Swift SF314-43-R21D -is not booting/dead. No signs of life are present. computer is barely used

When I start my laptop, the blue diode lights up for about 3 seconds, then it goes out. No other signs of life are present or visible. Not even the screen or keyboard lights up at all.

I've tried the battery eliminator on the bottom, but it doesn't work.

The strangest thing of all is that it did this about 1 year ago. Then I just put it on the shelf and let the problem go. 2 years ago, I took it out again, charged it and then it started all of a sudden.
The wife used it for about 2 hours, turned it off and put it on charge. When I go to use it the next day, it's dead again...

What should I do?
The computer is barely used!

[Edited the topic title to include the topic issue.]

[Edited the topic title to include model number]

Accepted answers

All comments

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/718740/swift3-is-not-booting-dead-no-signs-of-life-are-present-or-visible-the-computer-is-barely-used-one

Hi, I recommend replacing the battery.

billsey

It would help a lot to know which model you have, there have been literally hundreds of different Swift 3 models over the years. Your full model number is usually on the same sticker as your serial number, it should look something like SF3xx-xxx-xxxx. At first glance that sounds like a battery problem or a charger problem. Letting a laptop sit for long periods without charging can cause a battery failure…

MrLito

Thanks for your replys!

The exact model is:

Model no: N20C12

SF314-43-R21D

MFG Date 2021-09-07

If it would be the battery, then it at least would start with the charger connected?

billsey

OK, that model does have an offline charge feature on one of the USB ports, which if there is anything plugged in will drain the battery even when the system is turned off. Typically that turns into a problem if you have something like a mouse dongle inserted and leave the laptop alone for more than just a couple of days. When the battery gets discharged down under it's minimum, charging is disabled for safety reasons.
Once a lithium ion battery gets down that low it starts growing crystals of lithium internally, and they can poke through the membranes, causing short circuits when charging is applied, leading to the fires and explosions we remember from the early days of this battery technology. My guess is that is what has happened with yours. Since charging is disabled, plugging the charger in and trying to turn it on will also be disabled until the bad battery is replaced.

Depending on how the system is designed, you might be able to run off the charger if the battery is disconnected. Some system designs use the charger only to charge the battery, and run off the battery at all times. Some system designs run off the charger and only use the battery when the charger isn't present. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try:

Let us kn ow if it turns on without battery and with charger. Replacement battery types are:

Because they have dummy batteries listed, my guess is it can be run without. Note that they didn't ship with all those batteries, they only used them for compatibility testing. The 4 cell versions will run longer than the 3 cell versions.

MrLito

Thanks for your reply!

Unfortunately it didn’t make any difference.

I guess it could start up without battery and running straight from the charger. But it’s acting exactly the same as with the battery connected.

I have a Swift 1 as well, bought the at the same time, but just used once… and it works fine.

Its battery is KT00304012 so I tried it, but still the same problem…

What’s the next troubleshoot? 😕

I’m so disappointed at Acer’s quality…
The laptops are barely used. They don’t even have any signs of dust inside.
They are charged a couple of times even if they are not used, and they haven’t had any dongles or other stuff plugged in…

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1318547#Comment_1318547

Hi, replace the battery, the fact it won't boot without a battery does not necessarily mean the battery is good if the battery is wired in series like a lot of mobile devices the power from the adapter will be interrupted if no battery.

MrLito

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1318563#Comment_1318563

as i Said. I’ve tried the battery from my other laptop. And it didn’t help.

The funny thing is. When I screwed them both together again… the MF started!?
WTF???

It must be something else then the battery.

I’ve done a lot of stress test on both CPU and GPU and it works fine with good battery capacity, temps and performance….

but I don’t trust the laptop. So I don’t dare to use it…

billsey

Try it with the battery disconnected and the charger connected. See if it come up and runs in that configuration. If it does we don't have to deal with potential other issues, just a replacement battery. If it doesn't work without a battery then we don't know enough to get the full root cause. :(

MrLito

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1318674#Comment_1318674

please read my 3rd answer…

billsey

"When I screwed them both together again… the MF started!?"

That isn't clear to me, you somehow connected both batteries together? You just reinstalled the old battery after they had been apart for a while?

MrLito

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1319029#Comment_1319029

I apologize for my bad English.
I opened up both my laptops (a Swift 1 and my unstable Swift 3). It turned out that my Swift 1 had a battery that was on the list of replacement batteries. I tried putting the battery from the Swift 1 into my Swift 3, but with no difference in behavior. It refused to start up. I also tried starting the laptop without the battery plugged in and only the charger plugged in, but with the exact same behavior.

Since it was a failed troubleshooting, I reinstalled the batteries of each.
Then it worked all of a sudden, not right away... after a while. As if nothing had happened... So this is the second time it refuses to start and out of nowhere it starts working again... Feels like there must be a loose connection somewhere?

billsey

OK, did you, by any chance, put the SF3 battery into the SF1 during this swap? If not it might just be that having the battery disconnected for a while, while you tried to test the SF1 battery in the SF3, allowed a reset. If the battery just had bad internal data that might have been all that was needed to get it to start charging again. We typically have people go through a more involved procedure to force a battery reset, that doesn't require actually opening the system up to disconnect it.

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 165

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™