Laptop Power Problem

[techbeck]

I have a Samsung Chronos Series 7 laptop.  The past month or so I have noticed an odd behavior.  I will be looking at the battery icon on the system tray and it will go from being on battery only, to being plugged in.  The charge light on the laptop also goes off.  It will go back and forth like this and eventually stop. Sometimes I need to shutdown to get it to stop.  This happens in the BIOS setup as well so I know it is not windows/driver related.  I am leaning more towards it being the laptop charger so I have a replacement unit on order.  Laptop seems to stay charged tho and it is always around 97 or more percent charged.  Also, when the laptop goes from acting like it is unplugged to plugged, the fans spin up for a second or two and then die down.

 

Hoping it is the charger and the new one should be here by the weekend.  Thought I would toss the problem out and see if anyone else had any more ideas.  I still have a warranty on the system so that is a plus.  Just dont really have a backup ATM and would be without a system for a while if I need to send for repair.

 

Also, anyone know of a program that will monitor the battery and let me know when it goes off charging to charging?  Kinda of curious how often this is happening since I am not always around my system.

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

Either the charger or a defect with the internals. It could be possible issues with internal power plugs (some laptops have a separate small board that the power receptacle resides on that has a physical plug that connects to the mainboard) or just a defective board or internal power regulator. Could be anything like that.

[JJ_]

It sounds like a faulty charger. You should probably avoid using it again and RMA it if the replacement charger doesn't show the same symptoms. I'm sure it can't be healthy on the battery itself constantly losing power.

There is a battery utility in Windows under control panel where you can keep an eye on your battery level/charge status.

[TAZMINATOR]

Either charger or battery.

 

You can buy replacement from their official store..

 

Or you can buy replacement from Amazon but be careful .. make sure they are official ones.

[techbeck]

It sounds like a faulty charger. You should probably avoid using it again and RMA it if the replacement charger doesn't show the same symptoms. I'm sure it can't be healthy on the battery itself constantly losing power.

There is a battery utility in Windows under control panel where you can keep an eye on your battery level/charge status.

 

I will RMA the stock one if it is the charger.  Does that battery utility also keep a log?  I want to log a days worth of activity to see what it is doing.

 

Either charger or battery.

 

You can buy replacement from their official store..

 

Or you can buy replacement from Amazon but be careful .. make sure they are official ones.

 

I ordered one from Amazon.  Not an official Samsung charger, but the specs are the same with the one I have.  Also, the seller has great ratings and reviews are decent.  One year warranty as well.

 

Dont think it is the battery as it is holding a charge.  Also, the laptop losing connectivity to the charger and the icon changes from a plug, to a battery only.  So I hope it is just the charger going out.

[TAZMINATOR]

I will RMA the stock one if it is the charger.  Does that battery utility also keep a log?  I want to log a days worth of activity to see what it is doing.

 

 

I ordered one from Amazon.  Not an official Samsung charger, but the specs are the same with the one I have.  Also, the seller has great ratings and reviews are decent.  One year warranty as well.

 

Dont think it is the battery as it is holding a charge.  Also, the laptop losing connectivity to the charger and the icon changes from a plug, to a battery only.  So I hope it is just the charger going out.

 

That is good on charger purchase... I understand that but some unofficial ones can cause on fire if you don't pay attention.

 

I had battery problem on mine... I got replacement battery and no problem since... I have good hours on it instead of short time on it such as less than 2 hours.  Now it has more 6 hours on it.

[RadishTM Veteran]

Performed an ATX reset on the laptop?

[techbeck]

I had battery problem on mine... I got replacement battery and no problem since... I have good hours on it instead of short time on it such as less than 2 hours.  Now it has more 6 hours on it.

 

MY battery is great though and holds a charget.  I get more than 6hrs all the time.  Why I dont think it is the battery.  Normally if it is the battery, the battery wont charge at all, or will only last a short time.

 

Performed an ATX reset on the laptop?

 

No, and I cannot.  My laptop doesnt have a removable battery.  I normally dont buy things like this but I got a really good deal and probably will end up buying something new before the warranty is up anyway.

[techbeck]

I downloaded this and have been monitoring it every second for a while.  Problem has happened a few times.  Sometimes it happens multiple times in a row but has not done that in a while.

 

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/battery_information_view.html

[techbeck]

Got my new charger today and so far, so good.  I have been monitoring the battery for about 3hrs and so far, it has not switched to battery only while plugged in.

 

Before I got the new charger, I was messing with the old one.  Power port is on the side of the laptop and power is normally behind.   So the cable had a semi permanent bend in one direction.  I bent the cord the opposite way and that seemed to make things fine with the old charger.  So probably a short.  Going to call in the warranty on it.

[techbeck]

Yea, was the power cord that was the problem. New one is working great and no issues since I got it.  I dont care who gets credit for this "Tech Issue" but problem resolved.  Glad it wasnt anything internal to the laptop.