HP Pavilion dv7-2277cl "Plugged in, not charging" - HELP!

[PopcornPrincess]

HP Support Team,

First off, I really want to thank you for holding this kind of support.  I am having technical notebook issues and it happens to be during your guys' Expert Days - how unfortunately fortunate of me!

I have a 4 year-old HP Pavilion dv7-2277cl, Windows 7 OS. I've been having an issue for months now with recharging my battery.  Everytime I plug in the AC adapter, it says "Plugged in, not charging" .  For the past two months I've been able to get away by wiggling the adapter to get it to charge, though my "hit or miss" method no longer works anymore.  I've opened the Device Manager and updated the three drivers under "Batteries" (all were up-to-date), tried uninstalling Microsoft ACPI Control Compliant and rebooting my notebook (nothing changed). I've tried shutting down the notebook and attempted to turn it back on with only the AC adapter plugged in (which did not work) and even calibrated my battery- which has only left me to the point where I have at a 5% charge, and it has been plugged in for over 12 hours...

So, somehow the battery IS charging- but only when the notebook is shut off. While the battery icon always displays "Plugged in, not charging," the battery charge miraculously changed from a 38% to 78% over a day of letting it charge (shut off).  Same for when I calibrated the battery, somehow it charged to a weak, but hopeful 5% charge..

Could the culprit be the battery, the AC adapter, or the notebook itself? I am a broke college student so it would strain my wallet to get in-store assistance, so I am looking for any help!

Desperate and concerned,
Popcorn Princess

[muka3D]

Hey Popcorn Princess,

We're glad you enjoy these events! And don't worry, your technical issues happening at the same time as the Expert Day is merely a coincidence!

Anyways, thank you very much for the very detailed report - this is very useful. The first step I'd recommend is running the HP battery utility, which uses some of the battery's built in features to do a health check:
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00821536

Post back your results. At this point, it is either an issue with the adapter (maybe it is underpowered for some reason) or with the battery itself. This test will help us isolate the issue.

[PopcornPrincess]

Thank you so much for the quick reply!

I just ran the HP battery utility, though the results still show up as "Calibrate" 😞

Not sure if the low battery charge would contribute to a false reading.  The charge did increase from 5% to 10% since I last checked though, but it is charging very slowly since the calibration...I hope this bit of information helps! 

[Kalt]

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@PopcornPrincess wrote:

Thank you so much for the quick reply!

I just ran the HP battery utility, though the results still show up as "Calibrate" 😞

Not sure if the low battery charge would contribute to a false reading.  The charge did increase from 5% to 10% since I last checked though, but it is charging very slowly since the calibration...I hope this bit of information helps! 

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Have you run the BIOS update yet?  If not, please do so and see if that makes a difference.

[PopcornPrincess]

Hi Kalt,

Yes, I forgot to mention that in the first post. I did update to the latest BIOS update (F.46), though that unfortunately did not make a difference.

Since my last post about 9 hours ago, the battery has only changed from 10% to  14% 😞  

[Daniel_Potyrala]

Hi,

Don't worry. You may for example unplug the battery from the laptop and have it connected to the ac adapter if mobility is not important to you. Another solution is to replace current batttery for new one. According to the "HP Battery Finder" document you need: HP 8-cell Battery (GA08) - KS525AA which you may get for example here.

[PopcornPrincess]

Hi Daniel_Potyrala,

Thank you so much for looking that up for me!  Unfortunately the notebook could not turn on with only the AC adapter connected.  I did notice that the battery power LED seemed to blink without the battery though.  Currently with both the battery and AC adapter connected, that light is gone.  Not sure if that means anything, just some observations.

I did just order the replacement battery that you found for me, along with a replacement AC adapter- hopefully one of those will solve this problem.   

[Kalt · Accepted solution]

If you cannot power the notebook on without the AC adapter then there's obviously a fault with the AC adapter. Replacing it should remedy your situation.

[PopcornPrincess]

I am really hoping that is the problem and not the notebook itself!  I tried using a different AC adapter which had a slightly lower amp, though that didn't work.  The one I just ordered through Amazon  is supposed to arrive on Monday, hoping this one will work?

I will let you know if this solves my problems.  Thank you all for your support!

[PopcornPrincess]

Update:  The new battery and AC adapter just arrived today!  I first tried starting my notebook with the new battery and old AC adapter - did not turn on.  Plugged in the new AC adapter with the new battery- worked like a charm!   My notebook is now "plugged in, charging" 🙂

So relieved. Thank you so much HP guys for all the help!