Battery won't charge

TC203

I have an Acer TravelMate 4501WLMi. A few days ago, the battery just simply refused to charge. It seems to start charging - the charging light comes on and, in Windows XP, it says that it's charging. I downloaded BatterBar to see if I could see what was happening. It said the battery wear was over 85%, so I thought it would just be a dead battery. The new battery arrived yesterday - it's an original battery - but I still have the same problem. Also, in BatteryBar, it says the charge rate is 0mW and says that the time remaining is unknown. Also, it keeps stopping and starting charging and somtimes BatteryBar also reports a charge rate of up to around 900mW - very occasionally. I have tried many solutions online but with no luck (like checking the cable and stuff). I really hope somebody can help me this... (thanks in advance)

William_mk2

TC203

I am really sorry for the inconvenience..   Let us do the basic steps first..

It might also be the issue with battery, charger or power outlet.   Try to use the charger in a different room on a different power outlet.  Try to bypass the surge protector and connect it directly to power outlet.    Try to use an alternative charger if possible.    Try to turn on the computer without the charger and check it  ( as long as the battery is not drained out )  

Doing the power drain and bios defaults will really help.  Kindly follow the steps given below:

Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices or any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down.  On the bottom of the laptop, you can find a  pin hole. It is a tiny hole. You can a find a battery symbol indicator next to the hole. It is like a + and – sign symbol as though somebody is trying to shift the battery out. Insert the pin on to the hole for 30 seconds. Remove the pin. Flip the laptop. Connect the charger cable, turn on the computer.  Only on laptops where the battery is inbuilt you can find the battery reset hole on the back of laptop.

If you don’t find a pin hole on the back of laptop then you might be using removable battery. There is no need to unscrew anything to remove the battery.  Turn off the laptop. Disconnect or unplug the charger cable, devices and any other cables connected to your laptop. Close your laptop. Turn it upside down.  On the bottom of the laptop, please look at the top or bottom depending on the way you look at it. You can find a long door. It is a battery removable door.  Just below that you can find a latch.  If you move the latch you can remove the battery door. Once the battery is removed, flip the laptop. Open the top cover, press and hold the power button for 1 minute. Connect the battery back on the back of computer. Connect the charger cable back and then turn on the computer. 

 

If you don’t see a reset pin hole on the back of laptop or if you are not able to remove the battery (if it is inbuilt) then please unplug all the cables and devices out of laptop.   Hold the power button for 1 minute.  After releasing the button you should wait a while before plugging in power. Just because the button has been pressed doesn’t bleed off all the residual electricity on the motherboard. Wait 15-30 minutes before plugging in power. Then once power is connected wait for a full battery indication before turning the system on. That allows the battery to fully reset it’s internal statistics.

Connect all the cables back and restart the computer.  

While turning on the computer, tap f2. It will go to bios. Press f9 once. It will show load bios defaults with a yes or no popup. Press enter. Popup screen will disappear.  Press f10 once. It will show save changes popup with yes or no. Press enter. Computer will restart and it will load into windows.   

 

It might also be the issue with battery, charger or power outlet.   Try to use the charger in a different room on a different power outlet.  Try to bypass the surge protector and connect it directly to power outlet.    Try to use an alternative charger if possible.    Try to turn on the computer without the charger and check it  ( as long as the battery is not drained out )  

Try windows x  or Windows + r - on the run - type devmgmt.msc

go to device manager 

expand Battery

right click on all the items below battery – uninstall 

Restart the computer 

 

It should work fine.. 

billsey

Most of those suggestions are for a much newer machine than your TravelMate 4501WLMi. The 4501 series is not quite 20 years old, but getting close. There is a reasonably good chance the charger isn't work right any longer, a less good chance the replacement battery has been sitting on the shelf too long and has failed from age and a rare chance there is circuitry on the motherboard that has failed that is supposed to transfer the power input from the charger to the battery. If you have access to a volt meter the first is the easiest to do a simple test for. You should be seeing 19V or slightly higher on the charger's barrel connector, with the center hole positive and the outside negative. If you are not seeing 19V or you see 19V with no load and putting a load on drops the voltage than the charger has likely failed. You can find replacement charger fairly cheaply, but possibly not cheaply enough to resurrect this old of a machine. An option there would be to search the thrift stores for a compatible charger. The charger should be a 5.5x2.5mm tip with 65W of power. If the charger measures good voltage under a load then it would be worthwhile to return the battery and try a different vendor.