Charging a laptop battery without the laptop?

While it may be a 'common fault', are you sure that the supply you are using is a genuine Dell supply? I only ask because other companies sell a supply that looks very much like the Dell original, uses the same input and output cords and even has a representation of the Dell logo molded into the face....but is NOT a Dell supply, and will NOT charge my Dell laptops.

*It will run them, but not charge the battery.*

Closer examination reveals that it's really not much like a genuine supply. It's much lighter in weight. The quality of the cabling is markedly inferior. It doesn't have the rubber cable retainer strap. There is no Dell information on the info sticker. It says at the top, 'Replacement AC Adaptor' and gives a few specs. At the bottom it says 'Made in China'.

I got it with a Dell laptop from Craigslist. The original owner complained the battery wouldn't charge. Connection to a genuine Dell supply fixed that problem.

jak

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Thanks for the idea Jak, but the charger is definitely OK. It came with the laptop from Dell, and has worked perfectly for the last two years. The fault has only developed recently, and not only will the charger now not charge the battery, it will not power the laptop at all. This is apparently a motherboard problem and has nothing to do with the charger itself. However, the laptop will run fine from a charged battery. Hence my need to charge the battery some other way.

A common problem in my experience. I have also had the need to rebuild laptop battery packs and so built a number of devices and fixtures to permit programming and charging a variety of battery packs. I also have collected some software to permit querying and programming pack charge management chips and gas gauges from a PC. There is also a good Russian IIRC site that has lots of data and some circuit diagrams. It will take me some time to collect up the links and references, but I will post here later. In the meantime, search engines may be your friend (or not) and also it would do you well to search on issues that your laptop model and battery model may have documented on the web.

Michael

That is too convoluted and time consuming and not worth the effot, charging a laptop battery without the laptop. Do you tote? cuhulin

Sounds like a broken DC jack. Not that hard to remove the motherboard, desolder the jack and replace with a new jack purchased from eBay. Or have someone do it for you. It's not expensive work.

Plenty of web sites that will show how, and the service manuals are freely downloadable from dell online.

-- Adrian C

You're probably on the right track, but it might be worth the trouble to--at least--borrow another ps just for confirmation. Some Dells are pretty sensitive to having the correct supply. That might also translate to being sensitive to the condition of even genuine Dell bricks. I've had a couple of those fail on me, although not in the same fashion as you describe.

Otherwise, the advice on resoldering the ps jack sounds like a go....

Also, post the model #. If you did before, I missed it; but it's your best chance at finding spares or specific information.

jak

Regarding suggestions regarding a broken DC Power jack; I had made an unfounded assumption in your original post that you had eliminated any mechanical damage from your assessment; if the power jack proves not to be at fault, please report that here and I will provide links to the materials I described in my previous post.

Michael

Thanks for all replies. The laptop is a Dell XPS M1210.

The reason I've come to the conclusion that the problem is more serious than the power supply or a loose power jack is a few postings around the net such as these:

It's a problem which a few people have and no one seems to have found an easy solution by just soldering on a new jack. The advice from Dell (according to those posts) seems to be that a new motherboard is needed.

Michael, thanks in particular for your offer to post information about circuit diagrams and software concerning charging batteries. Frankly that sounds like it's going to go way over my head and be beyond my minimal understanding. I guess I was hoping someone would tell me that I could just put 12v DC across pins 3 and 5 for two hours and charge it and keep the laptop working that way. It sounds like I was being a little naive, so I thing it may be a trip to the repair shop and a new motherboard (or maybe just a new laptop!).

Cheers!

Martin

That laptop has a 3-wire connector. Some folks may have had a 2-wire connector installed or there may be some other connection problem.

As mentioned on this page, an error message will be seen regarding an Unknown adapter type if the data center pin is not making a good connection.

With what you have, and a meter - I'd start making continuity tests.

--
Adrian C

BTW Replacement jack socket in ebay (UK) #190269916134 Less than £5!

--
Adrian C

This may not apply to this model, but I've seen a lot of older Dell laptops with cracked solder connections on a surface mount inductor near the power jack. It's close enough to the power jack to receive stress from flexing. The connections usually don't look that bad under casual inspection. I would re-solder everything near the power jack. Andy Cuffe

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com

I would not discount the power jack. I've repaired/replaced several of these at little cost on IBM and HP laptops. I would also not discount the power supply unless you've tested it on another Dell.

Do you have a port replicator? I own a Dell Inspiron 8500 and it only charges the battery if the AC adapter is plugged into the port replicator which is then attached to the bottom of the laptop. I have confirmed that the adapter is good and the problem is not the DC jack on the motherboard. I now always have it tethered to the port replicator for charging.

Charging lithium-ion batteries is fairly complex. Only two of the 8 contacts are used to power the laptop, but many more are used during charging in order to monitor individual cells. It is definite not just finding the right two wires. Good luck. I hate it when a complex thing is rendered useless by a simple problem.

I don't know about Dells, but for Lenovos you can buy standalone battery chargers. Have a look on eBay.

Another Bay alternative is to buy a dead "spares or repairs" machine with a different fault. Even if it won't boot, it will hopefully charge a battery.

Chris

e battery without it being in the laptop. Anyone know what my

when you find out let me know

battery without it being in the laptop. Anyone know what my

IMM, the OP has not thoroughly diagnosed the problem. His internet research could very well be valid; but without real-world testing, it's still only opinion. To date, he has not indicated whether he has tested the power supply. In fact, he stated that it categorically could 'not' be the problem (although that answer was in response to a different query, regarding aftermarket supplies which are known to produce nearly the same symptoms).

Since most recent Dells use the either the PA 12 (65 watt, original equipment for his unit), or the PA 10 (90 watt) supplies, it's pretty easy to find someone with a known-good supply to sub. In fact, the PA

10 is also a substitute for the any laptop supplied with a PA 12, making it even easier to find a sub. IMO, this is good policy from Dell. I wish other makers followed this model of not tying their supplies to a particular unit.

Given that this is least expensive possible solution--as well as the cheapest/easiest--I urge the OP to at least explore the possibility. Try your supply on a known-good laptop; or try a known-good supply on yours. If it turns out to not be the case, obviously he'll have to explore others.

jak

doing

Hope so :-)

Doing a little research, the extra pin connector is for a Dallas 1-Wire serial id chip that Dell have built into their own manufactured power supplies, to limit their customers to only purchasing them and not a compatible.

If it is the PSU at fault, further googling suggests that replacement supplies from Dell are actually not that horrendously expensive (e.g. £33 inc delivery for UK)

--
Adrian C

Agree. We were in Vegas back in October and had left our Dell PA10 behind on the west coast. Found a laptop repair place and (with Vostro under arm) we verified that the new PA10 they had was 100% kosher before buying it. Any reputable outlet selling the genuine PA10 would do the same, so the O/P should have reasonable opportunity to check out whether in fcat his PSU is U/S.

Based on experience I'd still lean towards the mobo being the problem, but doing the PSU test certainly will identify the problem area.