Anyone had luck fixing the not-charging battery in the Nitro 7 AN715-51-796C ?

I got a nitro 7 laptop for Christmas. It worked fine for all of a few days before the battery did not charge back up after I had used it unplugged. I did all the things I could, uninstall the battery drivers in device manager, try the soft battery reset since the battery is internal (no pinhole for battery reset either, so don't suggest that), and taking the battery out breaks warranty. Nothing worked, so I had to ship it to Acer for repairs. They didn't even give me a new battery, just a new charger, and it worked fine for a few weeks, but now it won't charge again.

If anyone's figured out what's going on with the nitro 7 batteries, since I know I'm not the only one having this issue, I'd love to know how to fix this. I'm not sending it in to Acer again. It took two weeks for me to get my laptop back and I need it for school, though right now it's useless again as a portable laptop. I'm not opposed to replacing the battery if that's the real cause, though I'm **** Acer didn't do it in the first place.

I did add more RAM, and at first I wondered if that caused some glitch, but my computer worked fine for awhile after I got it back from Acer repair and I had put the RAM back in. This laptop was supposed to last me for several years into grad school, but it's not even made it a month into my last semester in my undergrad. I really do regret purchasing this, even though it's otherwise a really nice laptop for my gaming and school needs.

I could back up my files and preform a reset, if someone's had luck doing that to fix it, but I really don't want to keep doing this every month.

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brummyfan2

Hi,
Have they given you a 65W charger? could you please post the full model name, like AN7xx-xx and the charger model number. Please read the post by @andylb in this thread:https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/577888/my-acer-nitro-7-will-not-turn-on-or-charge

ala202

The charger they gave me was the brand Chicony, model A18-135P1A, it's a 135W charger (100-240V, 2.37A). The old one that came with the computer didn't list watts but had the same pink tip. The modal of my laptop is AN715-51-796C. As far as the thread you recommended I had looked at that back before I sent it to acer, but I hadn't tried buying a new charger, considering Acer gave me the one I just gave you the specs for.

ala202

Okay so after frustration took over, trying the targus universal adapter (The acer plug didn't even work, the dell one did loosely, go figure), I did a computer reset and reinstalled windows, which didn't do anything. Then I took out my extra RAM, disconnected and reconnected the battery's connection to the motherboard (screw warranty tape, it looks fine) and the ac plug in's connection to the motherboard. That didn't do anything, so then I uninstalled the battery drivers (both of them), and then did the battery reset acer says for internal batteries, holding the power button for 15 seconds, then letting rest for at least 15. After doing that, I powered it on and it charges...I don't know what ended up working, but I'm gonna try either installing my RAM again and seeing what happens, or buying a different brand if that was the case. (I have the crucial ddr4 16gb ram which was working fine for awhile).

andylb

RAM can't affect battery charging

JWA1979

Hi ala202 said:

Okay so after frustration took over, trying the targus universal adapter (The acer plug didn't even work, the dell one did loosely, go figure), I did a computer reset and reinstalled windows, which didn't do anything. Then I took out my extra RAM, disconnected and reconnected the battery's connection to the motherboard (screw warranty tape, it looks fine) and the ac plug in's connection to the motherboard. That didn't do anything, so then I uninstalled the battery drivers (both of them), and then did the battery reset acer says for internal batteries, holding the power button for 15 seconds, then letting rest for at least 15. After doing that, I powered it on and it charges...I don't know what ended up working, but I'm gonna try either installing my RAM again and seeing what happens, or buying a different brand if that was the case. (I have the crucial ddr4 16gb ram which was working fine for awhile).

[SOLVED]

I had the same issue mentioned above with my battery not charging on my AN715-51-796C laptop. I sent mine in for repair but Acer couldn't not replicate the issue. They gave me a free Chicony power adapter. My laptop seemed to be working fine with the new adapter until a month later I started having the same issue again. I called Acer again but they couldn't provide any new help other than to send me another power adapter. I decided to perform a very general Google search on "laptop battery not charging" and found a CNET article titled: "How to fix a Windows 10 laptop that's plugged in but isn't charging". The article provides straightforward instructions on how to resolve the issues. Listed below is the link, with the instructions outlined. So far, the fix is working for me. Hopefully it will help others having this same issue.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-fix-a-windows-10-laptop-thats-plugged-in-but-isnt-charging/

• Open the Device Manager by searching for it or right-clicking the Start button and selecting Device Manager.

• Click Batteries on the list to expand it and you should see two items: Microsoft AC Adapter and Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery.

• Right-click ON EACH ITEM (BOTH) and choose Uninstall device. Yes, you are uninstalling your laptop's battery drivers, but don't worry because they will automatically be reinstalled when you restart your laptop.

• Shut down your laptop.

• Unplug the power cable from your laptop.

• If your laptop has a removable battery, remove it. My laptop does not have a removable battery. I tried skipping this step but it didn't work, so I removed the bottom panel of my laptop and then removed the battery by disconnecting it from the motherboard.

• Put the battery back in if you removed it.

• Plug in your laptop.

• Power on your laptop.

• Click the battery icon in the system tray and you should see that your laptop is plugged in and charging.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-fix-a-windows-10-laptop-thats-plugged-in-but-isnt-charging/

ala202

I had tried that actually, and it does work, but it's very much a pain since the battery is internal. However, I think I determined the cause for my laptop's troubles. My hypothesis is that unplugging/plugging in the laptop while it is sleeping, hibernating, or shut down freaks the battery out somehow and causes it to not charge. Testing this, I've only been plugging it in/unplugging it when it's powered on, and so far, I've had no issues with it not charging. And, so long as I plugged it in before having it sleep/hibernate/shut off, it will charge just fine while turned off or sleeping.

It's annoying that the laptop is that finicky, but it's much better than having to do constant battery resets all the time, especially since what worked to get it to charge again was to uninstall the battery drivers and unplug the internal battery from the motherboard then plugging the battery back in, then let it sit for 15 or so minutes, then powering it back on and finally charging it.

JWA1979

Thanks for the additional information! I'll have to remember this. Yeah I'm not happy about the laptop going haywire if I plug/unplug at the wrong time. I'll remember to only plug/unplug when it's powered on. I hope that Acer or Microsoft can provide fix for this issue soon. Thanks again.

andylb

@JWA1979 the unplugging thing is interesting

adc777

This is unacceptable Acer should do a product recall and replace us with non defective ones.

JWA1979

adc777 said:

This is unacceptable Acer should do a product recall and replace us with non defective ones.

I agree, this is very unacceptable and they should do a product recall. Acer wants to blame it on a bad power supply, which isn't the issue. At least 2 times a month I have 2 take the bottom off and unplug my battery to fix the non charging issue. I've tried calling them even after they sent me another power cable to let them know it's still doing it but they don't try and understand or help. Now with this COVID virus stuff I'm sure I'll run out of factory warranty before the issue is addressed. Hope for some good new on this one day.

JWA1979

ala202 said:

I had tried that actually, and it does work, but it's very much a pain since the battery is internal. However, I think I determined the cause for my laptop's troubles. My hypothesis is that unplugging/plugging in the laptop while it is sleeping, hibernating, or shut down freaks the battery out somehow and causes it to not charge. Testing this, I've only been plugging it in/unplugging it when it's powered on, and so far, I've had no issues with it not charging. And, so long as I plugged it in before having it sleep/hibernate/shut off, it will charge just fine while turned off or sleeping.

It's annoying that the laptop is that finicky, but it's much better than having to do constant battery resets all the time, especially since what worked to get it to charge again was to uninstall the battery drivers and unplug the internal battery from the motherboard then plugging the battery back in, then let it sit for 15 or so minutes, then powering it back on and finally charging it.

I decided to contact Acer again, for the third time, about my laptop failing to charge the battery, even after I received it back from Acer from the first repair. The first time I sent it in for repair, Acer told me they couldn’t find any issues and delivered my laptop back to me with a new charging adapter. At the time, Acer believed that the issue was because of a bad charging adapter. Once the problem kept happening even with the new charging adapter, I contacted Acer again, for the second time. They only wanted to send me out another new charging adapter, and told me to contact them if the second new charging adapter failed to fix the issue. It didn’t resolve the issue. Upon contacting Acer again for the third time, I explained in detail that the only temporary fix to the charging issue was to unplug/plug the battery from the motherboard. I also explained to them that many people are having the same issue with this model laptop. Acer decided to open my repair ticket again and ask me to ship my laptop to them. I noticed this week that the repair had been completed and that my laptop is being shipped back to me. I called Acer yesterday to find out what kind of repairs were performed. They told me that they had to replace the main board (motherboard). I should be receiving my laptop tomorrow in the mail. I’ll work with it for a while and let everyone know if the repair fixed the issue. Hopefully so.

ala202

@JWA1979 Well I hope that works! I've been debating selling my laptop on ebay and getting back to lenovo because of this (though my trick of never unplugging or plugging in while it's off/hibernating/sleeping, doing the unplug battery when needed, is working). Once you've got it back, I'd love to know how it's working with the new motherboard, because if it does fix I'd like to have this laptop working before I start grad school.

JWA1979

I decided to contact Acer again, for the third time, about my laptop failing to charge the battery, even after I received it back from Acer from the first repair. The first time I sent it in for repair, Acer told me they couldn’t find any issues and delivered my laptop back to me with a new charging adapter. At the time, Acer believed that the issue was because of a bad charging adapter. Once the problem kept happening even with the new charging adapter, I contacted Acer again, for the second time. They only wanted to send me out another new charging adapter, and told me to contact them if the second new charging adapter failed to fix the issue. It didn’t resolve the issue. Upon contacting Acer again for the third time, I explained in detail that the only temporary fix to the charging issue was to unplug/plug the battery from the motherboard. I also explained to them that many people are having the same issue with this model laptop. Acer decided to open my repair ticket again and ask me to ship my laptop to them. I noticed this week that the repair had been completed and that my laptop is being shipped back to me. I called Acer yesterday to find out what kind of repairs were performed. They told me that they had to replace the main board (motherboard). I should be receiving my laptop tomorrow in the mail. I’ll work with it for a while and let everyone know if the repair fixed the issue. Hopefully so.

Karp-Acer_Retired

We are sorry you are having this battery issue, it is hard to say what the exact problem could be without our repair group evaluating the system. Unfortunately, we recommend to send to repair so we can look into this further.

JWA1979, thank you for sharing your experience with the other users. Please let us know if you got your unit and if the issue was fixed.

Brazilrome

I have same problem, laptop doesn’t charge.
i contact Acer and they first send me new charger but still i have same problem. New charger doesn’t charge the battery.

i contact Acer again and yesterday they ask me send my laptop to them in Germany for repair.

Alfieri

Acer-Karp said:

We are sorry you are having this battery issue, it is hard to say what the exact problem could be without our repair group evaluating the system. Unfortunately, we recommend to send to repair so we can look into this further.

JWA1979, thank you for sharing your experience with the other users. Please let us know if you got your unit and if the issue was fixed.

It's so frustrating that there are so many defective new units! This same issue is happening to my 6 months old AN715. Acer should address this problem and offer a product recall if needed.

hkstark

I bought a NITRO 7 (AN715-51) for my daughter (Grad School) and she has the IDENTICAL issue with the battery not charging, as many others have mentioned. I called ACER support. After complaining and begging, I finally got to a "top level" supervisor, who was KIND ENOUGH to send me a new (OEM ACER) battery which I installed (ain't that hard). It solved the problem for a few weeks but then the problem returned. My older son (her older brother) is a PhD Particle Physicist who researched this problem and "suggested" opening the case (again), unplug this new oem battery for a few (15) minutes and then replug and try. It worked fine, but for how long? Since I had retained the "original" battery (ACER support said NOT to return it), I tried THAT original one and it also charges now, as well. ACER did not design this unit with a battery reset hole (seems like an arrogant oversight) which I believe might have mitigated this problem. It appears to me, that somehow the ACER NITRO 7 system senses the battery being plugged in and "resets" somehow (electronically) when you unplug and then replug the battery in. After reading all the on-line reviews, problems and suggested attempts at fixing this IDENTICAL problem, I posit that the BEST solution is to do the following:
With the charging cable UNPLUGGED, Open the case, Unplug the battery, Let it sit for a few minutes (press power on if you prefer to discharge the system), Replug the battery and retry the system.
This is clearly an unacceptable "work around." ACER technicians should identify and correct this battery-not-charging-problem, but that would require a significant amount of financial effort on their part, which I'm certain their attorneys will somehow find small print to defend them from accomplishing. Shame on ACER is all I can say, after making such a beautiful, stylish and sophisticated piece of modern technology.
As may of us will be disappointed with this NITRO 7, I would be surprised if ACER has not lost a previously large and loyal fan base.

JWA1979

It seems that the motherboard replacement that Acer performed fixed my battery charging issue. I can plug/unplug my computer when it's on or off and the charging system seems to work fine now. I hope that the fix resolved the issue for good. I'll update everyone if the charging issues returns. Thanks.

JWA1979

ala202 said:

@JWA1979 Well I hope that works! I've been debating selling my laptop on ebay and getting back to lenovo because of this (though my trick of never unplugging or plugging in while it's off/hibernating/sleeping, doing the unplug battery when needed, is working). Once you've got it back, I'd love to know how it's working with the new motherboard, because if it does fix I'd like to have this laptop working before I start grad school.

It seems that the motherboard replacement that Acer performed fixed my battery charging issue. I can plug/unplug my computer when it's on or off and the charging system seems to work fine now. I hope that the fix resolved the issue for good. I'll update everyone if the charging issues returns. Thanks.