Problem With Laptop Battery?

Question

HP Pavilion ZV6170ca if it matters. My laptop's battery has not been working for the last month or two, but it has never been more than a minor inconvenience, since it's almost always plugged in. What happens is:
When I plug the laptop in, the battery charging light goes on for about 2 seconds, then it turns off. In control panel, it says that the battery is charged 69% or 70%, but if I unplug it, the laptop immediately turns off.

I've used a voltmeter to check the A/C adapter, and that's generating about 20volts, as it should. I've checked the terminals on the laptop where the battery connects, and I get between 2.7 and 5 volts. I don't know how much that should be.

I can't check the voltage on the battery because the terminals are hard to reach.

Can I fix this, or at least troubleshoot what the problem is without taking it to a repair shop?

Thanks very much in advance!

Answer 1

Dude, I'm afraid your battery is shot. If you leave your laptop plugged in all the time, the battery will die pretty quickly. This is because the battery stays in a charged state and eventually it will no longer discharge or charge. That is why the laptop cuts off as soon as you unplug it for AC. The only way to get around it is to use the battery on the laptop, letting it drain and then recharging it, or removing the battery if the PC is gong to be plugged in to an outlet for an extended period of time. A side note: the average life expectancy of a laptop battery is about 18 months.

Answer 2

Since the charger and all connections test OK then the trouble is with the battery, its not holding a full charge and could be shorting out. Replace battery should correct problem. You can take the battery out and take in to a computer shop and have them test just the battery, their should be no charge for this.
Hope this helps

Answer 3

"Laptop Battery Care"

First of all, how long should your laptop battery last? 2-4 years is generally acceptable depending on how frequently you use and charge the battery. If you travel a lot and use and charge your battery frequently then you might only get a couple of years at the most out of your laptop battery.

Laptop batteries are usually made with Li-Ion batteries and the very nature of Li-Ion batteries is that they have about 300-500 charges and last at most about 4-5 years (shelf life). They also have a self-discharge rate of about 1% per day so you need to be sure to charge them at least every 6 months.

So how can you care for your laptop battery to get the maximum life out of it?

1.) Always use your laptop on a hard surface.
Laptops are portable and it's easy to set your laptop on your lap or on your bed and use it at your lesiure. That's one of the benefits of having a portable computer. Flexibility. But if you want to extend your battery life you have to watch out for overheating your laptop.

Heat is one of the biggest obstacles to battery life longevity. Your laptop computer fan cannot circulate the air properly when your laptop is sitting on soft surface.

2.) Do not keep your laptop battery installed when you use your laptop on AC for an extended period of time.

While your laptop is undoubtedly using a smart charger to charge your battery even a constant trickle charge over months can reduce your battery life. For best results, only charge your battery when you need to charge it, don't leave the laptop battery plugged in all the time.

More importantly than the trickle charger affect is the 'storage' of a Li-Ion battery at elevated temperatures. The optimum storage temperature for a Li-Ion battery is at 0 deg. C. The optimum storage charge level is about 40%. Unfortunately we tend to store fully charged and at the temperatures found in a running laptop you'll find a significant reduction in battery performance after only 12-18 months.

3.) Use a full charge cycle before recharging

Li-Ion and NiMH batteries (which most laptop batteries are), do not have a memory which you might find in NiCad batteries. However, each chemistry has a limited number of charge cycles, so use a full charge cycle before re-charging to maximize your battery usage.

Because this may be very difficult to manage, you'll need to consider the cost-benefit ratio for keeping track of how far discharged the battery is before you charge it again.

Answer 4

Hi. This usually means that one or more cells have failed. Time for a new battery.