Acer Store battery AK.004BT.098 not recognized W10 V5-171

Phillip_S_Crew_Sr
Phillip_S_Crew_Sr Member Posts: 2 New User
edited March 2023 in 2017 Archives
I have an Acer AspireOne V5-171-6422.  It was using the original (external) battery that came with it when purchased new in April 2013.  I have  upgraded the HDD to an SSD and clean-installed W10. The battery life was getting shorter, so in Sept. 2017, I tried to order replacements from third parties on Amazon and Ebay, which did not work out because they sent the wrong batteries--either wrong for the machine entirely or wrong number of cells. The new 6-cell version (triangular prism shape) seemed to be the only one available at that time, but due to its shape extending downward physically from the back and added weight, I didn't want to use that type of battery. I reluctantly purchased a new (overpriced) battery from the Acer Store for $40 (now they have dropped the price to $30, but BUYER BEWARE https://store.acer.com/en-us/4-cell-li-ion-2500mah-battery-1: ). We carefully replaced the battery following the directions, but the amber light in front stayed lit for about 10 seconds, then started flashing, indicating a battery problem.  The system tray in Windows 10 showed plugged in, not charging, battery 0%.  We put the original battery back in but the problem did not replicate.  I called Technical Support and they refused to help, saying that the laptop itself was out of warranty and they refused to provide warranty technical service for the battery.  (I'm not too sure how this is exactly legal, and I'm quite sure it is unethical, given their written warranty for the battery that expressly states that technical service will be provided.)  So I called the Acer Store back and they said they would send a new battery and there was no need to send the first one back.  This made me a bit suspicious. The second battery arrived and the same problem happened. I tried the following to fix the issue.  I did a power reset (shutdown properly, unplug, remove battery, hold power button for 30 sec.). I flashed the bios with the latest version (2.21). I searched for a specific battery driver but there was none to be found. I uninstalled the default MS driver by removing the device from the System Manager, but the problem persisted after the driver reinstalled via PnP.  I called the Acer Store line and this time there was an option for Technical Support and the technician actually took the call. I explained what had happened and my attempts to fix the issue.  They had me repeat several of these attempts (which was annoying because the technician had a thick accent and bad phone line). The solution from the technician was ultimately that I should take the laptop to a repair facility, because it must be a problem with the computer and not the battery.  I repeatedly pointed out the flaw in this inference, i.e., that the original battery was working fine, and the issue seemed to be that the new battery wasn't being detected either at a hardware (e.g., missing pin on battery, poor alignment of the battery's plastic parts, battery chip was altered, etc.) or software level (e.g., Acer has not given proper code updates to Microsoft's W10 battery driver manager). Bottom line: Acer Store should take back its faulty batteries and refund the money I spent, or figure out why the battery does not work. Until then, I would not purchase any batteries from Acer!!!