"plugged in, not charging" problem

[Sparkles1]

HI @ndiamond,

Thank you for your query.

I understand that your battery is not reporting  the capacity correctly.

I suggest you test and calibrate your battery to try and correct this discrepancy.  You did not mentions what your operating system  is so I chose the one for Windows 8 as someone did mention Windows 10 in a previous post.

HP Notebook PCs - Testing and Calibrating the Battery (Windows 😎 ( This also applies for Windows 10).

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Good Luck!

[ndiamond]

Sparkles1, thank you for noticing my submission, but please may I ask you to read the details.  I described my efforts to calibrate the battery.

The OS is Windows 7 but I don't think it matters.  The Battery Check tool is the same as far as I'm aware (I gave the name of the downloaded file anyway).  The Battery Check tool doesn't have an option to calibrate the battery, which I assume is because the battery or the computer model predates the development of that option.  I think the battery actually holds more than 1 mWh because the actual battery charge was enough for the BIOS to complete a memory test (on 3GB) and sit a while longer in setup before the hardware powered it off.  But the battery reports that its maximum capacity is only 1 mWh so calibration efforts assume that's 100%.

I think I've figured out that the path from the power supply to some point in the motherboard has intermittent dropouts.  I'm bidding in an auction for a used power supply.  If that doesn't solve it then it will be time to dump the computer; it's not worth trying to replace the motherboard.

Yours sincerely,

Norman Diamond

[Sparkles1]

Hi @ndiamond,

Thank you for your reply.

You should be able to test and calibrate the battery from the bios and I am unsure why that option is not listed for you.

You have determined there is a power drop from the power supply to the motherboard and are therefore trying to acquire a replacement power supply through an auction.   I wish you the best of luck with that and hope it will resolve the issue for you.

Best of Luck!

[Rahere]

@Sparkles, look back at my analysis of which piece of software reads what. I think this is extending it with a "ghost" cell, the power supply itself: if so, the MS can be reading the lowest on all charges, as I suggested, 0, even though cells are fully charged.

@ndiamond

There's not much likelihood of anyone doing anything about it, HP and MS are looking at different data which is internally incoherent.

[ndiamond]

The nw8440 BIOS, F.16, does not offer a menu item to calibrate the battery.  It doesn't even offer to display the battery's status.

The Battery Check tool runs under Windows.  It display's the battery's status.  I clicked an option to display details.  By the way it would be nice if the mouse could be used to select text in the details for copying to another window, but I transcribed it by hand in my previous message.

The Battery Check tool doesn't offer to calibrate the battery.

So the only way I could do it was to boot into BIOS setup and wait until the hardware powers off the computer, when the battery runs down.  I estimate that the battery can really hold about 600 mWh, based on how long the computer remains powered on in BIOS setup.  Also, again, when Windows is running and the AC adapter cuts out, hibernation completes, which I'm sure takes more than 1 mWh of battery power.

I think the problem is that the battery itself reports that its maximum capacity is 1 mWh instead of its actual maximum capacity after 8 years of use.  So the Battery Check tool believes that the maximum is 1 mWh and Windows believes that the maximum is 1 mWh.

I'm bidding in an auction for a used AC adapter and hoping it will solve the problem of AC cutting out, so the battery's problem won't matter any more, I hope.  It wouldn't be cost effective to buy a new battery for this PC.

[deetrumpet]

Don't overlook the AC adapter power input jack on the computer. Those jacks are notorious for failing. And I think you mentioned your problem is in some respects intermittent.

[ndiamond]

Right, if a replacement AC adapter also intermittently disconnects then the jack is a likely problem.  I've seen replacement jacks in auctions too, but it's hardly going to be worth the effort of fixing the motherboard.

Speaking of which, why do HP and Dell have power plugs that stick out straight from the computer, so if the plastic cylinder bumps or leans on anything the plug will damage the jack.  Some makers make the plug L shaped so it doesn't stick out very far.  It really works, especially for laptops, so there's not much pressure on the plug and the jack doesn't get damaged.

[Sparkles1]

Hi @ndiamond,

Thank you for your reply.

I cannot say why HP designs laptops/notebooks the way they do, that is decided by the design engineers. 

[ruggb]

it may be a loose wire in the adapter plug but also very likely is the receptical on the MB has broken solder connections.

if the adapter doesn't do it and u r going to trash the computer, why not disassemble it and find out. Nothing to loose and u might learn something. u can usually find disassembly instructions someplace on the internet - like you-tube

[deetrumpet]

And it's easy to make a micro soldering iron. Just wrap some thick copper wire around the tip of a standard iron or gun, then file the end of the wire down to a tiny point or blade. Find a discarded circuit board to practice on. Use a magnifying glass or jeweler's loupe to see what you're doing.