My laptop's battery stopped working.

[hoorayforfood]

Hi!
I have a Sony Vaio vpcsb11fx, which I used for a year and a half with the default battery model number VGP-BPS24.
I unplugged my laptop and put it in Hibernate mode for the night. When I woke up and tried to turn on my laptop, I received an error message notifying of either incompatibility or the improper installation of the battery pack and my computer then entered Hibernate mode. Before it automatically Hibernated, I moused over the battery icon in the Task Bar and it said "Plugged in, not charging". This has never happened before.
Following the instructions of this manual, I opened up the laptop, removed the battery and reinserted it into the socket. I tried to turn the laptop back on while it was charging and nothing happened. All the while, if I ever plugged my laptop in, the battery indicator light on the bottom edge of the laptop would rapidly blink orange, which, according to the manual, means that there is a battery error.
Is there a way to fix this? Or will I have to buy a new battery?
Thank you in advance!

 

[scottiemedic]

Could also be the charger isn't outputting the correct voltage. Have you used a multimeter to test the charger output?

 

[hoorayforfood]

Could also be the charger isn't outputting the correct voltage. Have you used a multimeter to test the charger output?

No I have not, but I've always used the same charger. Also, just to check, I used my dad's charger and he has a similar laptop. Does this count? If not, please explain what a multimeter would do and how I would use it. Thanks!

 

[scottiemedic]

The charger should be outputting like 19V at the tip (where it plugs into the laptop). If it's only 12V or whatever, it's not going to charge and possible give errors. If you take the multi meter, put black on - and red on + (should say if + or - is on tip), then you will be able to rule in or rule out the charger. My wife's laptop if about 4 years old, charger randomly died about 2 months ago.
I've been driving the same truck for years, but things go wrong on it too, so why not your charger...
If the charger is good, you have a bad battery or possibly dirty contacts. Use Q-Tips and isopropyl alcohol to clean them.

 

[hoorayforfood]

Thanks for the help! I did what you said. The charger was good and the contacts as well, but I cleaned them anyway. I turned the laptop on without the battery in place and now I have to use it like a desktop, but it works! The battery has therefore definitely become faulty in some way, but I've already ordered a new one online. Thanks for your help!

 

[SafeBatteries]

Hi my name is John from SafeBatteries.com

Inside all laptop batteries is a small computer that manages battery charging and monitors the safety of battery looking for conditions that could cause a fire. If your VGP-BPS24 is blinking one amber indicator light that means the battery has detected a "not safe to charge" condition and its best to heed that warning and just replace the battery with a new one

It may be possible that your battery is still under warranty from Sony but I think 1 year is all they offer for batteries.

Hope this helps
-John

 

[scottiemedic]

Glad I could help, cheers!!

 

[hoorayforfood]

Best answer selected by hoorayforfood.

 

[hoorayforfood]

Thank you all for the help, the problem has been fixed!