Battery Will Not Charge (Acer Swift 3 SF314-42)

My mother's brand new Acer Swift 3 (SF314-42) battery just refuses to charge. It shows as plugged in, but the percentage never rises. When I disconnect the power cable, it will charge for around a minute, then it will stop. AC power is still powering the laptop while plugged in, but the battery won't charge to 100%; it just sits at its current level (which is now 87%).

Here are the steps I've already performed, which haven't fixed the issue:
1. Successfully updated the BIOS to the latest version (1.04)
2. Successfully updated to Windows 10 (2004)
3. Inserted paperclip into battery reset pinhole on bottom of laptop, held for 30 seconds.
4. In Device Manager, Uninstalled Device for both "Microsoft AC Adapter" and "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery." On restart, these devices both automatically reinstalled themselves.

Nothing is working to fix the problem. Any help? Is this laptop a lemon?

Accepted answers

StevenGen

Mtrlns said:

My mother's brand new Acer Swift 3 (SF314-42) battery just refuses to charge. It shows as plugged in, but the percentage never rises. When I disconnect the power cable, it will charge for around a minute, then it will stop. AC power is still powering the laptop while plugged in, but the battery won't charge to 100%; it just sits at its current level (which is now 87%).

Here are the steps I've already performed, which haven't fixed the issue:
1. Successfully updated the BIOS to the latest version (1.04)
2. Successfully updated to Windows 10 (2004)
3. Inserted paperclip into battery reset pinhole on bottom of laptop, held for 30 seconds.
4. In Device Manager, Uninstalled Device for both "Microsoft AC Adapter" and "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery." On restart, these devices both automatically reinstalled themselves.

Nothing is working to fix the problem. Any help? Is this laptop a lemon?

Follow and do these steps of "How to Calibrate Your Laptop Battery" from here: https://techviral.net/calibrate-laptop-battery/ they are simle steps that not many people do!

All comments

Mtrlns

One further step I performed:
5. Tried a second AC Adapter, same exact problem recurs.

And further detail to describe what happens:
When plugged in to AC power, the power LED light on the side of the laptop is solid amber for around a minute. Then, it starts blinking amber, and remains blinking until AC power is unplugged/plugged in again, at which point the above behavior repeats itself.

This behavior happens when Windows is powered up, as well as when it's shut down - which to me indicates a hardware issue of some kind, since Windows obviously isn't even booted when the computer is shut down.

Thanks in advance.

Commodore_1995#

Have you ever tested the power adapter and dcin-jack cable with a multimeter? Also, can you check battery wear with hwinfo64?

Mtrlns

Hiegydiocoelho said:

Have you ever tested the power adapter and dcin-jack cable with a multimeter? Also, can you check battery wear with hwinfo64?

Hi, thanks for those suggestions.

I haven't tested the AC adapter or dcin jack with a multimeter, but the same exact problem happens with two seperate, brand new AC adapters.

The computer was purchased brand new in June, so if the battery is bad already, it is defective.

Commodore_1995#

Also, can you check battery wear with hwinfo64?

Mtrlns

egydiocoelho said:

Also, can you check battery wear with hwinfo64?

Not easily; I haven't installed that program, or ever used it. Would the point be to determine if the battery is bad? If it is bad, it would need to be sent back for warranty repair, right?

StevenGen

Mtrlns said:

My mother's brand new Acer Swift 3 (SF314-42) battery just refuses to charge. It shows as plugged in, but the percentage never rises. When I disconnect the power cable, it will charge for around a minute, then it will stop. AC power is still powering the laptop while plugged in, but the battery won't charge to 100%; it just sits at its current level (which is now 87%).

Here are the steps I've already performed, which haven't fixed the issue:
1. Successfully updated the BIOS to the latest version (1.04)
2. Successfully updated to Windows 10 (2004)
3. Inserted paperclip into battery reset pinhole on bottom of laptop, held for 30 seconds.
4. In Device Manager, Uninstalled Device for both "Microsoft AC Adapter" and "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery." On restart, these devices both automatically reinstalled themselves.

Nothing is working to fix the problem. Any help? Is this laptop a lemon?

Follow and do these steps of "How to Calibrate Your Laptop Battery" from here: https://techviral.net/calibrate-laptop-battery/ they are simle steps that not many people do!

Commodore_1995#

I advise checking battery wear with hwinfo64 as well.

Mtrlns

So, interesting, and possibly good news.

I had my mom discharge the laptop down to 10% battery today, and then she plugged it back in, and apparently, it successfully charged fully to 100%.

Is there a clear explanation for what happened with the battery? Did it just need a discharge to "recalibrate" itself? And should I now expect the battery to charge fully, as it is supposed to?

Commodore_1995#

When the battery charges up to 100%, check the hwinfo64 for wear.

billsey

Yeah, battery stats are kept in two places. On the battery itself and in Windows. The battery reset (power disconnected, 30 seconds with the reset button pushed, 30 minutes rest after, then charge fully) reset stats on the battery, recalibration (full discharge until system shuts down at 3-5%, full charge while off, repeat as needed until the numbers are stable) happens in Windows. I believe there are bugs in the software for both, which is why we see odd numbers after a while.

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