Why Isn't My Laptop Battery Charging

[King Conga]

I just got a msg on my laptop that my battery isn't charging, despite the fact that it's been plugged in for hours.  It's only about a year old. Do batteries just die like that.  Sorry for the ignorance, but I'm more of a desktop guy.

Tanx,
KC

[Accessless]

I've never had any battery (that hasn't leaked or exploded), that has just died like that. Did you have any severe battery life depreciation over the last couple of months? I'm more of a desktop guy myself but I can think of a couple of possibilities if the battery was fine.

First off, does the computer register a battery present. I.e. does the computer say "No battery" under the battery status.

It may be that there is a fault somewhere with the battery connection and the computer is either not able to make a connection with the charging terminal (negative I think) or make a connection with the positive terminal (output). Is there any corrosion on the laptop's battery bay terminals or the batteries terminals?

Second, is the charger you are currently using the original charger for the laptop?

If you are using the wrong charger then you may not be receiving enough power to charge that battery. We would have to know what laptop you are using though to have any hope of answering that. The OS might be helpful as well.

[helper]

Do you tend to incompletely charge the battery, drain it, charge it, and so on? I know that this can sometimes cause batteries to stop being chargeable.

[ImnoGuru]

Was the unit new... computer, charger, battery?
Is there a chance it may still be under warranty? Most sales come with a 12 month warranty period if not longer.
Has the laptop or the charger unit been dropped or subject to great amounts of heat?

There are lots of things that can go wrong with batteries, sealed, Gel and liquid types.
The plates can be affected by heat (which is the major cause of any failure).

If, for example your laptop had been in front of a window during the bright/heat of the day, say inside a car, then the components internally warp and can short out.

Most batteries consist of several cells each with the same voltage to make up the total of your battery's total voltage. eg 6 cells @ 2 Volts = 12 volts and it only takes one cell to fail and the whole thing becomes faulty.

There are modern batteries that have lithium, magnesium and alkaline features in rechargeables and rely on the charger unit to supply the correct voltage, regulated by the charger in "AMPS" or "Milliamps", any faults in the regulator can affect the chargeability of your battery. A sudden impact, say from being dropped,could render your charger ineffective.

I suggest you try anther charger of a suitable type, if you can, to see if that is the source of your problem first.
Try your charger in a friends (Compatible) computer laptop, or have it tested at a reputable dealer.
You might be able to get a loan of a battery to use in your laptop, to see if the battery is at fault or the problem.
After that, things like connections to the laptop and into the wall socket should be examined.

Hope this gives you some insight as to where to start.

[talldude123]

Make sure the battery is fully depleted (drained), and at 0%, and try charging it again. That helped my laptop when I had a similar problem as you.

[ImnoGuru]

I have heard in the past that some people have had success with placing the battery in the freezer overnight, allowing it to thaw for many hours and then try charging it.

Typically those batteries were the type to store a "charge memory" in them from being constantly discharged and recharged before they were completely flat.

I dont recommend this action until you do your own research on it and are clear on what you are doing though.

You should exhaust all other avenues before even considering this action.