ZBook Studio G8 switches off when power supply plugged in

[paultimms]

I have a ZBook Studio G8 and a Thunderbolt Dock G2. I had a problem in that when I plugged in the laptop at work, it switched off and could only be switched back on by holding down the power button for 15-20 seconds. It didn't happen every time, but almost every time, and wasn't just when plugging in the dock either, as it was also happening with the standard power cable at home. It would only happen when the laptop had been asleep for a while. HP sent an engineer to change the motherboard, and this resolved the problem. However, about 2 months later, the same thing is happening again. Has anyone else experienced this? It seems unlikely that I've been the only one if it's now happened twice.

[SpacemanSpiff1]

Hello. I am having the same issue with the G8 Studio. Sounds like the same problem you are having, except bo dock. Very strange, going to contact HP, but I was thinking maybe motherboard was the issue. Glad to know I'm not the only one, but sure is disappointing to see it happening. 

[paultimms]

Well that's interesting, and in some ways reassuring that it's not just me. Maybe there are others with the same issue who've not reported it here. I thought I was just unlucky the first time, but to have it twice indicates there's something more serious going on. Just to confirm it's the same symptoms, it happens when the computer has been asleep for a while e.g. overnight with the power off. If I plug the power in without opening the lid, the LED next to the power socket alternates between white and off-white for a few seconds. Pressing the power button makes the power button's LED flash and then the power socket LED does the same alternating colours again. If I open the lid before plugging in, the laptop wakes up from sleep and I can log in, but usually, plugging in the power cable causes it to switch off. The only way to boot it up is to hold the power button for 10-15 seconds, release, wait for the power socket LED to stop flashing, then press the power button. Sometimes the fan gets louder and louder as it boots up, before suddenly switching back to normal.

Taking the power cable out and plugging it back in does not cause any problems. Taking it out, putting it to sleep, then plugging the power cable back in is also fine. It just seems to be when it's been in a deeper sleep that it happens.

[paultimms]

My ZBook is being collected by HP tomorrow, so hopefully they will find what's wrong with it and then find the cause. I'll keep you updated.

[Zaagtooth]

interesting, 1 month ago HP replaced my motherboard with the same issue. Guess what, after 2 weeks I got the same problem again! There must be some major hardware issue with these laptops. 

[paultimms]

I'm still waiting for it to be collected. I asked HP to change the collection address but UPS still turned up to the wrong one. It's now being collected, fingers crossed, tomorrow. Hopefully they won't just replace the motherboard again but actually perform some diagnostics to find out the cause of the failure. Otherwise, if it keeps happening I'll just have to return it and get something else, which will be a shame as aside from this issue it's a really nice laptop.

[paultimms]

Zaagtooth, which model do you have? And do you use a dock or just the standard power supply?

[Zaagtooth]

Product number: 314G9EA#ABH,  Zbook studio G8 with 11850H & RTX 3070.

I had to wait almost 2 months before I got the laptop back with a new motherboard and a new charger. I don't use a dock. 

But sadly I'm getting the same symptoms again, the issue occurs every other day now.

[paultimms]

2 months!  Actually it took a few weeks between reporting it the first time and the engineer coming out to replace the motherboard, so I think there's just a shortage of spare parts for these ZBooks. HP told me 10 business days but let's see. I hope they actually find the cause rather than just replacing the motherboard again. Fortunately my >8 year EliteBook is still going strong, it's just heavy and chunky to lug around and the battery only lasts 1-2 hours.

My feeling is that the act of plugging in or removing the charger is causing some kind of spike, which eventually damages a component and causes the ZBook to power off when plugging it back in. It's strange that it only seems to happen when the ZBook has been unplugged for more than a few minutes, and usually when it's been asleep.

One other thing I've noticed is that even when asleep, the battery drains fairly quickly. For example, it was fully charged when I left the office yesterday evening, but I unplugged it and it went to sleep. This morning I opened it up and it was down to 90%. This might just be a Windows 11 issue though.

[paultimms]

I already have the ZBook back from HP. They diagnosed that the battery was defective, so replaced it. The trouble is, I don't know if the defective battery was the cause of the problem or a result of it. I won't know that until it's been running without any issues for several months.