Options for Acer Spin 5 (Spin SP513-54N) Charging Issue - Suggestions?

Bought the Acer Spin 5 (Spin SP513-54N) in January 2021. Eight months after purchase the laptop began to have charging issues. Surprised this happened so quickly after I bought it considering I'm not rough with it. Owned several laptops in the past and know how the charging port can become damaged by what the owner does. But I'm careful and don't think I did anything.

What are my options? Any and all suggestions and information is very much appreciated. See below for details on the issue and what I tried.

What I've done so far and know: (a) I've confirmed it isn't the charging cord but the laptop itself. (b) I'm aware that charging through its USB-C port is possible. But hoped to fix the issue instead of ordering a PD charger for it. (c) Laptop is kept up to date. All apps and system updates.

More details on connection issue: I’ve had times when the laptop refuses to charge no matter what. However, most times it will charge if plugged into the laptop a certain way and then I may sure it doesn’t move at all.

How I verified it wasn’t the charger cord: I’ve tried a compatible laptop power bank, but the laptop has the same issue. (I bought the power bank for backup power before this issue came up. For all night stargazing when I used my laptop for it.) Testing it with the power bank is how I know it isn't the charger cord but the laptop itself. If it was the cord, would have just bought a replacement for it.

Accepted answers

All comments

William_mk2

@Geekstress

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 to use an alternative charger if possible. It is the best solution for your issue.

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

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

go to device manager

expand Battery

right click on all the items below battery – uninstall

Restart the computer

It should work fine..

Geekstress

@William_mk2 - Thank you for replying so quickly. But like I said, I did confirm it wasn't the charger. And provided the details on how I know this. The laptop power bank I use has its own plugin to the laptop's charger port. I probably should have mentioned that. Here is the link to the power bank I use for it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YP823NA/ This power bank doesn't change anything. The laptop has the same issues. And, yes, I've tried plugging it into different places. Not only all around home, but at various coffeeshops and at friend's houses. For the battery test? Yes, I have a pin hole. I'll try some of the other suggestions you mentioned. But know that when I plug in my charger (or the other charger from the laptop power bank), the laptop will look like it has began charging but then stops and shows that it isn't. And when I talked about the charging port being sensitive, I meant that I have to place the charger into the port just a certain way. And even then, often have to move it around before the laptop finds that charger plugged in. And once I finally have it charging? I have to be very careful to not move anything at all. Else it will start connecting and disconnecting, on and off again, on whether it is charging or not. It seems like a hardware issue. Especially since, like I said, I've used more than one charger with the laptop and continue to have issues.

Again, thank you for the fast response. I'll begin looking at and trying the other suggestions. But, again, it almost seems to be a hardware issue. Though I really hope one of your suggestions ends up working. I'm not in the mood to ship off my laptop for repair! Hopefully don't have to!

Geekstress

I don't know what happened but my response to @William_mk2 is gone. Also, just a warning that I'm new to this community. I marked both his comment and mine as the answer to my question. I didn't realize what I had done. So I tried to edit my comment to change this but there are no options to change this nor is there an option to delete your comment.

So, if you see my comment, good! And know about my goof up.

And I'm just now reading his response and trying it out. Don't know yet if any of his suggestions worked. Tried to unmark his comment as my answer, but again could not find the option to do that.

billsey

I'll ask the moderators to remove the answers marked incorrectly.

I have the same model. On our laptops the DC-In connector is soldered to the motherboard, so it's not possible for it to come loose. That means if you are having issues with the placement of the barrel plug in the jack then either you are using a third party supply with the wrong inside diameter or the spring steel that pushes the barrel to the side, giving contact to the center electrode isn't doing it's job. That could be the spring not bent as much as it should be or corrosion/contaminants in the socket. Try to inspect inside the socket to see if you can see the metal that pushes the barrel to the side and if there seems to be any gunk in there.