Acer Aspire 5 Slim A515-54-51Dj Laptop Charging Issues

UltiSnipe777
UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

Tinkerer
edited October 2023 in 2020 Archives
Hey Everyone. So for the past 2 months, I have been an issue where my laptop is inconsistently charging once turned on. The charging light inconsistently blinks and forces me to believe that I have an electrical shortage. I thought that the issue was caused due to the voltage provided from my house but that doesn't always seem to be the case. I then thought I may have a defective charger or charging port, but I just needed some confirmation on this matter before going forward with my plan. I have some experience when it comes to working with hardware. However, I am not that experienced and would like to know if anyone else had this issue and figured out how to solve it. Here is a video displaying the issue https://youtu.be/ArAeBMHiGBo I would really appreciate the help

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    First check the open circuit voltage between the charger plug's outer ring and center connector. Should be about 19VDC.  If that checks out OK, then go to the elevated command prompt.  Enter 'powercfg /batteryreport'. Then return to the desktop. Open file explorer. Then search for' battery-report.html' in the c:\windows\system32\ sub-folder. Double-click to open it in the browser. Post screenshot of the first part of the report if possible that compares design full charge capacity with its remaining full charge capacity. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    edited December 2020
    JackE said:
    First check the open circuit voltage between the charger plug's outer ring and center connector. Should be about 19VDC.  If that checks out OK, then go to the elevated command prompt.  Enter 'powercfg /batteryreport'. Then return to the desktop. Open file explorer. Then search for' battery-report.html' in the c:\windows\system32\ sub-folder. Double-click to open it in the browser. Post screenshot of the first part of the report if possible that compares design full charge capacity with its remaining full charge capacity. Jack E/NJ

    It states that it is 19 VDC. However, for some unknown reason, I am not able to find the battery_report.html. The function in CMD works but when I search for the file its not showing itself.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    edited December 2020

    It's battery-report.html, with a dash "-" not an underscore "_". Just do a search for '*.html'  in the C : \ windows\sytem32 folder again. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    To be JackE said:

    It's battery-report.html, with a dash "-" not an underscore "_". Just do a search for '*.html'  in the C : \ windows\sytem32 folder again. Jack E/NJ



    This is all that I'm getting from the CMD, doesn't even show me where the file is located or if it's saved. P.S. I tried several different ways of trying to get that report.
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    edited December 2020
    The command doesn't tell you where it's located. Because I'm telling you where the file is located. It's in the "C : \ windows\sytem32" folder, not the "C : \Users\trehd" folder.

    After you've run the command, open FileExplorer. Then look for the file in the C : \Windows\System32 folder.

    Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    edited December 2020
    JackE said:
    The command doesn't tell you where it's located. Because I'm telling you where the file is located. It's in the "C : \ windows\sytem32" folder, not the "C : \Users\trehd" folder.

    After you've run the command, open FileExplorer. Then look for the file in the C : \Windows\System32 folder.

    Jack E/NJ

    Okay, I get what you're saying but I'm saying that the file isn't there at all. It isn't being created when I run the command. System32  is the first folder I checked and it wasn't there. So I've been checking all the other possible folders and I still have not seen it. I don't know if it was changed to a different name as of recently (which I doubt) but it's just weird that it isn't there. Maybe I'm just blind and don't understand what I'm doing.

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    Are you using the administrator or elevated command prompt? The 'powercfg /batteryreport' command won't yield anything except a blinking cursor or an error message if not in the adminstrator or elevated command prompt mode. If done in the elevated mode, it should yield the destination file & folder message and/or simply return to the folder in which you entered the command.  Jack E/NJ  

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    edited December 2020
    JackE said:
    Are you using the administrator or elevated command prompt? The 'powercfg /batteryreport' command won't yield anything except a blinking cursor or an error message if not in the adminstrator or elevated command prompt mode. If done in the elevated mode, it should yield the destination file & folder message and/or simply return to the folder in which you entered the command.  Jack E/NJ  

    I don't think I checked for that, let me do so now then

    Yup...didn't work still
  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    UltiSnipe777 said:
    JackE said:
    Are you using the administrator or elevated command prompt? The 'powercfg /batteryreport' command won't yield anything except a blinking cursor or an error message if not in the adminstrator or elevated command prompt mode. If done in the elevated mode, it should yield the destination file & folder message and/or simply return to the folder in which you entered the command.  Jack E/NJ  

    I don't think I checked for that, let me do so now then

    Yup...didn't work still
    I appreciate all of your help though Jack. 
  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    JackE said:
    Are you using the administrator or elevated command prompt? The 'powercfg /batteryreport' command won't yield anything except a blinking cursor or an error message if not in the adminstrator or elevated command prompt mode. If done in the elevated mode, it should yield the destination file & folder message and/or simply return to the folder in which you entered the command.  Jack E/NJ  

    Hey Jack, so I finally got it to work:) it was just taking forever to create the file. Here is the battery report

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    The battery still seems to have 2/3 of its original capacity so it's probably not causing the issue. You now need to confirm that the charger plug's actual output is 19VDC with a multimeter. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    JackE said:
    The battery still seems to have 2/3 of its original capacity so it's probably not causing the issue. You now need to confirm that the charger plug's actual output is 19VDC with a multimeter. Jack E/NJ
    Sadly, I don't have that kind of equipment at the moment. I will try to get that as soon as possible
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    OK. Meanwhile, try this. Open Device Manager. If there are no red or yellow warnings, click 'batteries' folder. Right click and uninstall every device driver you find in this folder. Exit Device Manager without re-installing anything. Shut down Windows normally. Turn it back on it again. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    JackE said:
    OK. Meanwhile, try this. Open Device Manager. If there are no red or yellow warnings, click 'batteries' folder. Right click and uninstall every device driver you find in this folder. Exit Device Manager without re-installing anything. Shut down Windows normally. Turn it back on it again. Jack E/NJ
    Just tried it, still having the same issue
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    Does the charger's AC wall plug have two or three prongs? Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    JackE said:
    Does the charger's AC wall plug have two or three prongs? Jack E/NJ
    It has three
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,891 Trailblazer
    >>>The charging light inconsistently blinks >>>

    This suggests a bad battery or a bad charger. The battery seems to be wearing normally judging from its remaining capacity. However, its internal charge regulator may still be failing which means a new battery. The charger's output must be checked for 19VDC output with a multimeter. Not much more can be done without a multimeter. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • UltiSnipe777
    UltiSnipe777 Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    JackE said:
    >>>The charging light inconsistently blinks >>>

    This suggests a bad battery or a bad charger. The battery seems to be wearing normally judging from its remaining capacity. However, its internal charge regulator may still be failing which means a new battery. The charger's output must be checked for 19VDC output with a multimeter. Not much more can be done without a multimeter. Jack E/NJ
    Okay, thank you for your help, Jack. I will get the charger's output checked when I can.

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