Dell laptop plugged in, charging but battery still being drained

[bronsenbinky]

Hi,

I've been looking around for a solution to this for a little while now and couldn't find anything that fits the problem I have. My Dell Inspiron laptop is about 1 1/2 years old and the machine itself hasn't caused any problems until recently. The charger that came with the laptop had broken wires in it in March/April and I replaced that with a new charger. This one worked fine until a couple days ago, and now when I plug in this charger, the battery is still being drained.

The battery icon on the bottom toolbar indicates that the laptop is "plugged in, charging" but the battery % continues to drain. At the same time, the white light on the bottom-front of the laptop that signals when its being charged keeps flickering. Sometimes I can wiggle the charger (when connected to the laptop port) until the white light remains solid, and this actually charges the laptop. However, this solution isn't practical as it is unreliable and tedious.

My question is, is this a problem with the charger, the port, or the battery? I can leave the charger inside the port overnight and I wake up to the laptop being 100% charged, but it is significantly harder to maintain a good charging connection while I am using it. Plus, I am scared that soon I won't be able to even charge it when the laptop is turned off.

Looking forward to any suggestions, thanks in advance!

 

[hang-the-9]

Did you get a real Dell charger or a cheap Chinese copy? It's either the charger or the port. If you used a Dell charger, check the port. If you used a cheap charger, try another charger first, then the port if it does not work.

 

[bronsenbinky]

Did you get a real Dell charger or a cheap Chinese copy? It's either the charger or the port. If you used a Dell charger, check the port. If you used a cheap charger, try another charger first, then the port if it does not work.

It's not Dell, it's this: http://www.insigniaproducts.com/products/computer-speakers-accessories/NS-PWLC595.html

The only other tip for the charger that fits into the port charges for about 2 seconds before I receive a message saying that "the AC power adapter type cannot be determined", and then it starts doing the exact same thing that the other tip does.

 

[hang-the-9]

That should not be a bad product, but I'd try an actual Dell adapter and see if hat works. If you don't want to buy one, there are enough Dell's around that one of your friends may have one, or a computer shop may let you use one of theirs or just get a used one for $10 on craigslist.

 

[Arrow_]

Adapter from China is not necessarily bad, some are very well to use, pay attention to whether the parameters are the same