Laptop not charging if battery is too low

[e314]

I'm quite puzzled by the behaviour of my personal laptop :

When windows (Or linux, I've got the problem with both) powers down the computer because the battery is low (5-7%), I cannot get the battery to charge again with the normal charger.

That computer was packaged with a 90W adapter, which is still working, and even if it's 4 years old, I still have ~4h battery if I'm just using light applications. As long as it stays over 7% battery, I have no problems at all.

But if the battery goes low, even if i remove it, and do a hard reset, it just refuses to boot, and the battery led blinks.

I mean, even if the battery is removed, it still refuses to do anything. However, if the battery got removed with a decent charge, then I can boot without any issue.

I have tested the adapter with other HP computers, even at low battery, and it works fine. I have tested other similar adapter on my computer, and the problem stays.

I have tried higher power adapter (130W), same thing.

(I work as an IT engineer, testing material is abundant)

Then i tested it on a 50W adapter... and the led goes orange, starts charging, and the computer boots as if nothing happened.

However, the 50W adapter isn't enough, the screen goes dim if I start CPU-heavy applications (also called games).

The whole thing is up to date (Bios, drivers, whatever update I could find on the HP site).

I noticed the problem for the first time some months after upgrading the internal HDD to an SSD (Since I avoid draining my battery too much whenever I can, the situation doesn't occur often). This is the only hardware change that happened in the last 3 years.

Travelling with 2 adapters is, in a way, a solution, but it isn't satisfactory at all. What is going on with that (out of warranty) computer?

[Dragon-Fur]

@e314

For your reading pleasure:

Business Notebooks – “Ship” mode for notebook battery storage

Advisory: HP Notebook PCs - Batteries May Not Charge After Extended Storage Period

Not sure if the "critical charge" level is relevant to a battery that is drained during normal use.  In context, it makes sense that if the battery gets "too low", the safety protocol will be engaged (battery cannot be recharged).

and

The following solution includes a link to an article that explains Smart Battery Technology:  battery use and care, how batteries perform over time, and expected battery life.

Accepted Solution - Battery won't Charge or Battery won't Hold a Charge

The battery might be OK and just need calibration (balance / set):

The steps to check / calibrate / replace are included in this document:

HP Notebook PCs - HP Battery Alert Appears Before Windows Starts

Is any of this relevant to your situation?  Unknown -- it does give you a couple more places to look.

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Answered? Click my post "Accept as Solution" to help others find it.

[e314]

Well, I didn't know batteries could be placed back in ship mode, however that doesn't fit the observation. (But thanks for the info, might have to do that at work at some point)

I will test the battery more thoroughly, I didn't run any check on it since it lasts long enough for my use. I'll edit tomorrow with the results.

I don't have, alas, other models avaiable with the same battery.

Also, no matter how weak/uncalibrated/dead the battery is, I do not understand why the computer would refuse to boot (doing absolutely nothing, not even a LED blink) with the battery removed when using a normal/oversized adapter, but not with an undersized one.

Edit : Tests say the battery is OK (359/300 cycles only, 91% max charge available).