Plugged In Not Charging even with a New Battery.. help!

[Rain1209]

My 2 year old COMPAQ Presario CQ57-339WM was working great all day and suddenly it just stopped charging. The battery has been slowly dying for 2 months. I switched AC adaptors and even purchased a new battery but still nothing. The laptop functions well it just won't charge. Is there any way to charge the battery without the laptop say maybe with an external charger if that exists? Is there something I can do or run on the computer that may detect the problem? Are there computers, laptop service centers that allow people to charge their batteries fully? (silly question but it's worth a try). Please Help!

[AxshunJaxun]

Hey Rain1209, 

I'm sorry you're running into this power issue. If the two AC Adapters work fine on other computers but not this one, the AC Adapters can be ruled out.

The 'plugged in, not charging' issue could be attributed to corrupt ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) which is low-level software that controls how the computer handles all things power related. Sometimes the ACPI drivers need to be reinstalled. Use the steps on the following website to uninstall and reinstall the ACPI drivers to see if this corrects the issue.

Plugged in, Not Charging Windows 7 Solution

Please let me know if this helps or if you have any questions 🙂

[Rain1209]

Hi, Thanks for the step by step solution unfortunately it didn't work. I'll try it one more time when I get home tonight but if all fails what else could the problem be? Because literally as stated my laptop was charging just fine and suddenly it stopped. One battery is now at 5% and the other at 20%.

[AxshunJaxun]

Ok thanks for getting back to me on that. Outdated BIOS can cause this symptom with multiple batteries too. Corrupt ACPI is more common though so that is why I suggested it first 🙂

First check which BIOS version you have currently and let me know what that is. Press the FN + ESC keys to bring up that information. You're looking for the 'F. ##'. 

The latest BIOS versions available are F.24 and F.38. Try F.38 first since it is the latest (if you don't have it already) If you do have it already, let me know. Your computer will restart automatically during the BIOS installation. Allow it to restart and get back to the desktop. Then watch the battery's charge status in the System Tray.

Also let me know which version of Windows you're running please. Windows 7 or 8?

[Rain1209]

 Windows 7

[Rain1209]

.

I'll go through the steps of finding out and updating the BIOS this evening and will let you know. Thanks again.

[AxshunJaxun]

No worries, take your time. I'll keep an eye out for your response.

[Rain1209]

Unfortunately this did not work and I tried both batteries after the BIOS update from F.37 to F. 38. I even tried a hard reset; removing the batter, AC and and other devices... still nothing. 

It's weird because the computer works fine, it powers up without problem, the light is lit on the side and I no other problem aside from it not charging and it won't work at all soon; one battery is now at 4% and the other at 17%.

[AxshunJaxun]

Ok so you've basically ruled out the following: 

1.) Software causes - a) outdated BIOS, b) ACPI corruption

2.) Bad or failing battery - neither the old battery, nor the new battery charge

3.) AC adapter - both AC Adapters work without issue in other computers

Does all of that sound accurate?

If so, the issue is going to be in the internal power circuitry. My guess would be between the battery contacts and the motherboard, since the computer still works fine when only the AC adapter is used. 

Do the batteries fit snugly into the battery compartment? With the battery inserted and the computer off, pick it up and shake it without touching the battery. Do you hear/feel/see any rattling or movement from the battery?

Look at the battery contacts. They should be shiny gold. You could use canned air or a never-used paint or make-up brush to clean any dust out. You can also use isopropyl alcohol and a Q-tip to clean the contacts.

[Rain1209]

The laptop is silent and works wonderfully aside from not charging the batteries; that is the only issue. Maybe I should take it someplace for a professional to look at because it's possible I missed a step. But I'm also willing to try the steps again.