Adapter won't charge my laptop

Hi! I've had my Dell XPS for less than 2 years, and my adapter doesn't seem to be working properly. When I plug it in, my computer goes to AC Power, but it will no longer charge my battery! I also can't boot up while it's plugged in, because it says the AC power isn't high enough, even though its the same adapter I've been using since I got the laptop. Does anyone have any suggestions? Nothing has happened to my adapter, and this used to happen only occasionally, but now it's like this all of the time. It's not a huge problem, but my battery is getting low, and I'm afraid I won't be able to boot it up anymore once the battery has died.
Thanks!!

Caitlin

 

Will your machine run plugged in with the battery pulled out?

 

can you do a bios upgrade?

i can help you out more if you can tell us what exact xps model you have.

 

thanks for your speedy replies!
Yes, I can run my computer plugged in with the battery out, and my laptop is a XPS/Inspiron Gen2. I hope thats enough information.. if not, let me know!

Caitlin

 

I don't know what bios you are running (it will flash it real fast on the black dell screen right when you turn it on.) but if it is A04 or less download this file http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=142072
and install it. (Scroll down the page for details on how to do this). Let me know if this works for you.

 

thanks! I downloaded what you said, and it charges now.

Thanks so much!!

Caitlin

 

glad to help

 

Why did I have to do that? If you don't mind explaining.

 

i wish i could but i don't know why...i just know when that happens sometimes upgrading your pc's bios fixes it. i wasn't sure it would fix it in your case, but im glad it did.

 

generally speaking, I'm not sure flashing the bios is a good idea when you have power issues... would hate for the power to die during the install.

 

not true...had she called up dell, they would have told her to flash the bios like i did.

 

OK so it didn't fix the problem!
Sometimes it seems to work, but its no longer charging. Any other suggestions?

 

it may be likely that your power supply is damaged / dieing. can you borrow a friends and see if it charges your laptop?

 

No, I actually can't, none of my friends have Dell laptops. I still have a service plan, so maybe I'll give that a try?

 

yes i would. give them a call and see what they say.

 

Could be that your battery is just worn out. Don't know how to properly test laptop batteries, but do know that they're generally only warrantied for 6 months to a year. If you've gotten something approaching two years from yours, it may simply be time for a new one.

 

Did you leave your battery in your laptop at ALL Times (or at least a lot of the time) since you've owned the laptop?

If you have, your battery is dead. Under that kind of conditions (XPS = high performance = loads of heat = faster Lithium oxidization. Basically, in laymen speak, the battery has deteriorated to the point that it's no longer usable), Lithium Ions will only last around 12-18months, tops.

In the future, take our your battery if you're plugged in and using your laptop. Charge your battery when the battery is off (less heat). By taking better care of your battery, it may last up to 3 or 4 years (although by then, the battery life is down to around 50% of its original life... My old Compaq laptop which is only around 3 years old can only run on battery for around 40-50 minutes).

All you can do now is:
Use your Service Warranty and see if it's an Adapter fault (in which case it should be covered), and if it ISN'T an Adapter fault, you'll have to order a new battery.

 

Thanks!
I actually have another battery, since the battery time on thie computer is pretty short, but that one doesn't seem to be charging either. I guess I'll have to give them a call! I thought I could avoid going through their 38924 diagnostic tests, but I guess I'm not that lucky!
Thanks everyone for your suggestions, and Triple Dude, I'll definitely remember your advice for the future!

 

I have the same problem, there's also another topic about this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=159092

You are saying to try the BIOS, but my Vostro 1500 doesn't have any update available. I got the power warning once like a week ago, then it was ok. Yesterday I got it again and this time it kept coming up everytime I started up the laptop. Tried it with another plug and it's the same. Tried taking out the battery and putting it back in, nothing.

Now the laptop is working with the adapter, but the battery is not charging up (95%) and the computer is slow, because it says adapter is unknown and I guess this activates a low-performance mode.

 

By the sounds of it you just have a shoddy battery!

i have a 2.5 year old HP NX6110, my dad has a 3 year old Toshiba, and all my uni mates have laptops that are about 2 - 3 years old (some Toshiba, some Sony, some Acer, etc) and not a singe one of them has had the problem you describe!

Hell, my dad still has a laptop from 10 years ago, and the battery time on that pretty much matches your Compaq! And its more than 3 times the age!

 

It's probably a bad motherboard/jack - have Dell replace the system if it's brand new.

 

Gonna bump this for (hopefully) some helpful advice. I'm having a similar issue...here are the details:

1) Dell Inspiron E1705 laptop, 1.5 years old. Warranty expired. :/
2) New Dell-model power adapter. Has the right numbers and everything on the label.
3) Laptop boots, won't recognize 90W power brick. (Incidentally it can recognize a 65W power brick and say that it's insufficient.)
4) Won't charge the battery ever, and the CPU runs much slower. Can't turn this "feature" off in the BIOS anywhere.
5) I flashed the BIOS already; this was no help.
6) It's not the adapter, I tried a different 90W Dell adapter and a generic 90W adapter from Staples, neither work.
7) The battery is fine, diagnostics note that it's at 3% charge (simply because it hasn't been charged) but the computer runs on it.
8) The pin visible from outside the laptop is not bent or otherwise out of shape.

All of this leads me to believe that my motherboard has an STD. Discuss.

 

Since my last post, I've found out that the key is the jack of the adapter. The one you plug to the laptop. When I get the pre-boot warning, if I continue to XP and then plug it out and back in, it recognizes the adapter at full capacity.

Wonder if it is the jack's or the motherboard's fault.

 

Make sure the connectors are clean.