Critical low battery Aspire ES1-532G

OK so I had to share my own experience. I think I've finally figured out how to keep my Acer laptop from suddenly dying on me (at least, for now - knock wood).

About a month ago I started having issues with the Acer Aspire E5-573 series laptop - Model N15Q1. One day, the laptop just shut down out of the blue. There was a warning message that popped up, saying my battery was low, and then I think I got some form of the blue screen of death, and suddenly my laptop was totally OFF. I was in a panic because I was working on an important project with a deadline that day. Luckily after some jiggling of wires and some time passed (a few hours), it finally turned back on. I did have to google what it meant if the battery light blinked in succession (5x I believe).  

Over the next month or so I managed to figure out that if my laptop suddenly died, or I got a sudden warning that it was going to die, then I just jiggled the AC adapter enough, it would eventually start charging again. At first I thought the battery must be bad, and ordered one from Amazon, but then after doing further research, somewhere I'd read that this is a common misconception with these Acer laptops, and it's more likely to be an issue with the charging port going bad, because let's face it... the parts are kinda cheap on a $300 or so laptop (the port for the headphones already went out years ago). So, I cancelled the order for the battery.  I just had to make sure I would periodically check the 2 lights in front of the laptop, and be sure that the one on the left (with the lightbulb icon) was blue, and the one on the right (with the charging icon) was either solid blue, or solid orange, meaning, it was charging.  If there was no light, that was a problem. I could usually get the light to turn on, by jiggling the AC adaptor to just the right angle.  Sometimes I'd have to angle it upward, or hang it over the top of the laptop screen (see pics). 

It was also a problem - as was the case tonight - if that light was BLINKING orange. And I just figured out why it could be blinking, which is why I'm posting this here.  I was at Starbucks tonight, and suddenly my laptop shut down, like it did the first time, with the BSOD warning that caught me off guard (you have like, 5 seconds - at least, so it seems - once that warning comes on - before everything is shut down). Luckily your info gets saved - at least that was the case for me - but it is still a pain. 

Well, this time I was kinda freaking out because no matter what I did, I could not get the laptop to come on, and it was the first time I ever saw the "Critical Low Battery" message, with the big icon of the battery that only has about one bar left.  No matter what I did, I could not get the laptop to turn back on. The battery light would blink orange a few times when I'd anxiously turn it on, but it just wouldn't charge. Nothing worked. I thought for sure I'd finally have to buy either a new battery, or a new AC adapter, because it seems like there is some kind of problem with it. 



Well, I get home, plug the laptop into my regular power strip, and what do you know, it starts charging right up. I thought it was just luck, and was SO relieved, because I didn't want to have to get a new laptop (my plan is to buy a new laptop this year, so I didn't want to sink more $ into a new battery or AC adapter, even though they're not too expensive, I'm on a tight budget right now). 

Anyway, I also had to charge my phone, and I remembered at Starbucks I had been using one of those multi-power outlets (the brand is "charging essentials" - got it at Costco). I'd grabbed it from my kitchen, in the event that there might be multiple laptop users vying for the same outlet at Starbucks.  So, I plug my phone and the laptop into the multi power outlet, and then plug that into the power strip. And - you guessed it - the light starts blinking again, like it did when I was at Starbucks. I finally realized (duh), there's an issue with the multi-power outlet. Apparently my laptop wasn't getting enough JUICE to charge it fully! 



To make sure it wasn't my imagination, I unplugged the laptop from the MP outlet and plugged it directly into the regular power strip, and it went right back to the solid orange light.  Then, when I turned on a Vitamin D lamp (which is like a gazillion watts) in the same power strip, it went back to blinking!  So, apparently these Acer laptops, or the batteries, need a good steady stream of juice, to get a full charge, and stay charged. And that juice flow can be messed up by a crummy outlet, or having too many things plugged into it, or both.

I realize, I might need to get the battery replaced in the future, but since I have my sights set on a Surface Pro as my next laptop (hopefully this upcoming year), I plan to use the jiggle-the-AC-adaptor method as long as possible. I do want to say I am impressed by how long this laptop has lasted, given the price. Bought it in 2016 and have used it to create lots of videos that have really helped my business, so I do appreciate it, but in contrast with the HP laptop I'd had almost a decade, before getting this one... you can see why they say "you get what you pay for." Things just started breaking down, within the first year. Camera went out, sound quality is garbled, headphone jack went out, now I'm jiggling wires. But hey, it was 300 bucks, and it still turns on and works, so I'm grateful.

I'm attaching pics, below (sorry they are huge). In this pic below, where you can see the orange light lit up - that was actually a BLINKING light, not solid - while I was at Starbucks. 



When it goes off (not sure why I am posting this, you can figure out what it'd look like, but... I took the pic so my OCD brain feels the need to follow through and post it, also).



Luckily, this pop up usually came on, to warn me that the battery wasn't being charged, and I needed to do some wire-jiggling. When you see this, you'll notice the screen is kinda dim, too. This is a better warning than the BSOD... with this warning, at least you get a minute or two, I think (maybe longer), to try to get that light to turn back on. Like I said before - with the BSOD you only have like 5 seconds (or at least that is what it feels like). But at least my work was saved.




How I have to angle the AC adaptor sometimes. Yes, I know, I need to vacuum. This poor laptop is hangin on by a thread. 



Sometimes I have to angle the cord like this -pulling it up over the screen. Because my cheap *ss is too tight to buy a new AC adapter or battery : D. 



OK I'm done now. Hope this helps someone! 

I want to say one more thing... I found that in some cases I had to plug straight into the wall. Yesterday my laptop would not turn on when I plugged it into the same power strip that seemed to solve the problem the first time. I'd get those same orange blinking lights again, just like I did at Starbucks. Since I'd never had an issue with that power strip before, I thought well maybe it finally is time for a new cord, so I ordered one on Amazon. But then since my laptop wouldn't turn on AT ALL, I had to use a friend's chromebook (what I'm typing on now) and I noticed it was having a problem, too, where the battery was dying! So I plugged it straight into the wall, and the problem was solved, the screen got bright again and it started charging!  I thought hm I wonder what'll happen if I plug my laptop straight into the wall, also. So I plugged it into that wall that had the power strip, but it still didn't turn the light on. Then, I plugged it into the bathroom outlet and, problem solved, it started charging right up. Maybe some outlets get more juice than others. Whatever the case, it seems that plugging straight, directly into a strong outlet seems to be the trick. 

laurabelle999.  Thanks for your post.  I had two Acers which wouldn't charge today and your post solved my problem.