Apparently, I need a new motherboard?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by sourwolf, Dec 26, 2012.

  1. sourwolf

    sourwolf Private E-2

    Okay, so I have a Dell Inspiron 14z. The system itself is still under warranty until October of 2013 but the battery only had a one year warranty that has now run out. The battery has only been charging up to about 62% - 64% all day. I finally got in touch with Dell's tech support, and watched them remotely access my system for an hour and a half or so, and cooperated with them in reseating the battery and following their instructions, etc. They told me that since the reseat didn't work, it's not the battery but the motherboard and they'll send someone to replace it. I'm okay with computers but not excellent so this sounded like just a bunch of bullshit to me one way or the other. Is this really a motherboard problem? And if they come to replace it, will I lose any documents/music/etc?

    Thanks.
     
  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    Its very possible that it could be the motherboard or another part of hardware.

    When your laptop has charged to the 64% mark does it drain very quickly?
    If you remove the battery and just have mains power plugged in does the laptop work ok all day?

    Possible that a change of motherboard "could" result in a need to re-install Windows, but just depends on the hardware they use, if its exact model motherboard then likely not but if its a newer revision then very likely, so best practice and of now is to backup your important files.

    Always wise if you have not to invest in a portable HDD to save files to as a backup (size of HDD depends on what total size your docs/music/pics etc take up), in some cases if you have a good internet connection you can use online storage such as Skydrive or Google Drive (as an example as others are available, but these have free space to get you going)

    Some ideas from Dell to try and see if you can get your battery working HERE
     
  3. sourwolf

    sourwolf Private E-2

    It doesn't drain very quickly if unplugged. It's hovered all day at 62% today because I haven't unplugged it at all. I took out the battery earlier and used it for an hour or two like that with just the cord plugged in and it worked fine.
     
  4. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi Cheers for the info

    Did any of the DELL support info on battery issues help when you ran through them?

    You could install this free app BatteryCare and once installed pop your battery in and take a screenshot of the Detailed list and attach it to your post, guide on attaching HERE (best to crop the image to just the apps Window of info)

    This app and info may give us some clue as to your batteries health.
     
  5. sourwolf

    sourwolf Private E-2

    None of the support info on the battery issues helped, unfortunately.

    I hope this is what you were looking for.
     

    Attached Files:

  6. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi Yes

    Perfect thank you, seems your battery level is about right, wear is around 30% so the 64/5% you get is close.

    I would say your motherboard is fine and highly doubt it needs changing as it works fine on AC only, the battery wear level is quite normal over time.

    Do you charge your laptop when you are using it? if you do try charging it when the laptop is off and wait till the power light turns green for full charge and boot and check battery level with BatteryCare. Just wondering why you only get a level of 64% +/- when charged over it stating 100% even with the wear level as Windows should report 100% charged.
     
  7. sourwolf

    sourwolf Private E-2

    I usually charge my laptop when using it, though I'm not sure about charging it when the laptop is off as I don't think it will work one way or the other since it's so stagnant at the 61% it's currently at. It's just constantly saying 61%, plugged in and not charging. I mean, this just came out of nowhere the other day; everything has been working perfectly up until now. Literally, the biggest problem I've had with this laptop since I got it is the letters rubbing off the keys from use, so this is just frustrating. Someone's supposed to come around today to change the motherboard and if that's not the issue, I'm going to be even more frustrated because apparently Dell tech support doesn't know a damn thing then.
     
  8. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    Do let us know what the Dell folk do for you and if it changes.

    Remember to backup any important files asap, never know what can happen when changing hardware or how easy a Dell tech wishes to make the job, in some cases techs will clean install.

    Personally I would be leaning to try a new battery and fully charge it to rule out anything else.

    What icon in your system tray tells you to power level is it windows own one or a Dell app? just curious.
     
  9. sourwolf

    sourwolf Private E-2

    Will do. They haven't shown up yet but we had a major snowstorm last night and into today so they may end up rescheduling.

    I've backed up what I can but don't have the time to backup all videos/music, etc. to sites and I don't have an external HD, so I've just backed up my most important stuff like my writing and have made notes of music and videos and such to re-download in the event of something happening.

    If it ends up needing a new battery, it'll probably have to wait for quite a while as I'm completely broke which sucks.

    The icon in my tray is just the normal Windows battery icon.

    Thanks for all your help/advice thus far, I really appreciate it!
     
  10. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    Were did you get your music/videos from if some of the online places like Xbox Music/Zune/iTunes/Amazon Music then its very likely all are still available to download again.

    If ripped off CD/DVD then sadly you may have the job of ripping them again.

    I'm only going with worst case scenario as you may well be fine with the mobo change and Windows does not need re-installing again, then you are ok.

    Your current battery how long does it last with the max charge it can get? you maybe fine with this one for a while, may just need to charge it more often, but it will last a bit while you save up funds.

    Also if your at home with it and near a power point, pop out the battery and run on AC, will make the battery last longer for when you are mobile.

    You are welcome.
     
  11. sourwolf

    sourwolf Private E-2

    Most of it was CD/DVD. Some of it was illegal downloading, ha.

    Yeah, I'd like to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

    As far as the battery goes... well, I'm sort of worried to unplug it and run it down more in case it won't charge back up. Our power went out last night and it had been at around 62%. By the time we got the power back on, it had gone down to 61% and when I plugged it back in, that's where it's stayed up 'til now. It won't charge back up to the 62% or any higher. That's why I'm so wary about the whole situation, because that wasn't what happened to me before. When I had to deal with that with my old laptop, it would just charge back up to that stagnant percentage no matter how long it had been unplugged. This isn't doing that.
     
  12. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    I tend to leave my laptop battery out if i'm using it for a longish period at home or work, when I'm near a power source and its now lasted for 5yrs and only down to 24% wear.

    As for the CD/DVD stuff and the source of some of it I will leave that one to you.

    Think we need to now see what the Dell tech has to say or do. Have a good evening.
     

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds