Troubleshoot this LaptopFollow

Bought Flea a refurbished laptop at Christmas (Dell Latitude D610). Works peachy except that, within the last day or two, the battery won't charge. AC power works fine but the battery isn't charging when the computer is plugged into the AC, idle or not. Even shut down, it doesn't charge.

Shot battery or is there another potential culprit? I've noticed used laptops don't come with battery warranties and I'm guessing it's for a good reason.

It's a power adapter branded with the Dell logo so I assume it's factory spec. In any event, this battery thing is a new development after several months of trouble-free usage.

I don't have an extra battery nor a charger available to test off of. We just noticed this upon arriving in VA. Then again, it still works off the wall socket so it's not an immediate issue. She doesn't actually travel with the laptop aside from moving it from the living room couch to the bedroom.

In any event, this battery thing is a new development after several months of trouble-free usage.

Probably just dead. You could try cleaning the connections or the like, but it's a slim chance that it'll do much. Someone at some point will probably tell you try freezing it, which can occasionally work with Ni-Cad batteries but is pretty much a terrible idea with Lithium based batteries. I didn't bother to google it, but it's almost certainly Li-ion.

I'm not that familiar with what Dell uses for a laptop bios, but it may display some information about the battery, like if it thinks there is one plugged in or not.

Your battery is shot. Of this I'm 90% certain. Still, any universal power adapter with the required rating should verify this fact prior to purchasing a new battery. As for communicating with the AC adapter - are we talking some kind of power management software? Is it possible that at some point, a battery backup device was plugged in between the outlet and the laptop? Some software communicates with these devices to determine their status and control them remotely.

The 610 is nearly identical to the Dell Latitude 810. Just smaller. We have about 40 D810s deployed in the region currently. On the 810, the voltage regulator that controlls battery charging sometimes fries itself. It doesn't affect incoming power, but it won't charge a battery fully. Latitudes usually have a longer warrenty since it is part of the dell buisiness line, so there is a good chance it will be under warrenty.

It could also just be a battery that is old and failing to hold a charge. Especially if this is a used laptop. If you bought it direct from dell, even refurbished the battery will have a 1 year warrenty.

Groovy news. I figured the warranty idea would be a bust since I bought it used off of eBay but apparently the Dell website shows this laptop as still having 19 days left to its 2 year warranty. Now to act with great haste!

Groovy news. I figured the warranty idea would be a bust since I bought it used off of eBay but apparently the Dell website shows this laptop as still having 19 days left to its 2 year warranty.

It's transferable?

Good luck!

I'll give it up for Dell in this case. I talked to tech support (online chat) last night and the guy said that it was probably a hardware problem but I needed to transfer ownership before he could send someone around. So he 'pushed' the appropriate website to me to transfer. He said it'd take about 3-5 days.

I filled in the webpage and submitted it and it came back saying that it would take 10-15 business days for me to transfer (I think because I couldn't enter the original owner). Since I now have 18 calendar days left on the warranty, this was going to be a problem. I called Dell customer service, talked to a guy and he switched my ownership right there and then transfered me directly to tech support with no waiting. The tech support guy said that it was either the AC adapter or else the motherboard so he'd put in a request to have the service guy bring both. The service guy is supposed to call me tomorrow once he receives the parts and schedule when to come out to fix it.

Aside from the second tech guy sounding a bit exasperated that the first tech guy just said "motherboard" and never thought to blame the AC adapter, it was a flawless experience for a laptop I own 3rd hand and wouldn't have suspected to still be under warranty at all.

Yeah, this is where my up-til-then flawless experience with Dell support fell apart. I'd have welcomed the guy with the chain saw. No one ever showed up or returned my call asking when to expect them.

In my case it was a bad NIC. I ended up replacing it myself. /shrug

Good luck!

At least let him to the door to hand you the replacement parts, since they are free and all.

The dell certification course is rediculously easy. An untrained monkey could complete it. This is however not a testement to the ease of assembly of their laptops...

I was thinking more the $150 laptop motherboard.

Flea and I both have the day off anyway. I ain't goin' no where. Plus, as Kao points out, it could be the board.