Dell Inspiron 1525’s battery not charging, plugged in.
www.discountbatteryshop.co.uk

Question:“I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1525 in April 2008.

About 1 month ago I noticed that my computer would automaticaly shut down when the power cord was removed, I hovered over the Dell Inspiron 1525 battery icon in the bottom right corner and it said 0% available plugged in, not charging.

I googled the phrase plugged in, not charging and realised lots of people were having the same problem.

I have tried

restarting and shutting down my computer (with and without battery and with and without power cord)
removing and replacing my  Inspiron 1525 battery (while laptop is on and off)
a replacement battery from Dell
my sister’s battery and power cord (she also has a 1525)in my laptop and get the message plugged in, not charging. My Dell Inspiron 1520 battery in her laptop will charge but my power cord in her laptop says plugged in, not charging
removing the battery with the laptop on then restarting the laptop and replacing the battery
uninstalling and reinstalling the Power Management Software
switching between power plans
flashing with current bios
All 3 batteries (hers, my original and my replacement  XPS M1530 battery ) have adequate charge (50% or higher)

I run with Windows Vista Home edition

Can anyone help me or suggest anything else?

I have been to the local Dell distributer and they tell me to call Dell. I have tried calling Dell but I keep getting put on hold for 30+ minutes.”

Answer:“It could be a problem with:

1. The laptop’s battery

2. The laptop AC adapter

3. The charger component on the laptop’s motherboard

Yes I tried all the previous steps including flashing BIOS with latest update but no luck. Replacing teh MB seems to have resolved the issue.

On another note if you google “Dell Inspiron 1525 battery Plugged in not charging” you get 100’s of hits and it seems like a widespread problem related to Vista and not a computer manufacturer. Seems like all makes of PC’s are having this problem for one reason or another. A lot of people have reported success in resolving this issue by following the below steps that I copied and pasted from another forum. No Guarantee it will work but who knows..

In many cases it has been a Vista software problem.

Good luck !

1. Click Start and type device in the search field, then select Device Manager .

2. Expand the Laptop Batteries category.

3. Under the Batteries category, right-click the Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery listing, and select Uninstall .

WARNING: Do not remove the Microsoft dell inspiron 1525 AC Adapter driver or any other ACPI compliant driver.

4. On the Device Manager taskbar, click Scan for hardware changes .

Alternately, select Action > Scan for hardware changes .

Windows will scan your computer for hardware that doesn’t have drivers installed, and will install the drivers needed to manage your battery’s power. The notebook should now indicate that the Dell  1525 battery is charging.”

It’s working again.

THIS IS A PURE VISTA (software) problem.

Tell me please, should I remove the hp compaq nc6400 battery if the notebook is on AC mainly and just about once or twice a week on battery power?

And some other essential questions:

1) As I know, full discharge of Li-Ion battery is harmful for it – so I think that 3% charge shown by Windows or HP laptop Battery check is about 20% of real, physical charge-so full discharge is impossible- am I right?

2) When I turning my notebook off for the night time, I unplug the hp compaq nc6400 charger off the AC too – is it right?

3) So, when the notebook is off or hibernated it shouldn’t consume any power, but when I turn on the notebook after night – the charge level is not full – (I guess that that it’s a normal physical process somthing like internal resistance or else) – but when the AC is back, the battery begins charging – so if this miserable charge counts by the hp nc6400 battery controller as a new lifetime charging cycle or not?

4) Maybe it is more reasonable to keep the notebook always on AC without removing the battery and the controller will switch the charging device off when the battery doesn’t need any more of charge? But wouldn’t it decrease the battery’s total capability faster?

5)Is it important – how many percent charge left in laptop battery when I begin charging it? Or I should discharge it by the time the notebook switches off and can’t start?

Maximum compaq nc6400 battery life results from keeping it cool – and at below 50% charge when not in use. When it’s in the laptop, it should chage to 100% and may remain warm after charging as a result of heat from the machine itself. So the answer is yes – except that if you need to use it on battery power a couple of times a week, you’ll need to remember to reinsert it to get it fully charged before relying on battery power.

1) The battery will automatically stop itself from discharging at a “safe” voltage.

Full discharge is not impossible – it will happen but very slowly over time if the hp compaq nx6110 battery is stored – due to natural discharge internal chemical reaction and the fact that it is powering its internal electronics

2)Unplugging the ac adaptor is fine as a safety measure, (possible fire or night-time lightning strikes to the power cables) but is not otherwise necessary . If you don’t have a battery fitted, then auto wake-up (eg for incoming fax) won’t of course be available

3. Yes – there is small power consumption on hibernate, from the battery if ac power is unavailable. It’s still connected to the power arbitration circuitry. But the small recharge does not to my knowledge count towards the lifetime cycle count.

4. Personally, I think the fact that the hp 6710B battery is held in a full state of charge and kept warm will have a greater effect on its life.

5. A properly working battery will measure input and output watts, keeping track or and reporting its charge state. With many short and shallow discharge cycles, its knowledge of its charge state will drift from reality but will otherwise not do any harm. A discharge to 5% or less while working normally follwed by a full recharge should recalibrate the hp compaq nx6325 battery . There is no need to discharge to the switch-off and can’t restart stage, although the deeper the discharge, the more accurate should be the calibration.

Having said all of that, it only takes one cell to fail – or a problem in the battery’s internal control system – for the battery to fail completely – and one of these events is more probable than an end of life on cycle count. Consequently, in your position of needing battery power a couple of times a week, I wouldn’t bother taking it out at all – unless your machine keeps it unduly warm.