Comments on: The battery symbol on the bottom claims that its plugged in but not charging

By: Robin Baker

Robin Baker — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 21:40:47 +0000

My HP pavilion ze4949 will not charge the battery. I got this laptop 2nd hand, and the “charging” light that the manual states should be lit while the AC adapter is plugged in has never lit; I’ve purchased 3 different replacement batteries, and in each instance the battery worked in the laptop for a couple of hours running on the factory charge, but as soon as I plug in the AC adapter, the battery will begin discharging and lose even the factory charge within an hour or so, and won’t charge in the laptop. I want to know how to check the board to see if there’s a problem there, and if so, could I get instructions on how to repair it? I’ve torn this laptop apart several times already to reair the keyboard, upgrade to a DVD burner, and repair an audio wire, as well as to just clean it out when I got it, so I’m not afraid to get inside; I just don’t know what I’ll be doing once I’m there in regard to the power/charging/board situation (This isn’t covered in my owner’s manual unfortunately). I would really appreciate any help, even if it’s just a URL to a site with the info I need to do this troubleshoot and if necessary (is there any doubt?)repair. I’m on dial-up, and have spent fruitless hours doing the Google search thing without luck. This site is the closest I’ve come to hope for my laptop! (I can’t even find an external charger for my model, which was going to be my last resort if I can’t find a fix for this!)

By: Autumn

Autumn — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 04:50:49 +0000

I bought a new power cord and new battery, but I am still getting the “Plugged in, not charging” message. Its telling me that I need to plug in my “Dell power cord” but the one I bought is for a Dell 1545 and fits snugly into the hole. Is there someway to make the computer read the new cord or to install it without a disk??

By: Jazien

Jazien — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:48:34 +0000

Hi… I read through all the comments, and didn’t find anything about this, so I hope you can help me!
I own an Inspiron 1545 laptop, and it’s getting to be 3 years old.
When I plug it in, the computer recognizes it, but it won’t charge. Before, my charger died and wouldn’t connect to my computer at all, so i bought a new one. This one has the problem described.
The weird thing is, my laptop WILL charge with the car charger. In the period before I got a new charger, I had to rely on the car charger to power my laptop. Did i give it a car charger dependency or something?
Basicaly, I’m wondering if I need to buy a new charger, battery, both or neither?? I’m pretty sure it isn’t a problem with my battery, since it WILL charge… but then i’ve no idea why my other charger won’t work.
Help?
Thank you!!

By: Laptop Freak

Laptop Freak — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 06:35:37 +0000

Samantha,

i have a dell and it says plugged in not charging and if i plug it out it turns off, where i have to restart the computer i need some help because i do school online!

Will it run from AC power when the battery is removed? If yes, probably the battery is bad and has to be replaced.
Before you replace the battery, try reconnecting the battery. Remove it a few times and install back into the laptop. Try charging after that.
Reconnecting the battery will clean contacts between the battery and motherboard. It might help.

By: Samantha

Samantha — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:24:07 +0000

ok i have a dell and it says plugged in not charging and if i plug it out it turns off, where i have to restart the computer i need some help because i do school online!

By: Terry

Terry — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:32:40 +0000

I have two Dell D510 laptops that run fine on a charged battery, but neither will charge the battery or operate with the a/c adapter. However, whenever an external monitor is connected, the a/c adapter works fine for both running the laptop and charging the battery. The monitor does not even have to be turned on. Any ideas? Thanks.

By: André

André — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:57:56 +0000

Hi all!
I have found myself having quite the issue here, and here it is:
I am the owner of an Acer ASPIRE 6935G wich is around 2years old now.
The problem is that i bought this notebook for the purpose of gaming when im travelling, wich i do frequently.
NOTE: I ALWAYS USE THE NOTEBOOK WITH AC CHARGER PLUGGED IN!
Anyhow a while ago it started charging VERY slow, it charges slow when i surf and idle on it, but the minute i start off a game (wich requires more power..) the battery starts declining rapidly (around 1% per minute with AC charger plugged in)The LED light wich confirms the charger is in is working, my battery indicator say’s it’s plugged in and charging.
What have you done to try and fix the problem?:
1. I have tried to start without battery and AC charger plugged, that did NOT work.
2. I have tried another identical charger, that did NOT work.
3.I have opened the notebook up and check the wiring down to the mainboard, it appears to be perfect.
4. i have opened up the area where u plug ur charger in the notebook, again it looks flawless.
5.I have updated the powermanagement tool, without any changes.
6. I have flashed BIOS, no changes.
7.I have booted a LINUX CD too see if it was any software issue, same problem appears then.

As far as i can see i have done almost everything i can, im just hoping there is someone out there who had the same problem and have been able to fix it =).

The obvious problem is a solder or something like that on the mainboard wich has malfunctioned. Wich again forces me to get a service on it, wich sucks. Unfortunaly i have little experience with disasemblying notebooks, im always been a much more fan of stationary ones.
But if one of you guys/girls convince me that its actually a mainboard error and i can’t get a service within a reasonable amount of cash im gonna give it a go and try to solder/fix it myself.
Sorry for wall of text, and hopefully some of u got a proper answer for me =)

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:54:34 +0000

Dropped my laptop and the battery will not charge past 36% and the laptop will shut down if I unplug the AC adapter. Any solutions?

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:05:23 +0000

My HP sometimes says plugged in, not charging, and when I do a battery check it says to replace the battery. But if I shut it off and let it alone for a while, it’ll say plugged in, charging and the battery check says that the battery is in good condition. Why is it doing this?

By: William

William — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:11:36 +0000

I have a HP Compaq Presario c500 I bought new about 2 years ago.
Before this happened my battery had been going from 100% to dead in about 15 mins. I have always used it with the battery in the computer.
Then one day my laptop dies without going into hibernation mode. This has happened before while I had the bottom vent covered, but since then I have been careful not to do that. I tried to turn it on but it would not, I checked the adapter and heard it beeping. I got a new one and the laptop turned on but said there was a checksum error. I told the computer to fix it. Then it started up like normal. I watched a movie, then put the computer into hibernate mode. I started it up again later and the computer only beeped loudly and turned on the mute light. I tried it again then it turned on. It worked normally, with fan running, for about 20 mins. then shut off. The battery would say it was plugged in and charging but would stay at 0%. This cycle of maybe turning on and maybe not, then working for a bit then shutting off continued to happen with the working time getting shorter and shorter each time. When I try using the laptop without the battery the charging light would flash as long as the cord was plugged in.
I then got a new battery and charged it overnight. When I turned it on it started up normally with the battery at 6%. I saw it go down to 5 then 4, then it shut down at 3% after about 40 mins of running. I was able to use my computer for the things I normally use it for in that time.
I then disassembled the computer and found that the power coming from the adapter input to the actual computer read the correct voltage. I tried reconnecting the video display cable as I read this might fix my problem. It did not. I disconnected the keyboard, video, dvd player and hard drive and the charging light still flashes. I also sprayed canned air all around the inside. What is the problem?