Predator PT515-51 Battery losing charge when not in use, normal behaviour?

mnemonics · October 2019

I just came back from travel after 2 weeks and didn't bring my laptop. I know for sure when I left, my triton 500 has 100% of battery charge left. When I turn on the laptop just now, it shows 62% of battery left. Is this a normal behaviour? When I left it was not left in hibernate or sleep mode. It was turned off completely. My model is PT515-51 (RTX 2060).

Acer-William · October 2019

mnemonics

Hi

One thing we must understand is that the battery of a laptop does not store charge forever. The battery will drain even if the laptop is shut down. But this drainage will be so minimal that we don’t feel it unless we keep the laptop shut down for a long period of time.

It is normal for a battery to drain even when it is not in use and a batteries ability to hold a charge decreases over time.

Please double check that the system is shutting down and not actually going into sleep mode instead.

Do you push the physical Power Button, click the Start Menu Power Off or simply close the lid?

Please Click or tap Power on the Start menu and click on shutdown or Try to use windows + x ( on keyboard ) and click on shutdown or signout to shutdown the computer.

So a nearly 10% drop in battery whilst the laptop is switched off is not excessive!. I understand that you came back from travel after 2 weeks.

"The maximum charge capacity of every battery decreases over time and with use. The rate at which this capacity decreases can vary depending on product configuration, product model, operating system, type of software used, power management settings, and other factors.

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Jithesh · October 2019

If you have 'fast startup' enabled, this can cause battery drain even when laptop is switched off.

Image: https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/1526844273443938480.png

If 'fast startup' is disabled, then check if you have any device connected to USB port which supports charging. USB charging works, even when the system is powered off. Irrespective of connected device draws power or not, this can cause battery drain.

xapim · October 2019

mnemonics also want to add to what was already said that if you leave devices connected to the usb ports (depending on the port itself) some ports will be always on even after shutdown to recharge mobile devices with the device off and this will of course drain the battery and its not good for it either the usp ports power on can usually be disabled in the bios or acer software they come enabled by default

PredatorHelios500 · October 2019

The suggestion that you put the computer to sleep rather than shutting it down is the most likely culprit but the other suggestions are valid too. Here's another one:

Computer today are NEVER actually off unless you are disconnected from the wall and your battery is COMPLETELY dead. All modern Intel and AMD chips have a processor that controls EVERYTHING on your computer running a completely different operating system than the one you think of normally. For Intel chips, this is called the Intel Management Engine and it runs the MINUX operating system. This OS is the one that actually controls your computer and it is ALWAYS running unless your taken some drastic steps to cause it to hang. It is widely believed this has been forced on CPU manufacturers by the US government via National Security letters for the benefit of the NSA.

So one possibility for your battery drain is a government has scanned your computer while you thought it was turned off.

mnemonics · October 2019

mohan2018 said:

mnemonics

Hi

One thing we must understand is that the battery of a laptop does not store charge forever. The battery will drain even if the laptop is shut down. But this drainage will be so minimal that we don’t feel it unless we keep the laptop shut down for a long period of time.

It is normal for a battery to drain even when it is not in use and a batteries ability to hold a charge decreases over time.

Please double check that the system is shutting down and not actually going into sleep mode instead.

Do you push the physical Power Button, click the Start Menu Power Off or simply close the lid?

Please Click or tap Power on the Start menu and click on shutdown or Try to use windows + x ( on keyboard ) and click on shutdown or signout to shutdown the computer.

So a nearly 10% drop in battery whilst the laptop is switched off is not excessive!. I understand that you came back from travel after 2 weeks.

"The maximum charge capacity of every battery decreases over time and with use. The rate at which this capacity decreases can vary depending on product configuration, product model, operating system, type of software used, power management settings, and other factors.

If the comments are helpful please click "like"
If the comments resolves your issue please click "yes"

The system was completely powered off using the shutdown feature in windows. It was not left in sleep or hibernate. I've mentioned this in my first post. So sleeping and hibernating is ruled out.

Jithesh said:

If you have 'fast startup' enabled, this can cause battery drain even when laptop is switched off.

If 'fast startup' is disabled, then check if you have any device connected to USB port which supports charging. USB charging works, even when the system is powered off. Irrespective of connected device draws power or not, this can cause battery drain.

I have a logitech usb receiver connected, I'm going to try and unplug this to see if it is the culprit.

xapim said:

mnemonics also want to add to what was already said that if you leave devices connected to the usb ports (depending on the port itself) some ports will be always on even after shutdown to recharge mobile devices with the device off and this will of course drain the battery and its not good for it either the usp ports power on can usually be disabled in the bios or acer software they come enabled by default

Is this in relation to the Fast boot option in the BIOS?

PredatorHelios500 said:

The suggestion that you put the computer to sleep rather than shutting it down is the most likely culprit but the other suggestions are valid too. Here's another one:

Computer today are NEVER actually off unless you are disconnected from the wall and your battery is COMPLETELY dead. All modern Intel and AMD chips have a processor that controls EVERYTHING on your computer running a completely different operating system than the one you think of normally. For Intel chips, this is called the Intel Management Engine and it runs the MINUX operating system. This OS is the one that actually controls your computer and it is ALWAYS running unless your taken some drastic steps to cause it to hang. It is widely believed this has been forced on CPU manufacturers by the US government via National Security letters for the benefit of the NSA.

So one possibility for your battery drain is a government has scanned your computer while you thought it was turned off.

Not savvy enough to understand how IME works but from what I gather It doesn't take power if the main system is off. Again I could be wrong or you're right the government is scanning my pc. LOL

mnemonics · November 2019

OK after trying to unplug everything including the usb receiver for my mouse. I'm still getting a significant drop in battery power after 1 week of not using the laptop. I get 74% battery level after leaving it for a week without powering it on. Before I left for my travel I made sure that the battery level is 100%.
Is this normal still?

xapim · November 2019

@mnemonics it's completely normal for this type of batteries to discharge if not used for a long period of time the cells will not hold battery forever that's why it should be always plugged in evenif it's off and preferably always used on ac and never on battery also bare in mind that the battery should be calibrated once every 3 months or so to make sure the cells will hold the same amount of charge and to he them even also you can check you battery wear if the percentage its high it means its faulty and you need to swap it for a new one

CharlieBrown · January 2020

mnemonics said:

OK after trying to unplug everything including the usb receiver for my mouse. I'm still getting a significant drop in battery power after 1 week of not using the laptop. I get 74% battery level after leaving it for a week without powering it on. Before I left for my travel I made sure that the battery level is 100%.
Is this normal still?

Are you still getting this battery drain? This appears to be what I am seeing and my laptop is the same as yours. I just got it a week ago. It started maybe 1% per day but advanced to more like 3-4% per day. Can I ask if your charge capacity is still near design capacity? Can you provide a sample battery report? If you look at my posts you'll see my thread I created on the same problem. I feel that something on the mobo is not being powered off on shutdown.

EmperorBorg · January 2020

In addition to everyone else's comments, also do consider that Windows 10 may automatically start and update your system when it wants (at night) without your consent if you do not control this aspect. If it has a network connection, Windows 10 will wake-up your system, update and resume the initial stand-by state mode. This can be prevented by not allowing Windows 10 to control power-on. Not connecting it to any network will also prevent this stealth auto-update from happening.

CharlieBrown · January 2020

EmperorBorg said:

In addition to everyone else's comments, also do consider that Windows 10 may automatically start and update your system when it wants (at night) without your consent if you do not control this aspect. If it has a network connection, Windows 10 will wake-up your system, update and resume the initial stand-by state mode. This can be prevented by not allowing Windows 10 to control power-on. Not connecting it to any network will also prevent this stealth auto-update from happening.

The OP and I are both complaining about battery usage when powered off, not in a sleep state. This laptop doesn't support connected standby/modern standby either. I did not see any wakes from the sleep study report or anything in the event log or anything from powercfg /lastwake. If I recall in the power plan configuration you can turn off wake timers in battery mode also.

mnemonics · January 2020

CharlieBrown said:

mnemonics said:

OK after trying to unplug everything including the usb receiver for my mouse. I'm still getting a significant drop in battery power after 1 week of not using the laptop. I get 74% battery level after leaving it for a week without powering it on. Before I left for my travel I made sure that the battery level is 100%.
Is this normal still?

Are you still getting this battery drain? This appears to be what I am seeing and my laptop is the same as yours. I just got it a week ago. It started maybe 1% per day but advanced to more like 3-4% per day. Can I ask if your charge capacity is still near design capacity? Can you provide a sample battery report? If you look at my posts you'll see my thread I created on the same problem. I feel that something on the mobo is not being powered off on shutdown.

Yes! indeed I am. I've attached the battery report, please compare it with yours. Design Capacity is 82,080 mWh. Now charge capacity is at 78,371 mWh. While at first when I reinstalled the OS 81,472 mWh. I'm tearing my hair out figuring out why the reduction in battery charge is quite significant comparatively even to my old notebook.

CharlieBrown said:

EmperorBorg said:

In addition to everyone else's comments, also do consider that Windows 10 may automatically start and update your system when it wants (at night) without your consent if you do not control this aspect. If it has a network connection, Windows 10 will wake-up your system, update and resume the initial stand-by state mode. This can be prevented by not allowing Windows 10 to control power-on. Not connecting it to any network will also prevent this stealth auto-update from happening.

The OP and I are both complaining about battery usage when powered off, not in a sleep state. This laptop doesn't support connected standby/modern standby either. I did not see any wakes from the sleep study report or anything in the event log or anything from powercfg /lastwake. If I recall in the power plan configuration you can turn off wake timers in battery mode also.

The system is not in sleep, hibernate mode. The system is COMPLETELY TURNED OFF. I've not plugged in any devices even when the system is completely turned off. I've not calculated again how much reduction is there but judging from my last use, it is over a week and when I left for travel it was at 100% and when I came back it is now at 74%. Seems strange.

mnemonics · January 2020

CharlieBrown said:

mnemonics said:

OK after trying to unplug everything including the usb receiver for my mouse. I'm still getting a significant drop in battery power after 1 week of not using the laptop. I get 74% battery level after leaving it for a week without powering it on. Before I left for my travel I made sure that the battery level is 100%.
Is this normal still?

Are you still getting this battery drain? This appears to be what I am seeing and my laptop is the same as yours. I just got it a week ago. It started maybe 1% per day but advanced to more like 3-4% per day. Can I ask if your charge capacity is still near design capacity? Can you provide a sample battery report? If you look at my posts you'll see my thread I created on the same problem. I feel that something on the mobo is not being powered off on shutdown.

UPDATE:

It seems like the USB port on left side of the notebook support power off charging. Check to see if yours is turned on.
Just plug a wireless mouse or phone to see if it is being charged. If it is you need to turn off the feature.

Unfortunately, this cannot be turned off via the BIOS. Download the acer quick access application and turn off Power-Off charging if it is turned on.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/v6/aozkf7qpintb.png

I'm going to see if turning off this feature makes a difference.

CharlieBrown · January 2020

mnemonics said:
Yes! indeed I am. I've attached the battery report, please compare it with yours. Design Capacity is 82,080 mWh. Now charge capacity is at 78,371 mWh. While at first when I reinstalled the OS 81,472 mWh. I'm tearing my hair out figuring out why the reduction in battery charge is quite significant comparatively even to my old notebook.

To see what happened you need to run "powercfg /batteryreport /duration 14" to get last 14 days otherwise it defaults to 3 days or so. I can't see enough history. I think 14 days is the maximum.
I already turned off always on USB by someone else's suggestion and it didn't help, although I keep forgetting to plug something in to check it's really off.

mnemonics · February 2020

CharlieBrown said:

mnemonics said:
Yes! indeed I am. I've attached the battery report, please compare it with yours. Design Capacity is 82,080 mWh. Now charge capacity is at 78,371 mWh. While at first when I reinstalled the OS 81,472 mWh. I'm tearing my hair out figuring out why the reduction in battery charge is quite significant comparatively even to my old notebook.

To see what happened you need to run "powercfg /batteryreport /duration 14" to get last 14 days otherwise it defaults to 3 days or so. I can't see enough history. I think 14 days is the maximum.
I already turned off always on USB by someone else's suggestion and it didn't help, although I keep forgetting to plug something in to check it's really off.

Ok just got back from a long travel. Ran the command for 14 days (see attached).