# Battery failing?



## Clod Kicker (May 7, 2012)

On a laptop, one day I noticed the battery reserve was 70%, (normal 97%) plugged in, not charging. It seems to lose 1%/day. 
Before this I left it plugged in, on all day and sleep at night.
This LT is abouut 4 years old. Time for a new battery?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Sounds like it. They usually only last 3 or 4 years. Most new aftermarket laptop batteries cost in the $12 to $15 range, shipping included. You can find them at eBay.


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## Clod Kicker (May 7, 2012)

Nevada said:


> Sounds like it. They usually only last 3 or 4 years. Most new aftermarket laptop batteries cost in the $12 to $15 range, shipping included. You can find them at eBay.


Thanx Nevada


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## LincTex (Oct 11, 2010)

Yes, the $15 batteries are "OK", 

but my Dell Latitude only runs about 45 mins on one. I carry a 12 vdc and 120 vac adapter (each) with me when I travel with it.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

LincTex said:


> Yes, the $15 batteries are "OK",
> 
> but my Dell Latitude only runs about 45 mins on one. I carry a 12 vdc and 120 vac adapter (each) with me when I travel with it.


I get 3 hours out if my aftermarket battery.


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

I've had mixed results with off-brand laptop batteries. Some work fine, some have way less capacity than they should. Seems like they have quality control issues. So now I get OEM batteries unless they're way more expensive. But for a laptop that's a few years old, usually you can find the OEM battery for a pretty reasonable price on Ebay.


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## Clod Kicker (May 7, 2012)

$25-and up for new ones - Li-Ion. I'll have to pull the batt and get some #'s from it. Can't go by the model# of the LT for some odd reason...


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Clod Kicker said:


> $25-and up for new ones - Li-Ion. I'll have to pull the batt and get some #'s from it. Can't go by the model# of the LT for some odd reason...


What's your laptop brand & model? I'll look for you.


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## StL.Ed (Mar 6, 2011)

If the battery icon in the message bar actually tells you "Plugged In, Not Charging", try unplugging the power from the laptop and plugging it back in (if you haven't already). There seems to be a Windows driver or hardware bug that can cause this problem.

I occasionally see mine at "95% available (Plugged In, Not Charging)" and this seems to kick start the charging.

I haven't done much to research it yet, but did bookmark one site that talks about it:
http://www.deskdecode.com/how-to-fix-laptops-plugged-in-not-charging-problem/

ETA: My laptop was bought new this year, so I suspect a driver bug rather than a corrupted driver or registry. I don't know how much digging I'll be doing, since replugging seems to work for me.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

StL.Ed said:


> If the battery icon in the message bar actually tells you "Plugged In, Not Charging", try unplugging the power from the laptop and plugging it back in (if you haven't already). There seems to be a Windows driver or hardware bug that can cause this problem.
> 
> I occasionally see mine at "95% available (Plugged In, Not Charging)" and this seems to kick start the charging.
> 
> ...


That's the way a lot of laptops work. Once the battery is fully charged my laptop won't start charging again until it drops below 95%.


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## HermitJohn (May 10, 2002)

Before you buy any laptop, find out what a replacement battery will cost (good idea to price the power adapter too) Yea there are cheap ones out there, but just your luck if when you need one, there is no cheap one for your particular laptop. 

Battery is biggest expense of a laptop. Also check whether your laptop will function without a battery. Some now require a good battery for the laptop to even boot, or at least to avoid nag popups telling you you need a new battery. I truly hate gadgets that want to pretend they are smarter than I am and wont let me bypass/disable such nonsense.. I think they must be manufactured by the borg collective, resistance is futile....


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## StL.Ed (Mar 6, 2011)

Nevada said:


> That's the way a lot of laptops work. Once the battery is fully charged my laptop won't start charging again until it drops below 95%.


Well, it's happening again on mine. This time I let it drop to 92% (it would drop 1 percent every couple of days.)








Unplugged charger from laptop and replugged; now it's charging.








Not sure why it's doing that, but it seems like a bug to me.


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