laptop power supplies

  • Thread starter Thread starter jinxy
  • Start date Start date
J

jinxy

Seasons greetings, I am in need of some help reguarding my laptop. It
is a Toshiba Satellite A70. When the battery runs down to the point
where the low power alarm alerts me, I plug in the ac adapter,the led
on the front of the laptop lights up but the battery icon stays and
the system orange light for battery use comes back on and the pc won't
go to ac power. I have checked the ac adapter with a multimeter and it
is putting out the required 19v.The plug on the back for the adapter
seems alright because the lights are coming on as they should. The
battery is about 5yrs. old. Is there away to check the battery for
holding a proper charge? I don't want to buy a new battery and the
find out that the trouble lies elsewhere. Any input would be great.
Thanks in advance.
-J
 
: Seasons greetings, I am in need of some help reguarding my laptop. It
: is a Toshiba Satellite A70. When the battery runs down to the point
: where the low power alarm alerts me, I plug in the ac adapter,the led
: on the front of the laptop lights up but the battery icon stays and
: the system orange light for battery use comes back on and the pc won't
: go to ac power. I have checked the ac adapter with a multimeter and it
: is putting out the required 19v.The plug on the back for the adapter
: seems alright because the lights are coming on as they should. The
: battery is about 5yrs. old. Is there away to check the battery for
: holding a proper charge? I don't want to buy a new battery and the
: find out that the trouble lies elsewhere. Any input would be great.
: Thanks in advance.

Your laptop is a good indication of whether the battery is up to
snuff. If it holds some charge but not what it held when it was new
then it's probably the battery. You can do stuff like measure the
battery voltage after it "charges" for a few hours and then when it
runs down, or better yet, try to measure the current draw when it's
"charging" and see if it's even trying. I don't remember of it's a
smart battery though. If it is it's a lot harder to get in there and
measure charging current. Does the battery get warm? That's another
indication that it's trying to charge.

You might be in luck though. Toshiba recalled a whole slew of
Satellite batteries a year or so ago, and then recalled the
replacement batteries. You might be entitled to a brand new battery
since your's may be liable to catch on fire. Check teh google and
toshiba's site to see if you're in luck.
 
 :  Seasons greetings, I am in need of some help reguarding my laptop.It
 :  is a Toshiba Satellite A70. When the battery runs down to the point
 :  where the low power alarm alerts me, I plug in the ac adapter,the led
 :  on the front of the laptop lights up but the battery icon stays and
 :  the system orange light for battery use comes back on and the pc won't
 :  go to ac power. I have checked the ac adapter with a multimeter and it
 :  is putting out the required 19v.The plug on the back for the adapter
 :  seems alright because the lights are coming on as they should. The
 :  battery is about 5yrs. old. Is there away to check the battery for
 :  holding a proper charge? I don't want to buy a new battery and the
 :  find out that the trouble lies elsewhere. Any input would be great..
 :  Thanks in advance.

Your laptop is a good indication of whether the battery is up to
snuff.  If it holds some charge but not what it held when it was new
then it's probably the battery.  You can do stuff like measure the
battery voltage after it "charges" for a few hours and then when it
runs down, or better yet, try to measure the current draw when it's
"charging" and see if it's even trying.  I don't remember of it's a
smart battery though.  If it is it's a lot harder to get in there and
measure charging current.  Does the battery get warm?  That's another
indication that it's trying to charge.

You might be in luck though.  Toshiba recalled a whole slew of
Satellite batteries a year or so ago, and then recalled the
replacement batteries.  You might be entitled to a brand new battery
since your's may be liable to catch on fire.  Check teh google and
toshiba's site to see if you're in luck.
Click to expand...

OK. Here's a new twist. When the battery ran down to about 4%, the
alarm notified me so I shut it down. I left the LT just sitting ,No ac
plugged in. The next day I boot up and presto the battery claims to
have 88% charge! WTF? Is my battery toast and sending false positives?
-J
 
: On Dec 21, 8:55 am, (e-mail address removed) (Howard Goldstein) wrote:
: > You might be in luck though.  Toshiba recalled a whole slew of
: > Satellite batteries a year or so ago, and then recalled the
: > replacement batteries.  You might be entitled to a brand new battery
: > since your's may be liable to catch on fire.  Check teh google and
: > toshiba's site to see if you're in luck.
:
: OK. Here's a new twist. When the battery ran down to about 4%, the
: alarm notified me so I shut it down. I left the LT just sitting ,No ac
: plugged in. The next day I boot up and presto the battery claims to
: have 88% charge! WTF? Is my battery toast and sending false positives?

How long did it stay at 88%?
 
 :  On Dec 21, 8:55 am, (e-mail address removed) (Howard Goldstein) wrote:
 : > You might be in luck though.  Toshiba recalled a whole slew of
 : > Satellite batteries a year or so ago, and then recalled the
 : > replacement batteries.  You might be entitled to a brand new battery
 : > since your's may be liable to catch on fire.  Check teh google and
 : > toshiba's site to see if you're in luck.
 :
 :  OK. Here's a new twist. When the battery ran down to about 4%, the
 :  alarm notified me so I shut it down. I left the LT just sitting ,No ac
 :  plugged in. The next day I boot up and presto the battery claims to
 :  have 88% charge! WTF? Is my battery toast and sending false positives?

How long did it stay at 88%?
Click to expand...

Took about 40mins. to run back down
-J
 
: On Dec 21, 8:09 pm, (e-mail address removed) (Howard Goldstein) wrote:
: > How long did it stay at 88%?
:
: Took about 40mins. to run back down

Mrs hgoldste's Satellite runs out of juice after an hour of heavy use
from a full charge on her roughly 1 year old battery. I can see why
you're wondering if it's really the battery. You got me, man.
 
 :  On Dec 21, 8:09 pm, (e-mail address removed) (Howard Goldstein) wrote:
 : > How long did it stay at 88%?
 :
 :  Took about 40mins. to run back down

Mrs hgoldste's Satellite runs out of juice after an hour of heavy use
from a full charge on her roughly 1 year old battery.  I can see why
you're wondering if it's really the battery.  You got me, man.
Click to expand...

I have been trying different things and it looks like it may be the
connection for the ac adapter inside of the LT. I am hearing from my
son that he may have jarred the unit when it was plugged in, and maybe
he has bent the internal connection pin or broken a solder joint. This
might be why it would only charge some of the time. I am going to
dismantle it over the xmas holidays and have a look. I will post back
and let you know how things went. Thanks again for your interest and
your inputs.
-J
 
I have been trying different things and it looks like it may be the
connection for the ac adapter inside of the LT. I am hearing from my
son that he may have jarred the unit when it was plugged in, and maybe
he has bent the internal connection pin or broken a solder joint. This
might be why it would only charge some of the time. I am going to
dismantle it over the xmas holidays and have a look. I will post back
and let you know how things went. Thanks again for your interest and
your inputs.
-J
Click to expand...

Turns out that the dc jack is broken. $24.00 for a new one plus my
time . problem solved.
-J
 
Back
Top