Laptop troubles

[hypernova]

I've been having power issues with my laptop lately.

Symptoms included:

Shortened battery life
When on battery, shuts down immediately with no warning, and at the time battery still shows lots of power remaining
When after an immediate shutdown, I plug it back in and turn it back on, battery shows no power left
At times, even when plugged in, system still shuts down without warning
Power cord plug (to the laptop) isn't perfectly straight.  Gets warped alot when pressed up against sofas and chairs and whatnot
Battery icon is sensitive to the positioning of the cord.  A slight position change can show the battery is not charging, even when plugged in
Speedfan is installed, and it generally doesn't get any hotter than 85 Celsius, so it doesn't get excessively hot.  Most of the time it's 65-75 while in use

Here's what I've done to fix the problem.  Initially, I just assumed it was a battery issue.  Apparently the included Toshiba battery is around 4000 mah.  I'd say over the two years we've had it, we've hit that, and most likely exceeded it by as much as another 1000 mah.  So I bought a new battery.  As of right now, I'm testing it out.  It seems to be working, mostly.  When I first plugged it in last night, I let it charge for a few hours before I turned it on and used it.  I still ended up having it immediately shut down on me without warning, even while it was plugged in after a few minutes.  I decided to take it apart.  Couldn't find anything, so I just used the occasion to clean off the fan and vents (which seems to have helped immensely with the heating-it's only running about 50 Celsius with Opera going.  I'd say it was hitting 65-70 before.)  Heat definitely wasn't the problem before, as I said, it never got too hot, plus could shut down while even loading the OS.

I have another theory, but I would like to hear that it is definitely possible before I purchase a new one.  I think the power cord may be a problem.  Is it possible (not just your conjecture, but because you actually know the mechanics behind it) that the little connector is somehow shorting out the laptop when it's connected?  I know it's not the receptacle in the laptop.  I hot-glued that thing to make sure it stays in place awhile ago (and when I had it open last night, it hasn't moved a micrometer.  It was originally held in place by thin-walled plastic that easily broke.)  So is it the power cord?

[Malenko]

It could be the connector that the power cord plugs into. I had issues on my old compaq laptop, and it happened that my GF had the exact same model laptop; and it had the exact same issue. The connector's solder came loose from the circuit board inside. I had to replace the connector, YMMV.

[hypernova]

I just noticed that the power reading for the battery hasn't changed in the time since I've started testing it.  It still shows 100%.  It's been on battery for an hour.

[gryhnd]

My old macbook did that. Went down normal for a while then BAM...instant shutdown. Plug it in and the batt showed no charge left.

Bad battery in that case.

An old Sony Vaio had the same thing, but in that case it was a worn out battery.

[JONTHEBOMB]

I had similar problems with my laptop (HP Pavilion dv5000) about a year ago.  I bought a new battery and couldn't get it to hold any charge. Then I replaced my AC power adapter and everything has worked fine until last week. 
I found out last week that if I move this second AC power adapter too much some flaky connection inside cuts the power.  So, I'll need another AC power adapter. 

[hypernova]

Well, realized that no sound was coming out, and I knew I must've forgotten to connect the speakers.  (Actually the volume control was disconnected to be specific).  So I had to take everything apart again.

Anyway, I'm still having trouble with this thing.  Like before, when I first put the battery in, the laptop isn't seeing it.  Yet when I pull the power plug, like I just did now, the thing is still on.  So if there's no direct power source, and the thing isn't seeing a battery, why the hell am I still typing this?

[lilshawn]

Apparently the included Toshiba battery is around 4000 mah.  I'd say over the two years we've had it, we've hit that, and most likely exceeded it by as much as another 1000 mah.  So I bought a new battery.

uhm, you know mAh is a measure of current capacity - not lifetime right. right? ...

It stands for milliamp hours, think of a battery as a garden worker. the voltage of the battery (7.2 volts or whatever) would be equal to how big the person is and a milliamp is how heavy a wheelbarrow they can push without getting tired. a small child (4 volts) could not carry anything in a wheelbarrow, simply because he is not tall enough to reach the handles. so a bigger person is needed. (more voltage) he is tall enough to reach the handles.

if the person is weak (small mAh say... 2000 mAh), they can carry a small amount of stuff in the wheelbarrow for a long time before getting tired and having to stop... but pile more stuff on the wheelbarrow and they can't carry it as far as before. he gets tired fast.
if the person is stronger (large mAh say 4000 mAh), they can carry a small amount of stuff in the wheelbarrow all around town before getting tired. but again pile more stuff on the wheelbarrow and he can't carry it as far as before, but still farther than the weak person.

with your computer, if you where to draw 4000 milliamps from your 4000 mAh battery, it would last 1 hour before being dead. like wise if you where to draw 2000 milliamps it would last 2 hours, and 500 milliamps - 8 hours.

if you have a 2000 mAh battery you can still draw 4000 milliamps from it, but only for about 1/2 and hour before it is dead.

- - - - end of lesson - - - -

[SavannahLion]

Well... first off, YMMV.

My problem was with a Dell Inspiron E1705.

My puppy chewed the power supply on the DC side. When the cord is shorted (yes I tried to repair the damaged cord, but it's not the point of the here) the laptop goes into immediate shutdown. Even if the battery is still good, a bad cord forces the shutdown.

It sounds like your problem might be a little more complicated, but I would suggest finding a replacement power supply to eliminate a potential source of problems. 

[hypernova]

uhm, you know mAh is a measure of current capacity - not lifetime right. right? ...

Nope.  Didn't know at all.  Just assumed since that's how it's basically advertised, especially on ebay.  Plus the math checked out.

So are you saying that my 4000 mAh battery drew about 2000 mA/hour?  (The battery drained in about 2 or so hours before needing charged.)  And that it has nothing at all to do with life?

Anywho, I went to turn it on last night, and nothing.  Not even a dang light.  Plugged in or not.  But it should still work even if the battery's spent and plugged in.  It didn't.  I fiddled with the cord, and got a few fleeting moments of AC Power light turning on.  So there must be something wrong in the cord.  I cut it open near the end, and bam!  Problem 1 found.  The stranded wire that's under the first sheathing has completely become disconnected.  So a quick fix until a new cordset comes in is I just folded the cord over on itself to restore that connection, and taped the crap out of it.  Works fine right now.  Still not convinced the battery is good-I think it's problem 2.  I do know that 3rd party battery I just bought wasn't working correctly.  Got an RMA to send it back.

[hypernova]

Just got the new cord in.  Initially, it didn't work.  No AC light, nothing.  So once again, for the umpteenth time, I start cracking open the laptop, to see if I can find any loose wires or something being wrong.  As I'm unscrewing things left and right, I decide to have the cord next to me while I do it so I can see if anything makes a difference.  Shortly after disconnecting the keyboard, I decide to plug it in for the heck of it.

I've got the AC light.  So it's receiving power.  Then I start it up, connect the keyboard, and load up Vista.  Shows the battery as missing, so I pop it out for a few seconds (the old factory battery), and back in, making sure to give a stronger press when I put it in.  And now the battery is visible and charged.

WTF.  I don't understand this at all.  I didn't find any loose wires or anything stemming from the power wires, and the battery is connected directly to the mobo.  None of this makes any sense.  I guess I'll just hope it doesn't give me any more ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- from here on.

[DaOld Man]

Have you tried duct tape?

[lilshawn]

has nothing at all to do with life

how you treat your batteries has everything to do with lifetime.

discharging a little then charging back up again is bad... run them down
never discharging them is bad...
leaving them dead is bad...

if you don't use the battery and leave it plugged in all the time, just take the battery out and put it in when you need it.

[hypernova]

Got a new power cord two days ago.  Yesterday the thing failed.  It has an LED light on it, which isn't lighting, and no power is going through it.

Uuuuuuuuggggghhhhhhh.   Driving me bat----steaming pile of meadow muffin--- crazy, I tell ya.

how you treat your batteries has everything to do with lifetime.

I was talking about the term mAh.