Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-51) charges fine up to 95% then stops charging, any help?

Patato
Patato Member Posts: 12

Tinkerer

edited November 2023 in 2020 Archives
Hello, so my Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-51) charges fine up to 95% as mentioned in the title. However, once it hits 95%, it begins to repeat a regular cycle of stopping the charge for a few seconds, then starts charging again, then stops again, then starts charging again, all while slowly climbing to 100%. It almost feels like the notebook is resisting to be fully charged passed 95%. I have owned this notebook since August of 2018 and bought it refurbished from Canada Computers and they claimed it was refurbished directly by Acer and not by CC. Regardless, up until this week I have had no issues with this laptop whatsoever. I use this laptop primarily for gaming so I can understand that this could be a hardware issue of some sort. I have downloaded HWmonitor and it claims my battery wear is at 28% of its original capacity. Also, if it makes any difference, I have been using the Canadian power supply I originally received with the laptop while I am in school in the EU. I have been in school in the EU since the moment I have owned this laptop from late 2018. Now, before I make any hardware purchases, I want to identify if this is a battery issue / power supply issue or if this is a software issue. Thank you for your help in advance.

Answers

  • GAMING6698
    GAMING6698 ACE Posts: 7,742 Pathfinder
    @Patato This is normal, The battery reduces a bit while playing games even if it is connected to charger.Battery designed in this way The reason, why your performance drops when not charging, is to save your battery from damage, caused by very quick discharge. If the laptop used 100% performance, while on battery power, your battery life will be about twice less.
    Keeping thr laptop plugged in all the time isn't harmful to your battery.

    Click yes if i answered your question 
    windows 10/11 optimization guide for gaming 
    Windows 10/11 optimization guide for gaming — Acer Community

    My AN515-43 laptop UserBenchmark-
    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/51514566
  • Patato
    Patato Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    @GAMING6698 are you sure this is normal though? It has only started doing this as of a couple of days ago.. also, it makes gaming unbearable when it constantly flips between charging and battery power because of the huge FPS drops and performance downgrade it goes to battery power then lags a bit when switching back to regular AC charging. It honestly does not allow for a smooth gaming experience whatsoever and in fact, makes certain games like Modern Warfare or Civilization VI completely unplayable. Before the last couple of days it was completely fine and this only started a couple of days ago. I hate to disagree but I don't think this is normal.
  • GAMING6698
    GAMING6698 ACE Posts: 7,742 Pathfinder
    @Patato Fps drop while charging at that time not normal.just wait other members will help you 
    windows 10/11 optimization guide for gaming 
    Windows 10/11 optimization guide for gaming — Acer Community

    My AN515-43 laptop UserBenchmark-
    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/51514566
  • batmalin
    batmalin Member Posts: 4,231 Guru
    edited April 2020
    I would suggest battery reset. Follow the instruction from this link https://us.answers.acer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/34843/~/acer-internal-battery-reset
    Please click "Yes" if I have answered your question.
    Userbench: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/31177158

  • Patato
    Patato Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    @batmalin I have performed the battery reset as mentioned above and sadly, to no avail, the problem persists :(
  • batmalin
    batmalin Member Posts: 4,231 Guru
    edited April 2020
    Ok, uninstall the windows battery driver (do not delete it) from the device manager and reboot. BTW you didn`t mention anything about battery reset above, or at least I can`t see where.
    Please click "Yes" if I have answered your question.
    Userbench: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/31177158

  • Patato
    Patato Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    edited April 2020
    @batmalin sorry for the confusion, I meant I performed the battery reset as you mentioned in your previous comment. Also, I have done the next step in uninstalling the windows battery driver and sadly, still, no cigar. :( I will try to post a video of what is going on so that it's more clear. (EDIT: Sadly the forum won't let me post the video because the "file format is not recognized")
  • batmalin
    batmalin Member Posts: 4,231 Guru
    Ok try this then:

    Calibrating your battery helps get a proper reading on your current battery charge. If your battery is dying before the reported time given in Windows, it could be that you need to calibrateyour battery.

     

    Use the following steps to to re-calibrate the battery:

     

    1. Turn the notebook or netbook off. Plug in your AC adapter.
    2. Let the unit fully charge, until the battery LED turns off.
    3. Turn on the computer and press the F8 key repeatedly when the first logo screen appears.
    4. In the Windows Advanced Startup menu, select Safe Mode and press the ENTER key.
    5. Unplug the unit and let the computer run on battery until it shuts down.

    Note: The process to re-calibrate your battery can take several hours, depending on the batterylifetime and age, and the configuration of your system.

    Please click "Yes" if I have answered your question.
    Userbench: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/31177158

  • Patato
    Patato Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    @batmalin my apologies, I failed to mention in my original post to this problem that I already perfmored a battery recalibration yesterday as I was researching solutions to this problem from other sources. After I did the battery recalibration, I used a program called HWMonitor that showed my battery wear level at 28% from its original capacity. I'm assuming that means that over the last two years, 28% of my battery has degraded from its original factory numbers.
  • Patato
    Patato Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    edited April 2020
    These users in old threads seem to have the exact same problem as me but sadly, no fixes were found for either of them, even when doing the same methods as mentioned. Don't know if it helps to look at these old threads but it might help to better understand the issue at hand.


    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/548250/laptop-charging-then-stops-then-starts-charging-again-an515-51

  • batmalin
    batmalin Member Posts: 4,231 Guru
    So you have tried everything but one. Try one battery cycle with linux live distro to exclude windows issue.
    Please click "Yes" if I have answered your question.
    Userbench: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/31177158

  • Patato
    Patato Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    @batmalin oof sounds hefty but I'll give it a go, I'll post an update later today on my results!
  • batmalin
    batmalin Member Posts: 4,231 Guru
    @Patato any news?
    Please click "Yes" if I have answered your question.
    Userbench: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/31177158

  • Patato
    Patato Member Posts: 12

    Tinkerer

    edited April 2020
    @batmalin So, I did as you mentioned earlier and have noticed two things; the problem still persisted when I was on Linux software, so then I switched back to Windows 10 and then I noticed something funky happen, after about 30 minutes of just staying on battery power, a blue screen error occurred out of nowhere (laptop was completely idle). The error given was "UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION" then it proceeded to restart into a "No Bootable Device" screen. I shut down the notebook completely, waited a bit, turned it back on and the laptop proceeds as normal however, the issue with the 95% stop charging still occurs. Could there be an issue with the SSD or a faulty driver in this case? I have a SLIGHT feeling this might be caused by my NVIDIA software because as soon as I upgraded to 445.75 graphics driver a few days ago, this is exactly when all of these problems started to appear.

  • GAMING6698
    GAMING6698 ACE Posts: 7,742 Pathfinder
    @PatatoOpen Device Manager expand 'battery' then Uninstall all battery drivers then Exit DeviceManager 
    Turn your system off Then turn your system on and check that problem solved or not
    windows 10/11 optimization guide for gaming 
    Windows 10/11 optimization guide for gaming — Acer Community

    My AN515-43 laptop UserBenchmark-
    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/51514566
  • batmalin
    batmalin Member Posts: 4,231 Guru
    Well roll back the nvidia driver to see if the problem remains
    Please click "Yes" if I have answered your question.
    Userbench: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/31177158

  • bboi728
    bboi728 Member Posts: 5

    Tinkerer

    Patato said:
    These users in old threads seem to have the exact same problem as me but sadly, no fixes were found for either of them, even when doing the same methods as mentioned. Don't know if it helps to look at these old threads but it might help to better understand the issue at hand.


    https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/548250/laptop-charging-then-stops-then-starts-charging-again-an515-51

    Q10 Hi Patato. Have you already fixed the until 95% charging problem? If yes, can you share your solution? Because same exact thing is happening to my 50SA right now. Thank you in advance.