Battery discharges while my laptop is connected to AC power
Once battery in my laptop is partially discharged and connected to the AC Power, it starts charging and then somewhere down the line, the laptop suspends with the ‘battery low’ pop up. When I bring it out of suspension, it shows the battery completely depleted, for whatever reason. Then, the second I power down, the battery starts charging. This isn’t normal behavior. If anyone can shower some light on this, I’d be really really grateful.
I think your laptop may have a problem with the DC power connector (AKA power jack). Even though the AC adapter is plugged, the laptop runs on the battery power. It happens because the power jack is not making good connection with the motherboard. As a result, the motherboard is not getting power from the adapter and runs on the battery power instead. The laptop works until the battery dries out and then it suspends. Did you notice if the battery starts charging if you wiggle the power plug inside the power jack a little bit? If it does, most likely the problem is related to the power jack and it has to be resoldered or replaced. Please read this post for more information: Laptop switching to battery while connected to AC adapter.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Thanks for the help. I’ve managed to solve the problem somewhat, by changing the cable that leads from the adapter to the power outlet which seems to have removed the problem entirely. Any ideas on why this seems to have worked?
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:36 am
I really need help. i am using hp notebook. now the problem with my battery is when ever i put it on charging while using it,on the try, icon of ac power and icon of battery keeps on switching which is disturbing also the switching makes the arrow(mouse) moves obnoxiously here and there, usually to the extreme top right corner and therefore the web pages or any other opned pages are mistakenly closed….plzzzzzzzz help/////
June 17th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Hi, I have kinda a wierd problem…
My HP dv4000 laptop was dropped and since then it wont start, no bios, just some lights and fan noise. Anyway, I striped it down to just the motherboard, ac adapter, and memory, I got it to show a screen for a few seconds that said somthing about a media error. I dont remember exactly the code or number. After I put the battery in… the charge light will only come on when I have the external monitorconnected to the laptop. I noticed a little spark while plugging in the vga connector. I also noticed that if I unplug the monitors AC cable from the wall, the charge light turns off. I am probally going to replace the motherboard here soon, but wanted an experts opinion on if I really might need it.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Could you explain to me is it harmful for my laptop if I plug it in AC power while it working or not ? becuase my friend told me that is harmful and battery will damage.
Thank you for help.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
My Gateway laptop Model MX7118 battery light continues to blink and never go out. Sometimes when I boot up, the light is on continuous. After a while the light will begin to blink and continue. Is this a sign of low or dead battery or should it continue to do this.
I replaced my surge protector and the light came on solid for about 24 hours. Then it began to blink and never cut off.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
i accidently plug the wrong adapter with a reverse polarity to my laptop, now the right adapter is plugin but the battery is not charging i checked the mother board and the ac power jack has power going through the mother board, i dont know if the problem is in the ac power jack board or the mother board it self please help
November 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I have a yr old Gateway MX3230. My notebook does not charge and I can only use it while the adapter is plugged in. Well I decided to buy a new computer later so I didn’t bother with it. Well, I plugged up my new cordless phone into the same surge protector and it hasn’t charged since day one. I try other outlets without the surge protector and neither one of them charge. I’m wondering now if I need to buy a new computer or if there is a way to repair whatever problem that has occurred while using this surge protector. Please help.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:45 am
New problem. I took the battery out to see if I could get better results, not it keeps rebooting. Wont’ completely turn in in safe mode, wont turn on from last known good configuration, and wont start normally. The Microsoft Windows XP comes up, a blue screen with writing flashes, too fast for me to see what’s going on, and it starts over again.
January 10th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
My gateway mx7118 laptop…I already replace new dc jack in it…I see the blue lid is on that is charge the battery…but only problem is it won’t power up. Is there any why it don’t power up? Any adivce I should need look at it?
Thanks
March 4th, 2009 at 4:42 am
I have a problem similar to the one described in the first post, I have a Toshiba laptop. If my battery is fully charged and my laptop is plugged into the AC, then everything works fine (laptop working on AC and my battery keeps full charge). If I unplug the AC for few minutes, the battery will start discharging, If I leave to discharge partially (charged less than 90%) and then connect the laptop to the AC again, then the battery will continue discharging but the laptop will switch to operate on the AC (online and discharging). If I Hibernate the laptop or switch it, the battery charging indicator will switch on and the battery will start charging, the moment I switch the laptop on before the battery is fully charged, the online and discharging scenario returns. I ordered a new battery however the same problem still exists. I have a different through which I would like to consult for, Is it possible that my AC adapter can’t provide enough power for operating the laptop and charging the battery. So if the laptop is off or hibernate, the battery will charge. Otherwise the battery will discharge even though the motherboard is working on the AC power. Please help!!!
March 10th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I have an Acer Travelmate 2420 that’s started coming up “Critical battery low” when you power it up with the AC adaptor plugged in. Could this be something as simple as a duff battery? Should it not run OK on AC even with a flat battery? Is there a simple way to check if the battery or the charging is the problem?
March 28th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
i’m having power issues with my toshiba P15-S420. i’ve read all the other posts and toshiba’s seem to have a design problem with the dc jack. but i don’t believe this is my problem. this is what happens: i plug in my ac adapter and the computer starts charging the battery. when it gets to 100%, the battery discharges down to zero and shuts down, even with the ac adapter plugged in.
it’s like it only recognizes the ac adapter if it needs to be charged. but once it hits 100%, it stops recognizing the ac adapter until it’s at 0% again.i can’t figure it out. thanx
April 25th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I’ve seen 2 fairly new Dell laptops recently (a Latitude D520 and an Inspiron E1705) with the same symptoms. With a known good adapter attached to the unit, it does not charge at all, but runs off the battery until the battery dies. I disassembled both and checked the connection between the power jack and the mobo and found them to be solid. I connected a power source directly to the solder point on the mobo and a ground and found it does not power up at all. If this were a desktop, I would change the power supply immediately, but being a laptop, I’m not sure what (if anything) can be done to fix the problem. Any ideas or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:14 am
I also have a similar problem to the first post. My hp compact 6720s works fine when connected to AC source, but on unplugging the AC source, the battery starts discharging but when it get to around 90%, the system goes off as if the battery is empty. i flashed the BIOS, but didn’t get any result, but i think there should be a solution to this without changing the battery. anyone with ideas or solutions should please help.
October 31st, 2009 at 4:32 am
Hi,
I have a HP 530 laptop (Windows Vista). It displays “Plugged In, Charging” but the battery discharges.
Also, it doesn’t power up with only AC power. I’ve checked the dc jack on the motherboard and there is no problem with it.
Pls, what do you suggest I do next?
November 21st, 2009 at 9:12 am
I have a aspire 5536 laptop running with vista.
When it is connected with 110V ac supply the mouse stops
functioning.
Pls suggest me what to do?
November 24th, 2009 at 3:46 am
I have a toshiba a300 it shows the ac adapter as being plugged in and charging but battery meter still drops constantly. When the battery completely goes flat the unit shows the battery charging lights but the unit will only power on for a second or two then shuts off again. i have an a200 also and batterys are the same so try that battery in it it still shows as plugged in and charging also but still drains.
I have tried bios update to but didn’t work.
Any help would be much appreciated thanks.
August 27th, 2010 at 7:33 am
My HP 520 laptop battery even though it is connected to the DC power and onother rhing the battery starts charging if i shut down the laptop. please give me the solution
August 27th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
My HP 520 laptop battery discharges even though it is connected to the DC power and another thing the battery starts charging if i shut down the laptop. please give me the solution
August 28th, 2010 at 9:17 am
hasan shaikh,
Probably this is DC jack failure. The jack has to be resoldered to the motherboard.
I posted your question and some suggestions here: http://www.asklaptopfreak.com/laptop-notebook-help/2010/08/28/laptop-battery-discharges-even-though-connected-to-dc-power/