Laptop battery RMA

[steved]

I bought a laptop in November, and the battery has stopped charging properly (it charges until about 80% and then claims it is still charging but gains power incredibly slowly - my OS has been reporting that it will be fully charged in 25 minutes all day.

Anyway, this isn't right and it's only 10 months old so I am looking to RMA it before it's too late. However, the battery isn't listed as a returnable component on the RMA site (unlike, bizarrely, the NIC).

I'd hate to RMA the whole thing since I need it for work - I can live without the battery for a little while, but without a laptop is a little more taxing. Where should I go from here?

 

[keynes]

I bought a laptop in November, and the battery has stopped charging properly (it charges until about 80% and then claims it is still charging but gains power incredibly slowly - my OS has been reporting that it will be fully charged in 25 minutes all day.

Anyway, this isn't right and it's only 10 months old so I am looking to RMA it before it's too late. However, the battery isn't listed as a returnable component on the RMA site (unlike, bizarrely, the NIC).

I'd hate to RMA the whole thing since I need it for work - I can live without the battery for a little while, but without a laptop is a little more taxing. Where should I go from here?

I think the battery is only covered by warranty for 6 months, you won't be able to RMA under warranty. You may need to buy a spare one.

 

[ubuysa]

It may just be that the battery state of charge and the (rather crappy) battery charge indicator in Windows are out of sync. Your battery may be ok.

To re-sync (and test) the battery, recharge the laptop for 24 hours with it switched off. Do not use it at all during this time.

After a 24-hour charge unplug the power cord, switch the laptop on and boot Windows. Go into the power options and disable sleep and hibernate and any screen savers so that the laptop will remain on all the time. Also in power options ensure that the Battery Low level is set at 10% and the action is notification only. Ensure that the Critical Battery level is set to 5% and the action is shutdown.

Now leave your laptop switched on, you can use it normally during this time but do not plug in the power cord. Let the laptop run until the critical battery level shuts it down. If it runs for more than about 3 hours your battery is fine.

Now recharge the laptop again for 24 hours with it switched off. Do not use it during this time. After this second 24-hour charge the battery state of charge and the Windows charge meter will be synchronised again.

See whether that helps?