Vostro 3550 charging problem!

Thanks John. What do you make of my battery from these photos I snapped? I don't think it's reading battery wear correctly is it?
Also, I typed a mistake earlier, it's discharging 2% every half minute, twice as much as I mentioned.

 

Thank you for the photos, for future reference you should be able to capture those screens using Alt-Fn-PrtSc then paste into a graphics program (or use the Snipping Tool).

It looks like the battery has lost track of its original design capacity but it is clear that the current capacity is down to 10.7Whr, ie less than 1/4 of the original capacity. The drain rate is bouncing around between 9 and 18W so could be expected to give around 3 hours with the 6 cell battery or 4.5 hours with the 9 cell. You may be able to slightly extend this by doing some housekeeping on what is running (I use Firefox as my web browser with Flashblock and Adblock Plus to minimise the amount of unwanted content which contributes to power drain. Also turn of Bluetooth if not in use). The latest hardware can get about double the run time from the same battery capacity due to better efficiency and closing down components during periods when they are not in use.

John

 

Ah yeah, I would normally use the snipping tool, save and upload screenshots, but as the battery runs down so fast, l thought I'd better snap some pics of the screen before the laptop dies again, lol. I'm using my phone to post everything to the forum until I get the new charger tomorrow.

Thanks very much for deciphering the info.

Interesting, so only about quarter of the battery life left. Well, I guess it doesn't owe me anything after 4 years service. Just to clarify then, you're saying with a brand new 6 cell I could be looking at around 3 hours, give or take. To be honest, I'd be quite happy with that. The 4.5 hours I could get with the 9 cell would be terrific but, hmm, I'm not sure I could live with the extra bulk making it protrude, as I like the laptop to feel flat. The jutting out might make it look unaesthetically pleasing. I mostly rest it on a Coolermaster U2 cooling pad which is already raised at the back .

I use Chrome and adblock but didn't know about flashblock so I'll install that.

 

I remember the time when batteries had a habit of dying just after one year (when the warranty ran out). Yes, assume 3 hours from a new 6 cell battery but you might find you can get a little more. It will partly depend on whether the AMD GPU bleeds a bit of power when not in use.

John

 

"I remember the time when batteries had a habit of dying just after one year (when the warranty ran out). "

Hah, that's called sod's law!

Speaking of the GPU, I'll be interested to find something out when I get the new charger. I took the laptop apart last year and redid the TIM for both the CPU and the AMD 6630 due to over heating during gaming. Here's the thread with pics, in fact you helped me in that thread.

forum.notebookreview.com/threads/vostro-3550-overheating-when-playing-games.760522/#post-9765532

For a while it was great but recently it's been getting hot, artifacting, BSOD and rebooting. But a few days ago, just before the charger completely lost proper charging functionality, it gave a BSOD and rebooted faster than it's ever done. I switched to the HD3000 and it's a bit more stable. I'm going to redo the paste but I'm wondering if the dying PSU had any bearing on that issue. Probably not but will be interesting to see.

 

I received my charger today and it's perfect! Very nice and slim. This one, completely original with all Dell labelling and embossed logo on top.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291428136198?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It also came with the 3 pin clover cable which wasn't meant to be included, plus it's twice as long as my old one, so bonus! Works without the battery inserted too. Couldn't be happier, particularly as it was only £19.97. It has a nice little white light that comes on around the connector tip instead of the green light that was on the adapter block on my old charger.

I ordered this battery today too, also Dell original. Made my best offers and counter offers but only got 49 pence off in the end, so £32.50 instead of £32.99. Still good though as everyone else is selling it for £40 and over. It's been dispatched and I get it friday.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161111921298?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

So, original battery and charger for under £53. Pretty decent I'd say.

New charger doesn't solve the issue of overheating though when playing videos or gaming with the AMD card active, so I'll have to take it apart again.

 

I think that's the current model of PSU. Having the light at the tip also gives greater confidence that power is getting to the tip than a light on the PSU.

The heating issues will require further diagnosis. HWiNFO will let you monitor the CPU load, speed and temperature, GPU temperature and probably the fan speed. Repasting the CPU and GPU may be needed although I'm not sure what the best fix is if one or both of those use a thermal pad. I read references to "copper shims" but have no first-hand knowledge of when they are appropriate.

John

 

I'm wondering if the old thermal heatsink pads here (that look like blutack)
http://postimg.org/image/95cevindb/

are still effective or the cause of overheating rather than the thermal paste and if I need to buy new pads?

 

The pads cover the vRAM, it shouldn't heat too much. The pad thickness may prevent good contact, but, if thinner pads don't make contact with the vRAM, that could be a problem in itself. From the image, you could use a tad less paste, that might help as well. Make sure to tighten the screws in the numbered order if there is one. Even then, I prefer to tighten each screw a little in said order, then repeat to try and get as even contact as possible.

 

Thank tijo. Yeah, my mistake, I mentioned heatsink but meant vRAM. I think I removed a bit of that paste (arctic cooling MX2) after that photo but next time I'll make sure it's less. Do you have a preference, spreading or just letting the heatsink do it? On my desktop pc, and when I did the laptop, I just let the heatsink squish it. I suppose I may possibly have disturbed the seal when trying to line up the heatsink before screwing it down.