Spectre x360 13-w023dx will not Charge - constant blinking light - since HP update Late June 2018

[laopa]

Hi Huffer,

Thanks for getting back.

I am actually not sure that you were totally wrong about the battery but in a weird way.

Let me explain.

Firstly I am no computer expert in terms of software or hardware but when push comes to shove I am prepared to spend a lot of time trying to improve my knowledge and skills.

So on the replacing the battery issue I have a few confessions to make.

• currently we are on my fourth removal and reinstall attempts of the battery
• attempt one, involved me not realizing, even after watching several videos, printing out the technical manual for the Spectre x360 notebook, that the most difficult part would be reinserting the (female) power connection/plug on the battery to the (male) socket in the Spectre. (note to self, take photos of everything before you remove anything) 
• So I didn't do that of course and as a result tried to plug the (female) battery connection in upside down
• yes you are correct that did not work and resulted in the "no battery detected" error message
• attempt two resulted in me realizing, by checking with the original battery and noticing, that the actual (female) connection plug on the original battery was actually twisted over and 180 degrees opposite to how I tried to insert the new (female) battery plug.
• I also inadvertently but crucially learned via another mistake, i.e. damaging the "paper like" material/cover on the notebook (male) connection socket, that underneath that tiny cover where 10 prongs/pins that needed to be slotted/inserted into the corresponding holes in the battery (female) connector plug in order for the battery to be properly connected.
• it would have helped substantially if any of the instruction videos, pictures or written texts had mentioned that little snippet.
• the problem now was that the damaged cover on the notebook (male) connection socket and which actually covers the now exposed top of the plug was no longer there. Risk being that it might short out if it contacted the base of the Spectre when it was put back in place.
• so of course that did not work anyway, with the Spectre going into an endless cycle of blinking amber charge light/led
• after 24 hours and reading up on the possibility of removing the battery and running the Spectre on a/c only power I heroically removed the battery again and tried that option
• bombed out again and went with the reinstall the battery but don't plug it in option .. failed
• OK so here we are at attempt four and where it gets really interesting.
• So I opened up the bottom/back of the Spectre again and very carefully and under the supervision of my University Student child with keener eyesight than my own, I reconnected the battery plug (female) with the prongs/pins (now visible) of the notebook (male) connector.
• being paranoid about the shorting out issue and stuck with what to replace the destroyed cover with I finally decided on a small piece of the packet/pouch that the  Battpit Battery was packaged and shipped in.
• reassembled the notebook plugged it into the HP charge and "blow me down" the thing started to charge properly
• not convinced we are quite there yet but we are are now on our third cycle of charging to 100% using the Notebook and then recharging to 100%.
• problem still is that the actual usable time once removed from the a/c is about 3 hours but it seems to be a process worth pursuing to see if we can recalibrate the battery back to a more normal usage time of 8 - 10 hours?
• who knows

So Huffer don't give up hope on your advice yet.

But I do need some more convincing that the Spectre can be run with no battery present. My attempts so far on that front have been a failure. Mind you look at my battery replacement history.

Still glad we have the new Laptop/Notebook available because I doubt that this saga is finalized yet and I can't trust that the HP will last the distance during my kid's Lecture, Tutorial and Practicals times.

To clarify the "new motherboard" matter I should correct that statement to be "replacement motherboard" for the HP Spectre x 360 13-w023dx,  Which based upon my efforts locally in Australia  and then in the USA found that there are no "replacement motherboards" available for our Model 13-w023dx Spectre.

I did manage to find one on ebay in the USA but the cost and doubt that it may not be the ultimate answer made me reluctant to go to that much expense at this time.

Onwards, forever onwards

I shall return.

[laopa]

I went to a lot of trouble to write a detailed reply and then it was removed as SPAM.

Why?

[Huffer]

Well this explains a lot. Actually I have a feeling a lot of posts we get here saying this or that does not work right is preceded by someone making a goof in assembly/disassembly. Laptops right now are barely able to be serviced by an amateur who has general skills with electronics and tools. It is very easy to mess something up and sometimes you don't even know you did. Did you write something other than the long post I see now? I assure you I deleted nothing and I see nothign in that post that should have caused anyone to delete it. Thanks for honesty. 

The problem with running the laptop sans battery is that on most models with internal batteries the "main" battery does double duty as a RTC/CMOS battery so is in charge of keeping time, etc. So that means you would have to always have it plugged in or you might have problems. I know they will run without battery as I fire them up and test them with the battery out all the time but have never purposesly reassembled a laptop with internal battery minus the internal battery with the idea to keep using it that way. 

[ChrisM_L]

Quick post and I'll vanish again:

I saw this thread a little earlier today - the complaint about a reply having been deleted was originally shown without the longer reply above it. The long reply then appeared later.

I'm guessing it was in some sort of holding/manual verification required status, rather than deleted.

[laopa]

Hi,

Thanks for the comment.

Just to clarify. When I finished spell checking that lengthy post and tried to re-post it, it disappeared and a pink banner appeared across the top of where the updated post should have been that stated that it had been deleted/removed as SPAM.

To put it mildly that annoyed the *&*^% out of me because it took a lot of effort to write all that detailed information about how stupid I was and the simple mistakes I had made in trying to change a battery.

Better to pass on the pain as a learning experience for others I thought.

Anyway it is all back here now in all of its painful glory.

Thanks

[laopa]

Hi Huffer,

Thanks for getting back and not mocking my efforts on the battery re-install.

Even with the Anti Static Matt, Anti Static Wrist Strap and a bunch of Laptop Repair hardware tools, you can still get the simplest things wrong, particularly if you can not find any specific enough instructions in any visual or audio format that prepare you for everything.

The ultimately simple mechanics of that (male) battery power plug connector and the corresponding "needs to be inverted" (female) actual battery plug cable really mucked up my days. That "cover" over the actual "male" prongs/pins was the killer. Maybe it should be clear or even hinged. Yeah but that would be based upon the assumption that the Spectre was going to be worked upon / serviced by a neophyte like me.

Of course you could ask the interesting question of whether the original battery was ever installed properly when the Spectre was first assembled and has that been the root cause of all the consequent problems the Spectre has suffered over its short 18 month life?

A lot of people seem to be reporting "battery and charging" issues on this forum? Makes you think?

Anyway back to the no battery questions.

 "I know they will run without battery as I fire them up and test them with the battery out all the time"

Then riddle me this. Why didn't it work when I took  out the battery then reassembled the Spectre, plugged it into the HP Power adapter and turned in on?

It certainly tried to boot and I think it passed the BIOS stage but it could not load the WIN 10 O/S. Power light (LED) kept turning on and off and the laptop tried until it gave up.

The same thing happened when I put the battery back in the Spectre but did not plug it in. Reassembled it and the result was the same as above. BIOS OK, I think but unable to start the Win10 O/S?

I would still like to fix that option just in case we are forced to revert back to the drink-coaster or paperweight choices again.

In the meantime our kid is out the door and off to University for the day to face the challenge of learning some Python Coding with the help of the freshly charged Spectre.

Problem still remains that the charge only lasts for 2 -3 hours and not the original 8 - 10 hours but I am hoping that half a dozen cycles of fully drained and then fully charged may re-calibrate the Battpit Battery to something resembling a respectable and useful charge period.

In the interim I need to get ready for the arrival of the new Notebook and getting it ready software wise to take over as the kid's primary Notebook resource.

We can then palm off the Spectre to their mum as a replacement for her own decrepit Samsung Nexus Tablet.

How sad, a Spectre x360 13-w023dx reduced to having Candy Crush played on its touch screen for the rest of its life because its internals don't function effectively or efficiently enough to give it a more productive existence.

Shame on you HP.