Acer Switch 11 V Battery drain when shut down

entne
entne Member Posts: 21 New User
edited March 2023 in 2016 Archives

 

Hello together,

 

My device is an Acer Aspire Switch 11 V SW5-173 running Windows 10 Home 64 bit bought at the end of October 2015. I use a docking station via the USB-Port of the dock connecting keyboard, mouse, monitor, external hard drives, sound and an ethernet cable.

 

My problem: when I shut down the device in the evening and turn it on the next day (mostly after about 18h) the fully charged battery drains about 10% on average, f. e. from yesterday to today from 100% to 92% in about 9h, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. Also, the problem occurs not always, but I'd say it does more than it doesn't. I can't really tell if it was present from the beginning, I think rather not.

 

What I already tried:

 

- I never use functions like sleep or hybernation and always do a normal shutdown via start menu, I also controlled that "shut down" means "shut down" in energy options.

- Battery status in Acer Care Center is "OK"

- It doesn't matter if there is something plugged (power supply [without power of course], docking station) or not.

- I tried to follow this suggestion, although the running on battery was not always in one streak because I was scary that when it shut down at critical battery life at 7% at night and then further draining at 0% my lithium battery may be damaged.

- I tried to follow these steps with turning hibernation off in powercfg, although the exact steps in the energy options weren't reproducable in my Windows 10 (maybe the steps in this link are for Win 8?).

 

Further thougths:

 

- I discovered that there are new BIOS releases out, but there are warnings applying them. Should I try that?

- The Acer Care Center never did any critical or driver updates since I own the device and alsways says "up to date"! I discovered that there are a bunch of new drivers at the Acer support site from 2015/09/02, whereas all drivers I checked in my device manager seem to be (partly much) older. Should I try to install new drivers, if yes, which ones?

- I am hesitating to bring my device back where I bought it or send it to Acer because I imagine they won't "find" anything, would reset the device and the problem still persisted. What do you think?

 

 

 

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Answers

  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User

     

    Update: Going sure that Windows 10 performs a full shutdown like described here also did'nt help.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,219 Trailblazer

    IIRC one of the BIOS updates was changing the way battery level was read, so there's a very good chance that it would fix your problem. I'm guessing what you are seeing is an artifact of battery level calculations, not of actual drainage. Try doing the update to see if it helps.

     

    If that doesn't fix it try recalibrating the battery. Go through a full charge/discharge cycle (off while charging untill fully up, on without charge until automatic shutdown) three or four times and see if the numbers start making more sense.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User

    Promising post of yours, thank you. However there was some unusual additional drainage after doing three cycles. I did the following:

     

    Device started fully charged at 100% -> I let it discharge using max. performance mode and youtube HD videos until automatic shutdown -> charged it while off until the orange light disappeared (100%) -> discharge again -> charging while off again -> discharge again -> charging while off (over night) -> in the next morning before going to work the orange light was out so I thought it was charged at 100% (which it should because it had 6h time to do so, normally a full charge needed about 2,5h), so I disconnected power (device remained off/shut down) -> about 8 hours later when I came home it only had 71%?!

     

    What is going on there, I'd apprechiate any further ideas... is it important if power is connected or not while turning the fully charged device on after charging?

     

    Edit: Updating BIOS before didn't fix it either.

     

    Edit2: I forgot to mention in the beginning that I am using the software W10 Privacy for privacy settings in Windows 10. There are plenty of system settings in there. Could any of these settings have a relation to my issue?

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,219 Trailblazer

    What seems to be happening is a drain while powered off, and there should be nothing in software that can cause that, unless it's somehow not letting it shut down fully. An actual drain while off means a hardware problem, a shorted capacitor perhaps, allowing electricity to flow while power is off. It'd pretty much have to be in the charging circuit, since that's the only connection to the battery while powered down.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User

    I called Acer Support today and got the following information (for any others of you having the same problem):

     

    - shut down the device

     

    - press power button for about 10 s (support said, this will discharge the electronic elements)

     

    - if this helps, it should be a software issue, if not, a hardware issue.

     

    I'm not sure what to think about that but I'll try it this night and see...

  • TomasB
    TomasB Member Posts: 6 New User

    Just chiming in to say I've noticed something similar, I haven't thought about it from full battery, but every now and then I can't start it up at all in the morning without connecting the power - at first I thought I forgot to switch it off and it drained, but even then it should switch off by itself before it's too low to start up again. So a drain after being switched off sounds like an explanation. Now that I know about this issue I'll start keeping track!

     

    Note that my issue cant be an artificial battery reading issue since it's not even starting up!

  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User

    Your device is also a Switch 11 V?

     

    Yes maybe you should further observe the case of drainage.

     

    By now the first night with the above mentioned method (blue light goes on and off again when you keep the power button pressed and the device is shut down) passed by without any drainage. I'll try that some more nights and then with usual shut down again, maybe already this tweak did its job. If not, I'd have to call Acer again...

  • TomasB
    TomasB Member Posts: 6 New User

    Yes it's a Switch 11 V, I don't have it connected to anything so when it's draining it's really doing it by itself (although I guess the USB dock *shouldn't* drain anyway!).

     

    I haven't noticed any problem since I saw this forum thread though, I'm starting to write down the battery % when shutting down and compare to when I start up next. I suppose a drop of a few % is normal, but it shouldn't be much since it's so quick to start up! 

     

    (The longest wait when starting up I find are the seconds holding down the button waiting for it to respond! Smiley Very Happy make that instant and you can half the startup time! ..and probably find your computer switched on my itself in the bad half the time too..)

  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User

    In the meantime...

     

    Problem persisted, I called Acer again, sent the device in, they only did a fresh software win 10 setup and said the issue had been a faulty firmware.

    Problem however still persisted, I called Acer again, sent the device in a 2nd time and got it back today. The report that came with it says "please notice that constructionwise a drainage of up to 10% per day is normal"!?

     

    I am really angry at this point because a quick wiki-google says that usual drainage of lithium polymer batterys is up to 5% a month!

     

    I would be thankful for any comments. Am I wrong with this? I am going to call them tomorrow again...

  • pbyrnes32904
    pbyrnes32904 Member Posts: 1 New User

    Is there any update or resolution of this issue?

    I am struggling with the same problem...turn off fully charged abd turn on a week or so later and it will not start, battery shows 0%.

  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User
    Not that I know... I'll send the device in to Acer the 3rd time tomorrow. Just came back from Holidays and my Switch 11V also discharged and would'nt start on battery. It was only on 5% though...
  • yzonker
    yzonker Member Posts: 2 New User

    Did you get any resolution on this??  I have the same problem.  I did several things which reduced the drain (full shutdown of windows, new bios, fully wiped the tablet, etc...), but it still is draining at about 4 or 5% per day.  I've ordered another one from Costco to see if I can get one without this problem.  Will return one or the other depending on the outcome.

  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User

    I convinced Acer that the described issue is a significant fault, so I had to send in the device a fourth time and in the end Acer accepted and prepared a refund, which I should get in about a week from the store I bought it from. I hope this will roll out without further problems.

     

    I don't know about customer law conditions in your country, but for me (Germany) I can say the following:

     

    If you detect any fault, indicate it in the first 6 months after buying, then the seller gets a chance to repair. If he can't (or the issue persists) you can step back from the sale agreement and the seller has to take back the product and refund the money.

  • yzonker
    yzonker Member Posts: 2 New User

    The 2nd one I have seems to have the same problem, so I'm guess this is "normal" for the device.  Not that I consider this situation normal or acceptable for any portable device, but that's the way these work.  I'm going to return one of them and keep the other though as it's still a nice device for the money I paid.  I'll just keep it plugged in when not in use probably.

  • entne
    entne Member Posts: 21 New User

    So, finally I got my money back and will buy something better from another manufacturer. I recommend the above described way for all who suffer from similar problems. :-)

  • necostanzo
    necostanzo Member Posts: 8 New User

    Thank you for this thread...I had the same problem with my Switch 11V which I purchase directly from Acer.  It took me a couple of months to figure out that the device was draining the battery even when it was "off".  It goes down about 5-7% per day and if it's been sitting for more than a couple of weeks, it's usually completely dead.

     

    I have an older switch 10 that was sitting in the corner collecting dust since I bought my Switch 11V...after I sent my 11V in for repair, I powered up the switch 10 and the battery was nearly 100% and that was after sitting for at least 6o days...the switch 11v would have been deader than a doornail.  I am getting my device back on friday and if it's not fixed, I'll be asking for my money back under the lemon laws(this is the 3rd problem I've had)

     

    Obviously a poor design.

  • tamachans
    tamachans Member Posts: 8

    Tinkerer

    I confirmed Acer Swicth 11 V consumes battery when shut down as follows.

     

    - attach Keyboard dock 9% per 24h

    - detach Keyboard dock 4% per 24h

     

    I have two more Windows 10 machines does not consume battery when it is shutted down within 24h.

    It is very sad.

     

  • necostanzo
    necostanzo Member Posts: 8 New User

    I've sent my device back twice for repairs. They finally decided to replace it with a different model. They are sending me a switch alpha 12. I think they are aware of the issue and I'm not sure if it's a design defect or a bios problem, but either way somethings wrong. I have never had a laptop that drains the battery after being shutdown... Especially killing the battery after only a couple of weeks. At least Acer stood behind their product and are making it right... Hopefully the switch alpha 12 will be better... Cheers, Nick

  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    If it is using the battery, I don't think it is actually shut down completely but may be in a sleep mode waiting for something like a Wake On Lan signal (one of the Wireless options). Have you disabled Hibernation ?

  • necostanzo
    necostanzo Member Posts: 8 New User
    I did all those settings, to include disabling windows hibernation... It's definitely a bios or hardware problem... Neither of which I can fix... They are aware of it since they are sending me a brand new laptop of a different model.

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