Laptop battery no longer charges

[Brian M]

OK so I have a ~4 month old Dell Inspiron 700m laptop. Last night I let the battery drain until it was dead. Now when I plug in the AC adapter the battery will not charge. No charging light, windows says no battery present, and when booting the BIOS gives an error that says no battery present.

I'm assuming I just let the battery drain down too far for the computer to even detect it any longer. I know this battery must be OK still, so can anyone think of a way I could charge this battery so the computer will start recognizing it again. My machine still works fine, but only running off the AC adapter. The battery is rated at 14.4v and has 7 contact pins, one seperate than the others and I don't know which would be to + and - to try hooking up an external power supply directly to the batteries contacts.

If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it!

PS: Dell Support is real good, called them and they said I'm screwed.

 

[sharkeeper]

Do NOT try to charge this pack by connecting any source of EMF to the contacts. The packs are proprietary and should be serviced by authorised personnel qualified in Li Poly - Ion secondary technology. Improper use, charging, etc. can result in serious personal injury due to fire and/or expulsion of hazardous alkali metals.

Cheers!

 

[Brian M]

Scratch that idea off on fixing the battery. haha thanks sharkeeper.

Anyone know of any software that will forcefully charge this battery?

 

[pcman83]

buy a new one. Got to love dell...

 

[Brian M]

$160, no thanks!

 

[vtqanh]

call DELL up ?

 

[Brian M]

PS: Dell Support is real good, called them and they said I'm screwed.

Maybe I should call up again and hope to get a better support agent. Damn India call centers.

 

[Vegito]

New Dell pc comes with 1 year warranty for the battery.. even if you bought the 3 year extended warranty, they only warrant the battery for 1 year.. if ur pc is only 4 month.. please call them and get a new one.. dont bother taking it apart, etc.

 

[sharkeeper]

What has most likely happened is one of the cells in the pack has fallen to below 3.0 volts. The circuitry in the pack will effectively shut off the pack and the computer ignores it. This can be corrected but as I said earlier it requires disassembly of the pack (authorised only!) and the use of a digital volt meter and regulated DC power supply.

If it's only 4 months old it should be under warranty.

Cheers!

 

[tweeve2002]

use the warranty, that is what they are for.

 

[Brian M]

Called Dell back and convinced them to send a new battery, free under warranty!

Thanks for everyone's help/suggestions.

 

[0roo0roo]

u can't break a battery with its charger or draining it completely

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: Brian M
Called Dell back and convinced them to send a new battery, free under warranty!

Thanks for everyone's help/suggestions.

lol

 

[Stark]

buy a new battery

 

[Brian M]

u can't break a battery with its charger or draining it completely

Seems to me that's exactly what I did. Do you have any other possible explanations as to what could have happened?

buy a new battery

Don't need to, Dell is replacing this one for free.

 

[cy7878]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
u can't break a battery with its charger or draining it completely

Sure you can. Try this at home: run your battery till it is at 3%, at which point you put the computer to sleep. Leave it asleep for 3 weeks, do not turn it off or recharge. I can assure you thye battery will DIE and no longer hold charge. Ask me how I know.

 

[Carp1812]

Originally posted by: cy7878

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
u can't break a battery with its charger or draining it completely

Sure you can. Try this at home: run your battery till it is at 3%, at which point you put the computer to sleep. Leave it asleep for 3 weeks, do not turn it off or recharge. I can assure you thye battery will DIE and no longer hold charge. Ask me how I know.

OK - I'll bite. How DO you know this?

 

[Infohawk]

He's done it before?

 

[Adul]

isnt it under waranty??

 

[cy7878]

Originally posted by: Carp1812

Originally posted by: cy7878

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
u can't break a battery with its charger or draining it completely

Sure you can. Try this at home: run your battery till it is at 3%, at which point you put the computer to sleep. Leave it asleep for 3 weeks, do not turn it off or recharge. I can assure you thye battery will DIE and no longer hold charge. Ask me how I know.

OK - I'll bite. How DO you know this?

Accidentally, of course. Besides a big laugh from the IBM support guy, it was truely humiliating because I was at IBM's mercy to replace the $200 battery. Luckily, IBm stepped up and replaced it. The support guy told me to never ever discharge a Li-Ion completely.

 

[sharkeeper]

IF a battery pack is designed properly, it cannot ever be damaged by an end user unless abused. Abused = dropping from great heights, leaving in car in searing sun or extreme cold.

Running it down to MT will NOT damage a pack. If the protection circuitry present on the pack is not well designed or malfunctioning a cell may be overdischarged and not come back. They can be re-equalised but this is beyond the scope of the end user.

FYI, storing them fully charged will shorten their overall lifespan faster than storing them partially or fully discharged! It's not a huge factor, but it definitely exists.

Cheers!

 

[JPMNICK]

I have heard 40% is the best way to store them, not sure if this is true or not.