Why is my laptop still charging when the battery is not plugged in?

Laptop battery "Plugged in, not charging".?

• My Dell Inspiron 1525 battery says, "Plugged in, not charging". I went into the system's BIOS and it said the battery was "Idle" and the AC Adapter was unknown. The battery is currently at 0%. Thank you for looking at my question!

• Answer:

  1525 owners (possibly other models) DO NOT replace the mobo before reading this! Just read step 3 and 3a. The Dell 1525, 600 series, and probably all other models using PA10 or PA12 power supplies have a power jack that uses the center pin to detect the presence of a genuine Dell power adapter. There have been considerable writings on the problems with this 3rd pin on the internet. The symptom is that you can run the laptop when plugged in but the battery won't charge and you get a warning message that you are not using the proper power supply or it can not be identified. The best place to see power supply status in the BIOS under battery status. You MUST use a genuine Dell adapter, period. None of the non OEM supplies have the center pin enabled (proprietary chip). CAUSES: 1. The power adapter sensing line can be damaged by static electricity but I find this to be rare. 2. The center pin in the power supply is loose or the wires are breaking (test by wiggling the power cord at the strain relief while holding the plug steady in the laptop - replace the power supply for $<20 on eBay. 3. The center pin connector on the laptop jack is loose - symptom is that it works sometimes and not others. Requires a full breakdown and replacement of the jack. Can be done yourself if you are very handy AND WILLING to FOLLOW DIRECTIONS which are excellent on the Dell web site. Does require soldering on most laptops. 3a. At least on the 1525 there is a sub board for the power and USB which you can get for $80 on eBay and just plugs in - still requires pretty much total breakdown. The board itself is usually the problem so replacing the connector won't help - it is in the multilayer trace from the power jack to the mobo connector. There is a bypass wiring method that requires super close tolerance soldering - I will post that if asked. 4. On some older models (P4 1 core) you can go into the BIOS and turn off Intel speed step to get the laptop running - it will run slower but you probably won't even notice the diff. This whole mess is the result of Dell trying to protect the mobo and battery (life and fire prevention) but packing too much wiring into a too small package. They should have used a larger, 3 prong type power jack knowing how much strain is put on the power cord.