Acer Nitro AN515-57 Charging Randomly Cuts Off Under Load – Detailed Log & Troubleshooting Done

SanjayShankar311

Gave to Acer service center

✅ Internal cleaning

✅ Thermal paste replacement

❌ They said charger is fine — but only did a 2-second test

✅No port damage found

✔️ Software/Settings

Clean reinstallation of NVIDIA driver (DDU method)

Verified RAM/HDD usage, system load normal

Power plans tested: Balanced, High Performance (via NitroSense)

SFC scan: No corrupted files

BIOS untouched (no undervolt or XMP)

OS not reinstalled (ruled out as unnecessary)

Battery health confirmed good via battery-report.html

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❓ What I Need Help With

I want to confirm:

1. Is the adapter (charger brick) the likely point of failure?

2. Could this be something on the laptop’s power delivery system (DC-in port, power IC)?

3. Would upgrading to a 180W Acer-compatible charger improve stability?

4. Anyone else experienced this and solved it?

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🔧 Additional Notes

Charger is standard barrel tip (5.5×1.7 mm)

Looking to buy 180W 19.5V 9.23A variant if recommended

I want to confirm before spending ₹2,000–₹6,000

Trying to avoid unnecessary board replacements

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✅ TL;DR

Charger randomly cuts off during load

Brick gets hot, replugging resumes charging

Behavior repeats in cycles (20–60 mins)

Service helped a bit, but didn’t solve

Likely charger fault, but seeking confirmation before I replace it

---

Thanks in advance to anyone who can confirm or share similar experience 🙏

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

Accepted answers

All comments

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/727799/acer-nitro-5-charging-randomly-cuts-off-under-load-detailed-log-troubleshooting-done

Hi Sanjay,

Thanks for the detailed breakdown — you’ve clearly put in a lot of effort. That said, a few key points might help clarify what’s going on and guide your next steps:

🔍 1. SFC Without DISM Is Incomplete

Running sfc /scannow without first refreshing the system image using DISM means you're validating against a potentially corrupted or outdated source. To properly check system integrity, use this sequence:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealthSFC /scannow

This ensures SFC has a clean reference image to compare against.

🔌 2. Adapter Heating Is Normal During Fast Charging

All adapters heat up under load — especially during fast charging or gaming. It’s not necessarily a sign of failure. What matters is whether the heat exceeds safe thresholds or causes shutdowns.

If your battery is not fully charged, the adapter works harder to power both the system and the battery. Keeping the battery at 100% before heavy use helps reduce strain and stabilize power delivery.

🔋 3. Bigger Adapter ≠ Guaranteed Fix

Upgrading to a 180W adapter won’t solve the issue if:

The DC-in port, power IC, or battery controller is throttling due to age or heat.
The BIOS has outdated power logic.
NitroSense or Acer Care Center (ACC) is limiting battery charge or interfering with calibration.

If you’re using features like Battery Optimization, Calibration, or 80% charge limiting, try disabling them. These can cause erratic charging behavior, especially on aging batteries.

📊 4. What You Should Share Next

To help the community assist you better:

Post the actual battery report (battery-report.html) — especially the Design Capacity vs Full Charge Capacity.
Share your exact Nitro 5 model (e.g., AN515-XX), BIOS version and if you have Windows11 24H2 or 23H2 OS installed
Confirm whether the system is using RAID/Optane or AHCI in BIOS.

This info will help determine whether the issue is adapter-related, battery-related, or something deeper in the power delivery system.

Let us know once you’ve got those details — we’ll be happy to dig deeper with you!

SanjayShankar311

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1350519#Comment_1350519

Hi Puraw, thanks for the reply.

I've now run both "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" and "sfc /scannow" and it said "windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".
Yes, I understand that adapter heating is normal, but in my case, the charging stops after the brick heats, and resumes only on replug(not the dc pin, replug of the ac unit). This behavior doesn’t occur on idle or battery mode, and always recurs under gaming load after ~30 minutes, in "balanced(acer optimized)" it took 2 hours for the charging to cutoff. Moreover when i play heavy demanding games, when i play for 15-20 minutes and then i stay idle in the menu for like 10-15 minutes, and continue playing, it takes more time before the cutoff happens. That’s why I suspect the brick is thermally tripping or degrading.
I do not use battery charge limiting, battery calibration, or Acer Care Center optimization features. Power plan switching has had no effect on charging stability. I use Power Saver or Balanced during light tasks. I switch to Balanced (Acer Optimized) or High Performance for gaming
I am attaching the battery report taken on 5th august 2025 7:27 pm IST. As for the BIOS mode : Not visible in BIOS – likely using NVMe storage (common for AN515-57). No RAID or Optane configuration seen. Here are my laptop details - Model is Acer Nitro 5 AN515-57, BIOS version is Insyde Corp. V1.17 (dated 06/02/2022), BIOS Mode is UEFI, OS Version is Windows 11, 24H2
battery-report-19_27_pm_5_8_2025.pdf

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1350580#Comment_1350580

Hi, there is a newer BIOS dated 2023/09/13 version 1.20, install that. Either the battery was just installed or not properly registered in BIOS and Windows, also the technician may have Reset Windows or Clean installed Windows and that could explain the short battery history. Disable Fast Startup and try to perform a Full Charge Cycle, charge to 100%, use the laptop till it turns off on its own, close the lid and charge again till 100%. The 2 hours battery back up and 19% battery wear does not make sense for a new battery, more like a 2 year old battery, could be a refurbished one. If the battery won't charge to 100% replace the battery for a good one and do the full charge cycle like described above,

SanjayShankar311

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1350585#Comment_1350585

Hi Puraw, thanks again for the reply.

I’ve now updated the BIOS to version 1.20 as suggested. To clarify, the technician didn’t reinstall Windows — I did that myself a few weeks ago, which likely explains the short battery history. The ~19% wear level also makes sense in my case, as the laptop is about 2.6 years old and still running on the original battery.

I’ve also disabled Fast Startup and completed a full charge cycle as described:

Charged to 100%
Used until the system shut down on its own (~1 hour 50 minutes of unplugged use)
Closed the lid and recharged while powered off
Let it rest at 100% for around 55 minutes
Then powered it on and generated a new battery report

I’ve attached the battery report taken at 12:14 AM IST on August 7th, 2025.

Important observation:
At 7:03–7:08 PM IST on August 6th (yesterday), while the laptop was plugged in, it began discharging — dropping from 97% to 92%. During this time, the charger remained connected at both ends. This suggests that although the system appeared to be plugged in, AC power was either unstable or not reaching the laptop reliably.

Would appreciate any insights you may have based on this behavior.

Thanks again for your help.

battery-report-12-14am-7aug25.pdf

SanjayShankar311

@Puraw are u there?

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1351170#Comment_1351170

Yes SanjayShankar311

Given Info: Your battery report looks normal, but you’ve noticed a ~5% drop in backup while plugged in. For the Nitro AN515‑57, this behaviour can be linked to an EC firmware quirk. Unfortunately, Acer’s last BIOS/EC update was in 2023, and there’s currently no user‑side firmware fix.

Recommendations:

Power & Performance Settings
- In NitroSense, set Balanced mode.
- In Settings → System → Power & battery, choose Best power efficiency.
- In Advanced power options, disable Processor performance boost mode (see picture).
Background Processes
- Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
- Ensure Background processes stay around ~70. If much higher, disable unneeded startup apps.
Long‑Term Outlook
- Until Acer issues an updated EC/BIOS, you may see small plugged‑in drain.
- If capacity noticeably drops in the next 1–2 years, consider replacing the battery at that time.

Note, if you don't see this option above you have to unhide "Processor Performance boot mode" with Regedit.exe. Change the registry key on the picture below "Atributes" from 1 (hidden) to 2 (show)

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