Battery is not charging with a universal charger. Why?

Why Dell laptops refuse to charge their batteries when used with universal charger?
Is there a way around this restriction?

Thanks

 

You have to make sure the charger is powerful enough to charge it, also make sure the amps and volts are right too. Usually they can take within a range. Otherwise it just won't charge, or worse, kill your system. I wouldn't think there is a right way around it.

 

Which model and BIOS version?

On the Studio 1558, there are two potentially useful items in the BIOS "Advanced" menu:

Adapter Warnings - This option lets you choose whether the system displays warning messages when you use certain power adapters. The system displays these warnings if you attempt to use a power adapter that has too little capacity for your configuration.

Charger Behaviour - Charge Disabled = Your notebook will be powered but the battery will not be charged.

 

my laptop is the latitude E6400. I've disabled the "adapter warnings" option. I have to check is I have a "Charger behaviour" option in my BIOS.

I bought the E6400 without a charger. I thought that it would be OK to use it with a universal one until I can get my hand into a dell one. Is a 65W charger enough for my laptop knowing that the cpu is a T9900 and the GPU is an intel integrated? Or do I need a 85 or 90W charger?

joelkrause57
What's the charger ref number in your E6400?

 

The standard Dell E6400 power adaptor is 90 watts. The other possible problem is that Dell is known for restricting third party power adaptors; they'll run your computer, but won't charge the battery.

 

I suspect that they do somehow (probably in the BIOS firmware) restrict the use of the third party charger. I remember it was the same with a d610 I had in the past and a d810 that belongs to friend. Funnily though I remember been able to use a third party charger on an inspiron 1300 without any issues.

 

Dell is strict when it comes to power supplies to protect the board from damages caused by using wrong power supplies.

If the power supply's impedance doesnt match OEM, it wont work.

 

Indeed. Since they had their problem with exploding batteries they've added firmware to check both the battery and charger IDs to make sure they're both genuine Dell, and that the charger is the correct one for the PC.

 

I'm guessing you are talking about the numbers on the adapter?

If so, it's a 90w AC Adapter PA-10
Input: AC 100-240v ~ 1.5a 50-60Hz
Output: DC 19.5v 4.62A

I'm going to third on what others are saying that Dell restricts the use of adapters other then there own.

 

I also found a few articles, or more forum posts about this...

IdeaStorm | Warn Buyers Dell Laptops Must Use Dell Charger
DELL AC power adapter not recognized | The Laptop Junction

 

I was surprised to find that chargers for Dells are pretty cheap on amazon. i got one for a Studio 14z for about $11. It's not made by Dell, but it works fine and has a better warranty.

 

Buy it through Amazon. if it doesn't work, send it back.

not better to pay $90 instead of $11.

 

Thanks for the ref number (i.e PA-10). I'll get a proper Dell charger in the next few days. As for now I'm using my old laptop.

Guys I've noticed both in vista and win 7 that my CPU is locked at 800MHz. This happens even when I run benchmarks such as windows experience index, or orthos. Do you thin it is because of the charger? or is there a patch or a driver that I forgot to install?

thanks

 

If your using a lower rated PSU, yes it will throttle. But you should have received a dell warning straight away that it will run at reduced functionality.

 

Nope, no warning. I don't understand why both vista and 7 are not letting the CPU run at its full speed when needed. The power profile selected is 'Balanced'

 

Recently, I posted a thread entitled "plugged in, not charging". I went through all of dell's customer service and they wanted me to send the computer in for a $500 mobo. Aside from their useless service I proceeded on the following philosophy, it is already broke so if I try to fix it and break it more, it will still be broke, so to speak.

I had problems in the past with my 5150 for which dell replaced the mobo which was and still is a large problem with that model. Interestingly enough, the 5150 uses a 130watt 6+amp, 19.5 v charger. Out of the blue, I plugged the charger in my 1720 giving me the charging problem. WELL, IT WORKED! I called an electrician friend to discuss the voltage, watt situation with him. He told me as long as the volts are the same, and there is enough amp or watt output, the charger will work. It makes sense when you think of electricity. Your home is 200 amps with 120/240 volts. You can plug all kinds of appliances, lighting, electronics and other items in the wall sockets and as long as you don't go over the amp capacity of the outlet, the item will work.

I also bought another dell replacement charger, not oem, on ebay. 19.5v, 4.62a, 90w. That one worked too. So now I have 2 ac adapters from the 5150, 19.5v, 130w 6.5a which work with this 1720 and the new one I bought on ebay.

The bottom line = I didn't have to give dell $500 for a mobo I didn't need. So more than half the time, they don't know what they are talking about. They are just trying to sell you overpriced refurbished parts, SO, if that doesn't work, you can buy a new or factory refurbished computer.

This worked for me and if anyone needs more on it they can email me by looking at my profile and I will be happy to help out.