Acer Nitro 5 (model N20C1) (AN515-57-51KV) not charging properly while gaming

Whenever I start playing any moderately demanding game, the charging light stops being a steady light and starts blinking rapidly, and the battery begins to drain. Nothing seems to stop this. I attempted to play Baldur's Gate 3, and even with the settings turned down, the battery lasted less than an hour despite being plugged in.

According to what I've found on Google, numerous other people have had this problem, but I haven't had any luck with any fixes. Removing the battery related entries in the device manager and restarting, for instance, didn't help at all. One user I saw was able to fix the problem with a new power cable, but I couldn't find one at any nearby store, and I couldn't get in touch with Acer support (and, since I bought this open box, I don't think I'm covered by warranty anyway). I'm also currently studying abroad, so taking it into a repair shop is going to be difficult-to-impossible due to the language barrier.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

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Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/713101/acer-nitro-5-model-n20c1-an515-51kv-not-charging-properly-while-gaming

Hi, are you sure about the laptop model as the AN515-51 is from 2017, the Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44 with AMD Ryzen5 4600H is a N20C1 series laptop from 2020, is that perhaps your model? When replying click on "Quote" or type @Puraw

TakamaGa

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299262#Comment_1299262

Excuse me, I mistyped the model information. It's actually AN515-57-51KV.

[Edited to hide sensitive information]

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299264#Comment_1299264

OK, this model is from May 2021, so the battery is 3-years old and may have reduced capacity or can no longer hold charge, run a battery report: Paste this in the command prompt: powercfg /batteryreport and open the report with your Edge browser, right click and select "Print to Microsoft PDF", attach the report to your reply, type @Puraw or use "Quote" when you reply so I will get an alert.

TakamaGa

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299338#Comment_1299338

battery report.pdf

Here you go!

sri369

It doesn't matter what laptop model is or what your system says - most recent laptops are much more powerful than the adapters that supply power to them. So when they go full blast on games or software the pull up as much power as possible from power supply. And when power supply cannot supply all needed power they tend to pull from batteries too utilizing them both (this causes some laptops to discharge, albeit slowly, when doing heavy gaming even when connected to charger). So what you are seeing an expected scenario. This is NORMAL.

TakamaGa

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299377#Comment_1299377

Okay, well, even if it's normal, it's still a problem. I would like to find a solution to it.

Axxo

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 to isolate the 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.

————————————————————————————-

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful.

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299361#Comment_1299361

Hi, this is the correct battery type and brand new: August 16, 2024, with only 1 hr lifespan that should be >2 hours. The drainage profiles of the last 3 days is weird indicating that the battery is unable to hold its charge and 9% battery wear in 1 month time is too much, the battery would need to be replaced in 10 months. This laptop model is well known for very poor battery performance. Your BIOS is also out of date and should be updated to version 1.20 of 2023/09/13. If you are running Windows11 23H2 then the battery should support Modern Standby which it does not (see picture), meaning you are either running an older version of W10 or Modern Standby has been disabled by a program? Are you using Acer Care Center with the Battery Calibration/80% battery charge limiting features?

Things to try: Update BIOS, are you using the original 180-W power adapter provided or a USB-C charger, there are conflicting reports about USB-C charging, Acer states no support but Laptop media states both Power Delivery and Display port support. let me know what adapter/charger you are using.

TakamaGa

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299390#Comment_1299390

I have updated the BIOS just now (to no effect), I am using the power adapter that came with the laptop (it has an Acer logo on it, so I assume it's the correct one. Model ADP-90SB BB?), I am on Windows 11 23H2. As far as I know, I'm not using any Acer Care Center options - I took it for bloatware and uninstalled it while setting up my laptop for the first time, before I realised it had problems I'm experiencing now.

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299404#Comment_1299404

Hi, make sure Acer Care is not running, open Windows Services and check the top 5-10 items if you see anything like accSVC, acsSVC or acerAgentSVC stop these services und in Properties disable the Startup type, click on Apply. Next reset your Power Plan in "Edit Power Plan" and open Device Manager, uninstall these two battery drivers (red circle).

If you still can't charge reset the battery and do a Power Drain: Open the back of the laptop and disconnect the battery cable from the motherboard. Locate the CMOS module (with 2 twisted wires Red and Black under the battery) and remove the coin battery. Shorten the +/- terminals inside the CMOS capsule for 2 seconds with a bended paperclip and put the coin battery back with the + sign facing up, close the CMOS capsule. Next, press the Power Button on the keyboard for 10-15 seconds after that reconnect the battery cable to the motherboard. Close the laptop, plug-in the adapter and try to boot.

Run a new battery report and if still that strange draining profile and unsupported Connected Standby you should replace the battery and possibly the power adapter too.

TakamaGa

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299406#Comment_1299406

I made sure to stop the Acer service I found running, reset my power plan, and uninstalled the battery drivers to no effect.

I am unable to follow through on your advice for resetting the battery right now, as right now I do not have a screwdriver small enough to remove the battery to get at something behind it.

In the meantime, do you have any suggestions for reducing my power consumption to limit how much this happens? I've already tried everything I can think of, fiddling with the power plan options and reducing the games' quality as far as it'll go, to little success.

Also, if I do need to get a replacement adapter and/or battery, how would you suggest going about that?

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299432#Comment_1299432

Hi, since the battery is new, and you haven't reset the CMOS yet I suggest replacing the adapter first if that still won't charge do the reset and Power Drain procedure described above and if no results buy a new battery too. Before you install the new battery run a new battery report to see if Connected Standby is now supported, then install the new battery and after 1 week run another battery report to compare.

You can get a good 180-W adapter here with the correct 5.5mm x 1.7mm plug ($47) Amazon.com: 180W 19.5V 9.23A Charger for Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop AN515-58 AN515-57 AN515-55 AN515-54:AN515-58-57Y8 AN515-58-525P ANV15-51-51H9 AN515-55-53E5 54-5812 Power Supply Adapter ADP-180TB ADP-180MB K : Electronics

and the battery here: OEM Acer brand ($110) Genuine Acer Nitro 5 AN515-55 AN515-57 AN515-58 Laptop Battery KT.0040G.013 658906119342 | eBay or a cheap ($19) Chinese battery that may last only 1 year. 15.4V 57.48WH AP18E8M For Acer Laptop Battery AP18E7M Nitro 5 AN515-54 AN515-55 AN517-51 7 AN715-51 Noteook New - AliExpress 7

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/713101/acer-nitro-5-model-n20c1-an515-57-51kv-not-charging-properly-while-gaming

The Nitro AN515-51 that you have is a 6 years old laptop, get a new laptop if you want to play the latest games properly and not have problems, get either the last of the AN515-58 model with the DDR5-4800MT/s ram or the new Nitro laptop model ANV15-51.

If this answers your question and solved your query please "Click on Yes" or "Click on Like" if you find my answer useful👍

sri369

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1299380#Comment_1299380

it is "normal" means it is as "designed". If you want a solution, use it with light actions not taxing CPU and GPU and your problem will be solved. Go ahead and set your CPU max utilization to 99% effectively disabling turbo speeds and it will get better.

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