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Laptop won't hold a charge
Raggaholic
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok, I got myself a laptop back in Aug 2006 and for the past few months I've been having this problem. Whenever I take the laptop off of the charger, it will only hold the charge for around 15 mins before shutting down. I'm assuming it's the battery, but I honestly have no idea. This problem only happens when I unplug it from the wall. The laptop hasn't gone through any major damage since I've had it.
Now, I've looked online for replacement batteries, and well, they seem to be an arm and a leg (~$150). Now, two things. Does anyone know what this could be other than the battery? Secondly, does anyone know of a site online (like a Newegg or Monoprice) that I can get cheap laptop batteries from?
Now, I've looked online for replacement batteries, and well, they seem to be an arm and a leg (~$150). Now, two things. Does anyone know what this could be other than the battery? Secondly, does anyone know of a site online (like a Newegg or Monoprice) that I can get cheap laptop batteries from?
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Would having a battery that only lasts a minute or so make the notebook perform really slowly? Over last summer, when the battery lasted maybe 5 minutes, I noticed that there was a steady increase in the amount of time it took for the computer to come out of hibernation. When I first got the computer, it was about 30 seconds. Nowadays it's about 10 minutes. Could that also be related to the dead battery, or is it more likely I have a bunch of malware/viruses on it that my spysweeper and antivirus aren't finding?
2006-2009 would be above average in my experience. And the symptoms you describe are pretty classic battery replacement necessary.
If the internal battery connection was a problem you would see immediate / intermittent and unreliable timing on the problem where the computer would suddenly shut off. Since you say you are consistently getting about 15 mins before its done, its almost certainly just the battery needing replacement.
I have had extremely bad luck with cheap replacements for batteries. Someone else might be able to offer better advice but I've always had to bite the bullet and buy a new one from the original company because I've had 3 "cheaper" alternatives be absolute shit and not worth it.
Most laptop hardware will backpeddle their speeds and performance for the sake of battery life.
Some will gradually slow down the speed as the battery goes from 100% to 0% to buy you extra time.
It's not surprising to find a laptop coming out of hibernation on battery power to take a minute or two. The fact that it's taking 10 minutes now, is most likely the cause of bloat of all the apps and shit installed on it, due to the nature of hibernation.
1, you have to use your laptop batteries from time to time, or they actually go bad faster. The chemicals inside dry out and don't hold a charge as well if they are not drained and refilled regularly. At least a couple times a week, you need to run your laptop off the charger and let it die, or nearly die. If you're constantly using your laptop on the charger or on a docking station, you're not doing your battery any favors, and it will significantly reduce the battery life.
2, look in the BIOS of your laptop for anything about battery conditioning. Most laptops come with an option for it. You should run the battery conditioning every few months. It can take a long time, so don't plan on using your laptop for a while, possibly a day or more.
In addition to the first one, you might be able to get some battery life back by charging it while off, unplugging it once it stops charging, and letting it run until the battery dies. Turn it on again before plugging it in because it'll probably still have a bunch of time left. Once the battery is completely dead (ie - it won't start up at all) turn it off, plug it in at the wall, and repeat.
My brother's laptop would only last for may two minutes unplugged, and we got it up to an hour using this method. He then went and ignored my advice about doing it as often as he could and now it won't even last a second while unplugged.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
Yeah, but I actually have fewer things installed on it now than when it was previously taking only a minute to load.
One thing to keep in mind is this loss is temperature sensitive -- You can 10% or 40% of your max charge, depending on how cool the battery is stored. I learned this the hard way, as my laptop runs hot and I always had it on, and plugged in. Not only did I not discharge it regularly, the heat increased the rate of charge loss. Sucks.
Long story short, you can't fix your battery. If you want longer life you'll have to buy a new one. And I'd let this one discharge once a week. And I would leave the laptop unplugged when I'm not using it.
Li-ion batteries do not "dry out" and do not gain any benefit from regular discharge/charge cycles. The only two things that effect battery life for Li-ions are temperature and level of charge. Higher temperatures and higher levels of charge reduce battery life at a faster rate. If you are planning on not using your laptop for a period of time, you could discharge it to about 30-40% and then store it in a cool place. Conditioning does not help Li-ion batteries. I've never seen a laptop BIOS with such an option.
Yes but the bulk of the shit that was in your registry that needs to be reloaded into memory is still there. If you go ahead and wipe windows and start from scratch you'll probably see a huge performance increase.
And no, batteries don't need to be drained anymore.
Words of truth. That's how I killed the battery on my last laptop. Now I make sure to run my Macbook from battery until it yells for a recharge at least once a week. Every 45-60 days or so I do the recommended charge cycle for improved battery life.
Not all laptops use Li-ion batteries, especially if they're older, and this one is over 2 years old. The OP didn't specify which type of battery he had.
As for the conditioning cycle in the BIOS, I assure you that many laptops have the option. All the ones we get in here at work come in for a regular reconditioning cycle through their BIOS, and my mom has a 4 year old Gateway laptop with that function. It's not a feature on all laptops, I have a 2 or 3 year old HP which doesn't do it.
If you have a Li-ion battery you know you are not going to use for at least a month, keep it stored with about 50% charge, and in a cooler place.
Li-ion batteries can be affected by heat, so a hot running laptop can decrease the life a bit.
You should run your battery down probably a couple times a month, just to keep the battery conditioned. Li-ion batteries have a load balancer in them that makes sure each cell is worn down evenly, so letting it discharge and charge every so often is good for it.
And all laptops use li-ion batteries now and they have for the past 5-6 years.
Replacing a battery can range anywhere from 50-300 bucks depending on the size, brand, and make.
Sony, for example, notoriously charges a ridiculous amount for their laptop batteries.
But look it up on the manufacturer's website, if you want to go that route.
I say this because I have the same problem, only much more severe and it's bundled with a lot of other things stemming from the same issue. I don't know if your laptop is an HP, but in aug 2007 I bought my HP Pavilion DV9417ca. Around late january/early february the battery was doing the same thing yours is doing now: held a charge for maybe like 15 minutes and that's about it. Suddenly in march is worsened overnight; if I take the power jack out of my computer now, I have two or three minutes, tops, to find another electrical socket if I'm running on high performance.
I found out what was causing this though. HP discovered, apparantly, this huge flaw with Pavilion dv2000s, 3000s, 6000s, and 9000s (and some Compaqs): apparantly parts of the mainboard circuitry were faultily soldered and the soldering agent used dissipates heat more than the computer can handle. As a result a number of failures occur, the two most notable ones being the aforementioned power problem, and the other being the total failure of the wireless adapter at completely random instances which can only be fixed by rebooting. There are a few others as well, but those are the big two, I think, and the ones that affect me the most. Especially the wireless thing, it's really damned annoying.
Anyway HP has a Limited Warranty Agreement, so if you send in an affected laptop to HP within 24 months of buying it, they'll (attempt to) fix it free of charge and shipping. 10 - 14 business days I think.
Of course this is all only if you have an HP or not. I just felt like commenting because I'm in the same boat and it drove me mad for months trying to figure out what was wrong with it. Of course HP, not wanting to take accountability for this, does not list this problem anywhere on the FAQs/troubleshooting/driver and support homepages for the affected models, like my particular laptop. I found it simply through a lucky google search.
that HP thing will also result in a dead screen withthe lights on. i just got the box for my wifes HP notebook to send it back
i had to pull some angry customer to get it fixed for free since they said the limited warranty expired
will never ever buy an HP laptop again. though i have turned into an apple guy
Oh lord, if your laptop is an HP, you will definitely have to approach from the pissed-off customer angle. HP by far has one of the worst support departments in the world. They are shady as heck when it comes to "helping" their customers.
LOL, worst customer service ever. Aside from losing my laptop, breaking the optic drive andbreaking the screen I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to honor their warranty (which with the release of the macbook went from 3 years to two but costs the same).
Also my all-in-one memory card reader has completely busted, it sees everything as "read only" now