Laptop battery charging tip

[Keithuk]

Hi Guys

I've searched the forum but nothing shows.

I had a problem with my Windows 7 laptop a few weeks ago. I went upstairs to check on something and I came back down and the screen was black. I thought why has it gone black when its plugged in and on charge. I pressed the power button and it started up with the normal message do a system check or start up as normal. It was working before so I selected start as normal.

It started up but the popup message said battery low 3% and it shut off automatically. I checked the voltage coming out of the lead and it showed 19.1v. I have the Battery Meter gadget but that never stops on top most of the time. I search fleabay Samsung Laptop charger 60W 19V 3.16A 5.5*3.0 Compatible AC Adapter K7 there were a few listed.

I ordered one and when it came I plugged it in and started it up and the same message showed battery low 3% and it shut off.

I started it again and selected system check and I waited a few minutes then it started up. The battery was 100% charged.

I goggled this problem YouTube video's show disconnect battery and power lead. Press the power button for 30 seconds to discharge any capacitors in the system. Restart with power lead plugged in. That did nothing.

I have learned from this now select system check. The good this about the charger I bought of fleabay I added express delivery because I wanted it quick. It didn't arrive on the date stated. I sent the seller a message asking why I hadn't received it. They said sorry my mistake I sent it 2nd class. They refunded the cost of the charger and express delivery. So I know have a backup charger.

How come the message said battery low 3% a few times. If it was 100% charged why did it shut off. Speccy shows CPU 48°C so it isn't overheating. Where does it get this info from?

This is just a tip if anyone else has charger problems.

 

[Keithuk]

I'm surprized no one has made a comment in this thread.

I've had the same problem for the last couple of weeks. Message says battery low 3%. It was plugged in on charge. I shut down and checked the lead voltage with my multi-meter it was 19.1v. I plugged it back in and started the laptop up. It showed 100% on charge.

Speccy shows CPU 48°C so it still isn't overheating. Where does it get this info from?

 

[Megahertz07]

Old battery can show 100% charged but they don't have much energy on it.
Once you on Windows, disconnect the charger and see how long it takes to shut down.
If it shuts down in a few minutes, it's time to replace the battery.

 

[Barman58]

The percentage reading that the battery provides to Windows is the proportion of the available Charge that remains, so a fully working battery showing 3% remaining will have much more power available than a worn out battery that is also showing 3%

Battery capacity is measured in Amp/Hours or variations of this, a capacity of 10AH will supply 10 Amps for one hour or one Amp for ten hours, as a battery gets older the cells fail and so the rating decreases so you can get a reading of 100% capacity which is much smaller than it used to be, say 1AH or less .

Rather than a new charger you would require to replace your battery, you may be able to plug in the charger and remove the battery on some, usually older, laptops so it may be possible to still use the laptop while you source a replacement battery

 

[Keithuk]

Thanks for the input. Its not really an old battery I bought the last one 29/08/18 so its only 5 months old. The last battery was bought 29/03/2015 so that lasted 3 years.

Previously the message shows you need to replace the battery, so I order a new one. I've never had this 3% warning show previously. Its only since I've replaced the hard drive. Its still Windows 7 32bit installed, as with previous rebuilds.

I do have Battery Meter V2.3 gadget which works great as it warns me when the battery is getting low. If I've working on a file I don't want to forget to save it before the screen goes black and it shuts down. The Windows 7 low battery warning never works most of the time.