir,
I always unsolder the socket, clean soldering pads on the motherboard and pins on the power socket, apply new coat of solder on pads and pins and then solder the socket back in place. If you just put new solder it will not last for a long time. You’ll need some soldering experience to accomplish this task. If you are not careful enough you can damage soldering pads/traces on the motherboard.