SF314-41 won't charge, stuck on 0%

Model: SF314-41, about 3 years old, I use it daily.

The last few days I've had trouble with my laptop charging properly. That is it never charged fully even when left untouched/turn off and plugged in.

Today I woke up and it was dead. I plugged it in to charge and the laptop keep telling me the charger was plugged in/the laptop had no battery and needed charging repeatedly. I thought this was due to a janky cable so I put it on my desk on a flat surface and left it plugged in and turned off. I turned it back on and it says it's charging, but it has been stuck on 0% battery all day. I have left it for hours both turned off and on and it will not charge. I can use the laptop fine when it's plugged in (although it is very slow) but as soon as I take the charger out the laptop dies straight away and won't turn on until I plug it back in.

I tried installing a new Bluetooth drive as per the guide and reinstalling battery drivers but nothing has worked. It keeps telling me the battery is "0% available (plugged in)".
I have tried the pinhole trick. I also took the back off of my laptop and dusted just to make sure it wasn't dust somehow.

Is my charger broken? What's happening here?

Accepted answers

JackE

Congratulations on your success.🙂 Thanks for reporting back. Battery disposal depends on your location. Google search the keywords ' lithium ion battery disposal near me' for instructions.

All comments

JackE

(1) Search 'cmd' in Windows start menu.
(2) Right click command prompt near top of menu.
(3) Click run as administrator.
(4) Enter 'powercfg /batteryreport' at command prompt.
(5) Then return to the desktop. Open file explorer.
(6) Then search for' battery-report.html' in the c:\windows\system32\ sub-folder. Double-click to open it in the browser.
(7) Post screenshot of the first part of the report if possible that compares design full charge capacity with its remaining full charge capacity.

AirFay

Hi thank you for the help.

I assume you mean this section

JackE

Well, it's lost more than 40% of its original capacity is which about normal for a 4 yo battery pack. Further down into the battery report you might find a date and time around which there might be a rather abrupt change in charging behavior. This could mean the battery's own internal charge controller has failed or will no longer accept a charge. And yes, a charger or cable failure is also possible. Please post a screenshot of the section of the battery report where you seem to notice a change.

AirFay

Here's the full report since I'm not sure what part, in particular, I need to be looking at.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/cb/94jquwl0an1i.jpg

billsey

Heheh, that's not really ... readable.

Perhaps a copy'n'paste from the CMD window to a text file, then upload the file?

AirFay

Ah, apologise. I right-clicked on the image and opened in a new tab and I was able to zoom in and out. I assumed it worked the same for everyone.

I have pasted the contents to a world file. Let me know if that works.

Battery report.docx

JackE

Looks like the charger plug isn't making good contact with the laptop jack. Intermittent. Peer inside the jack to make sure the center pin is straight and the slider contacts on the sides are visible.

AirFay

I tried to take some pictures of the hole. Apologies for the equality, it's hard to get good pictures of something this small (innuendo not intended). The pin does look slightly off centre and the slider contacts are very hard to see.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/22/idfc84szgmen.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/oi/k92s35sji9t3.jpg

JackE

>>>The pin does look slightly off centre and the slider contacts are very hard to see.>>>

Yes, I see what you mean about the bent pin from the zoomed image shown below.

It can perhaps be straigntened with gentle pressure from a toothpick or suitable non-metal tool. The pin needs to slide easily into plug's center hole. The paint wear on the right side of the jack also suggests that the plug's outer barrel was being jammed against the jack on that side.

Use a flashlight to try to locate the slider contacts. The sliders must rub against the plug's outer barrel to make a good charger circuit. If you can't see the sliders, they may have either broken off or bent so they no longer touch the plug barrel. If bent, you can sometimes hook them with a toothpick and pull them toward --- but not touching --- the center pin.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/fg/6qy6t6j4360t.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/yt/bep9jhcdeqzz.jpg

AirFay

Hi again,

The sliders on the side seem to be flat, not raised like in the picture you presented. Also, I can't move the pin at all with a toothpick. Is there a reason I can't use something like tweezers? (laptop turned off, of course).

I'm wondering if I would be able to send this to acer to be fixed?

JackE

>>>Is there a reason I can't use something like tweezers? (laptop turned off, of course).>>>

The battery pack is still connected inside. A metal tweezer might short out the battery if electrical contact is made between the pin & slider

You could try to use the charger plug itself as the tool. Try to line the pin up with the plug's center hole. If you can get the tip of the pin far enough inisde the plug's hole, you may be able to bend it straight with the plug.

AirFay

I have tried to fix it but to no avail. I’ve noticed the charger is slightly out of the hole, even when on a flat surface. It also wiggles really easily which I don’t think is supposed to happen? I thought it would be more solid than this.

I took some videos to show you what I mean but I can’t figure out a way to attach them to this post.

Also how do I change my avatar on here? Not a fan of this one as it has the same colours as the Aldi logo.

billsey

Sounds like the easiest path forward is to just replace the DC-In cable. It contains that jack and runs to the motherboard. The part numbers are: 50.GXKN1.004 or 50.GYGN1.001, the first is the 65W version, the second the 45W version. Yours is the 45W, but the 65W will work as well. Search to see which is easiest to get and least expensive.

AirFay

Hi,

I'm not the best techy person when it comes to hardware, would Acer be able to fix it for me? I sent them a repair request 3 days ago but haven't heard back yet.

JackE

If the laptop is no longer under warranty, it would probably be more practical to take it to a local laptop repair shop for an evaluation and estimated cost to fix it.

cfs_spin_user

There is a known but NOT well documented fault with the batteries in many Acer laptops. ‘This type of fault tends to happen when the device stays connected to AC power all the time, when the device is shutdown using the power button, or when the device runs out of battery too often.’ In my case, I use this laptop as a desktop replacement and leave it plugged into the AC adapter almost all the time. I do not like disconnecting the plug often because I am concerned it will wear out and it is hard to find replacements. The following post contains more information.

Spin SP315-51 Shuts down when picked up and moved.

JackE

If the laptop is no longer under warranty, it would probably be more practical to take it to a local laptop repair shop for an evaluation and estimated cost to fix it.

AirFay

I contacted Acer but unfortunately, it is no longer under warranty and I cannot afford the £45 handling fee.

I had a look at the charging port using a youtube tutorial. It seems easy enough to replace. Does anyone know which port I need exactly? The model number? There's a sticker on it but it's rubbed off, can only see "45W".

JackE

Google search part n0.50.VDFN5.005 for vendors who ship to your location. About $15usd

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/ps/cjn7f5esp3ng.jpg

AirFay

Thank you for your help.

I am looking online now. From reading online I've seen people say you need to get the correct length of wire? Mine has a very short wire and I cannot find any of that length online.

I am in the UK.

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 225

Diya1811 145

StevenGen 105

Jack22 75

roberthansjorg 62

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™