laptop charge

1) lately my laptop tops out at 96% or 85% or some other screwy number. what causes this? is it just a bad READING, or is it really somehow aborting the charge too early? if the latter, is it a "charging" (process) problem, or a the battery itself malfunctioning?

2) SUDDENLY (irrespective of #1) my time on a "full" (or even 96%) charge has PLUMMETED -- from about 2 hrs worth until last month to 40 mins or less now. what would be the cause of this? is my battery DYING, and would it be this SUDDEN?

3) can you charge a laptop off a USB port somehow? i went to buy an adaptor so I could use it with my cigarette lighter, but most of them are lighter plug-to-USB port. only one -- LARGE and EXPENSIVE -- is labeled "inverter" and provides a proper wall-style outlet.

is USB charging limited to phones and tablets and the like? am i stuck, indeed, buying that giant inverter one?

the alternative is a cord from the manufacturer custom designed for the purpose, but that's muy expensive too. like $85 or more, where that plug-to-USB is only 8 bucks!

pls. advise.

 

Bad Battery, AHCI screwed up. Helps to know what operating system, what make & model of laptop. Have you tried running the laptop off power until the battery is drained and shuts itself off, then plug back in and let charge. It should fix the battery issue.

You can also open a Command Window as admin and do a 'Powercfg /batteryreport' without the quotes, and it will generate a battery report. Remember to do it from c:/users/(your username)/my documents to generate the report. Otherwise it will generate the report in the System32 folder.

 

LOL. that's all i EVER do. charge laptop at home, go out and use it on the road (usually in car) until it croaks. (learned the hard way to save actual FILES before this happens...)

so, no, that's not fixing anything. If anything, I was wondering if I'm WEARING it OUT by using it mobile too often? they're called "laptops", sure, but don't most people use them plugged in like 90% of the time? for me it's more like 40%.

win7 HP 2000-sumpin (thought dev mgr would give better details!), battery "m/s ACPI-compliant control method battery" (?! ditto!), btw.

-----
additional thought on the "inverter" issue -- seems pointless using a big and heavy step up transformer to produce A/C 120 just so it can run through the step DOWN/rectifier which is in my laptop cord 2 feet later. i can certainly see the logic of taking low-volt DC from the lighter and running it DIRECTLY into the DC laptop, perhaps after some MINOR transformer (24v-> 12v or 9v w/e laptop uses).

and yet, the packages only list small devices for those plugs. i have several USB ports, but it's not like any of them is labeled "power in". i assume stuffing power willy-nilly into a DATA port is not exactly the plan here, right?

 

You never ran the Powercfg tool with the two switches I stated, did you? How are you going to expect someone to help you if you do not cooperate and do what they ask you to do.

Regardless what you think, yes most people keep their units plugged in all the time, but if the meter is reading incorrectly, you have to follow directions to get it to read right. And yes, the AHCI software can also cause it to read incorrect, again YOU need to follow directions.

Passmark's Batterymon is one tool you can use, there are also others out there, including the one that HP packaged with your unit. You can go to the support page for your computer and download it from there, if you do not have the OEM tool installed.

 

i'm still trying to get past "command window". i know my 98/XP era PCs had a field off the start menu where you could enter "run such-and-such", but that is conspicuously absent from w7.

in any case, i was taught to avoid that and go straight to the app, so i found powercfg, but it runs to completion without asking for any sort of input, i.e. your "batteryreport" switch. i dunno what it did, b/c there's certainly no report in either mydocs OR sys32.

pretty much what i said. so my own battery use is manyfold above the norm.

-----
btw, my charge is 100% as i sit here today. so i should have added "at times" to my OP.

 

The reason it does not ask for any type of input, is because it is designed to run that way. Go back and follow my instructions and if you enter exactly what I posted, it will generate a report in the folder you are in, when you open a Command Window.

Command Window has been in the same place since Windows XP. Microsoft has not moved it anywhere, even though some state otherwise with Win8.

 

Your snark is unwarranted. Your first suggestion was a dud; you next misquoted me; you then misquoted yourself ("2" switches?); and now you're doubling down on the fact that the command window is where it used to be.

Count me among those who are "stating otherwise" about its presence.

I'd ask for a workaround, but I can only imagine how many snide remarks that would unleash. So I'll just be kind and await someone else.

Thanks anyway!

 

Nothing was miquoted, but if you want to think it was, all for you. Again if you do not want to listen and follow directions, as far as I am concerned this thread is done.

 

thank, plodr, i have it under accessories. still unclear on why i have no "run box".

in any case "Powercfg /batteryreport" gives me an "invalid parameters" error. next!

btw, problem much much WORSE now. went mobile on 86% charge today and got about 3 minutes use! scrambled inside, recharged (actually READ "100%" for once) and went mobile again...12 mins this time!

plus it gave me a "defective battery" type message upon reboot the first time (oddly, tho, not the second time). not a "battery is empty; recharge" error, but an odd one i've never seen before which basically said "this lemon won't take a charge even if u try".

is it worth the $$$ to get a new battery for a laptop already 3 yrs old? my machines generally die around the 3-4 yr mark anyways. (i cannot recall EVER having a battery die on me before!)

i can just buy one loose and pop it in myself, right? newegg/tigerdirect, etc?

 

In my reply to your other thread, I give a link to the HP Store and a 12-cell battery with the option of perhaps finding a better deal if the model on that page is your laptop.

 

If you can afford the down time, there is a trick that sometimes work. There is a phenomenon called "memory effect". What can sometimes happen to the battery is that it will crystallize inside, and prevent proper charging/usage.

Get a Zip-Loc bag, put the battery inside, and stick it in the freezer for a couple of days. After you pull it out, leave it in the bag to return to room temperature. You don't want it sweating while installed in the laptop.

They say it's (memory effect) not supposed to happen with Li-ion batteries, but it's worth a shot...

 

can't the laptop run without the (dead) battery in there? if so, then it's really not "down time" any worse than what I've got NOW. in fact, i'd be happy to have the thing LIGHTER to CARRY for a while. i am, after all, still schlepping it around between home/work/starbucks, etc.

there's no RISK here, is there? i.e. that it backfires and shorts everything out? maybe i'll put this off until i've got a major backup in the can.

i have NO CLUE what kind of battery it is, tho. cf other thread:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=1837224#post1837224

 

Most laptops these days will run without the battery in them. In fact, I would advise that if it is fully charged, and you don't need to be on battery, remove it while plugged in to AC power.

As far as I know, low temperatures will not harm a Li-ion cell. It is not water based, and even NASA specifies they should function at -50 Celsius. What will seriously harm a lithium battery is high temperatures. Overheating of the cell will degrade it faster. All the more reason to have a laptop cooler, or keep it propped up. I've found the cases chopsticks come in at higher end Chinese restaurants make excellent props.

What type of battery it is should be clearly printed on the battery itself, usually including the model number of the battery.

I must add that if there is any deformation, or puffiness to the battery it's damaged already. Hard to tell with the plastic casing on a laptop battery, but in smaller cells it's an obviously observed death knell.