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Message
Laptop troubleshooting -- battery issues, possible overheat
Posted on 9/20/15 at 1:53 pm
Posted on 9/20/15 at 1:53 pm
Hey guys, this weekend I goofed pretty bad. I went to a funeral out of town on Friday, and as I was packing up to check out of the hotel room I packed my laptop up, thinking it was off (the display was off and the power button, which normally blinks when the computer is in sleep mode, was not blinking). I left it, on, in the trunk of my car for about 7-8 hours on a hot Louisiana day :(
Anyway, to my problem. The battery life displayed is hilariously inaccurate. It runs down normally when it's not plugged in, but when it's plugged in, it has time-remaining numbers that would make all kinds of headlines if they were true. When it was near a full battery, the laptop estimated that it had about 2800 hours remaining; even as I type it right now, the battery is listed at 11% (I ran it for a while off its battery to test whether this error occurred both when plugged in and when not plugged in), with 378 hours left (see screenshot here).
Additionally, as you can see in the screenshot, the laptop doesn't recognize that it is plugged in. This is extremely relevant, because when I tried turning the computer on while the battery was out, but while it was plugged in, it wouldn't boot.
So from what information I have, the battery doesn't appear to retain a charge (as it runs down normally and doesn't increase in charge when plugged in), and the computer doesn't appear to recognize that it's charging, but the computer is clearly receiving power when it's plugged in (as my laptop battery would have died by now, given how long I've used the laptop this weekend). The charger cable is not the problem, as I tried using a different one and had the same result.
Other details: The laptop is a Dell N5010, 5 years old now. I've replaced a few parts over the years -- put in a solid state drive in 2011, but recently replaced that with a hard disk drive in 2015; had the display worked on in 2012 (I don't remember a lot of details on this unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it was just replacing a couple of wires for the display, but I didn't do this fix myself), and replaced the charger cable earlier this year.
Budget's a bit tight right now, so I'm trying to see if I can fix this myself, or at the very least trying to see if I can identify the problem without going to a shop/repairman. If it's beyond my ability to fix then I can pay, but I'd hate to pay just to find out I can fix it myself.
What's wrong with my laptop?
Anyway, to my problem. The battery life displayed is hilariously inaccurate. It runs down normally when it's not plugged in, but when it's plugged in, it has time-remaining numbers that would make all kinds of headlines if they were true. When it was near a full battery, the laptop estimated that it had about 2800 hours remaining; even as I type it right now, the battery is listed at 11% (I ran it for a while off its battery to test whether this error occurred both when plugged in and when not plugged in), with 378 hours left (see screenshot here).
Additionally, as you can see in the screenshot, the laptop doesn't recognize that it is plugged in. This is extremely relevant, because when I tried turning the computer on while the battery was out, but while it was plugged in, it wouldn't boot.
So from what information I have, the battery doesn't appear to retain a charge (as it runs down normally and doesn't increase in charge when plugged in), and the computer doesn't appear to recognize that it's charging, but the computer is clearly receiving power when it's plugged in (as my laptop battery would have died by now, given how long I've used the laptop this weekend). The charger cable is not the problem, as I tried using a different one and had the same result.
Other details: The laptop is a Dell N5010, 5 years old now. I've replaced a few parts over the years -- put in a solid state drive in 2011, but recently replaced that with a hard disk drive in 2015; had the display worked on in 2012 (I don't remember a lot of details on this unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it was just replacing a couple of wires for the display, but I didn't do this fix myself), and replaced the charger cable earlier this year.
Budget's a bit tight right now, so I'm trying to see if I can fix this myself, or at the very least trying to see if I can identify the problem without going to a shop/repairman. If it's beyond my ability to fix then I can pay, but I'd hate to pay just to find out I can fix it myself.
What's wrong with my laptop?
This post was edited on 9/20/15 at 1:55 pm
3
Posted on 9/20/15 at 1:58 pm to Eden
I would not keep dumping money in to that thing
Posted on 9/20/15 at 2:06 pm to Eden
Just to grab the low-hanging fruit, do a power cycle on the laptop. Turn it off, unplug it, remove the battery, and hold down the power button for 30 seconds to discharge the capacitors. Then reconnect battery and plug and see if the battery sensors are back to normal.
Posted on 9/21/15 at 10:13 am to Eden
You should definitely do what ILikeLSUToo said in the post above mine.
I was half-jokingly thinking you should put the battery in the freezer... turns out some people claim to have had luck doing just that. Here's a brief Wikihow page on it:
LINK
I successfully revived a dead hard drive once this way for long enough to get some data off of it, but have never attempted to freeze a battery. Anyway, the gist is to freeze the battery a full 12 hours (make sure to use a ziplock bag and squeeze out extra air before sealing it to minimize moisture on/in the battery). Let the battery warm up to near room temp and keep it dry. Put it back in the laptop and charge it fully. Then let it drain to approx 3% to 5%. Repeat the charge / discharge cycle 3x total.
If it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world to have the battery in and still plugging the laptop in to a wall outlet to make it work.
Probably the next cheapest thing to check would be a new battery... I think you can find Dell batteries somewhere between $25 and $50... though it's possible it's not the problem.
One last note: if you haven't done so already, the first thing you should be doing right now is backing up everything on that laptop you want to keep in case things go from bad to worse.
I was half-jokingly thinking you should put the battery in the freezer... turns out some people claim to have had luck doing just that. Here's a brief Wikihow page on it:
LINK
I successfully revived a dead hard drive once this way for long enough to get some data off of it, but have never attempted to freeze a battery. Anyway, the gist is to freeze the battery a full 12 hours (make sure to use a ziplock bag and squeeze out extra air before sealing it to minimize moisture on/in the battery). Let the battery warm up to near room temp and keep it dry. Put it back in the laptop and charge it fully. Then let it drain to approx 3% to 5%. Repeat the charge / discharge cycle 3x total.
If it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world to have the battery in and still plugging the laptop in to a wall outlet to make it work.
Probably the next cheapest thing to check would be a new battery... I think you can find Dell batteries somewhere between $25 and $50... though it's possible it's not the problem.
One last note: if you haven't done so already, the first thing you should be doing right now is backing up everything on that laptop you want to keep in case things go from bad to worse.
Posted on 9/21/15 at 11:41 am to ILikeLSUToo
I did that once, a cpl yrs back
on a 5yo dell....
the mother would not start....pretty sure a cap was bad
on a 5yo dell....
the mother would not start....pretty sure a cap was bad
Posted on 9/21/15 at 11:43 am to epbart
the frozen battery thing can and does work, but on a 5yo dell
hey, he's got nothin' to lose trying it.
I had pretty good luck doing that on 2-3 yo machines with some life left in them
hey, he's got nothin' to lose trying it.
I had pretty good luck doing that on 2-3 yo machines with some life left in them
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