Alert System battery voltage is low

Many people have been reporting this recently on new machines.  Normally the small battery on the motherboard does not run low for several years, but because there are so many reports of this problem on new systems, it sounds like mayber Dell got a batch of bad batterys.  Call Tech Support and have them send you a battery, or look in the system docuemtation and go to Radio Shack and get a new one if you are in a hurry.

Steve

ejn63,

That's really interesting.  Has Dell put out a knowledge base article on this issue?  Is the problem with surge suppressors in general or just some surge suppressors.  Is the problem specific to certain models of computers?  If it is surge suppressors in general or restricted to certain models of computers, does Dell have any suggestions on protecting a system from surges?  Any further information you can provide would be most welcome.

Steve

Dell claims the problem is caused by some surge suppressors - and that you can eliminate it by removing the surge suppressor and plugging the PC directly into the wall outlet. 

 

 

Hi

Thanks for the help on this, Dell Support responded to the question I sent them basically saying

1) Clear NVRAM

2) Reset system set up options

3) Clear System Event Log in BIOS Screen

These did not resolve the problem the next step did

4) Record the System Setup Settings

5) Remove the Battery and reinstall it

The battery must have been lose because reinstalling it appears to have cleared the problem at the moment

Regards

David

 

There have been a lot of answers to the question of the "battery voltage is low" question.  I have found out through testing that the surge protector answer is correct. There is a problem with the Belkin surge protectors that have been shipped with the most recent Dimension models. They are producing a false "low battery voltage" warning.

The only way to keep the message from popping up is to remove the computer from the surge protector and plug it into another one or into the wall. This however causes a risk to your computer as it is now not protected from surges or power failures.

I think we all need to get on Dell's case and have them ship out newer surge protectors. Remember, we were forced to buy them with the purchase of our computers.

I have same error two month ago and postet this in my own thread. I have no surge protector installed. After update my Dimesion 8300 to bios A03 error has gone.

Have you made any changes to your system? If I have installed a second IDE-cable (because of two CD-Rom-drives) and there it was: Battery low warning. I don´t think that the surge protector has to do something with the error

cutalot,
The option not to purchase a surge protector from Dell is available on the 3rd page (Select Accessories) of their online configurator. It does have the 10 outlet Belkin SurgeMaster Gold checked by default but you can uncheck that selection and go with no surge protector.

Does this apply to the Belkin Surgmaster Battery Back-Up as well??

Dell is saying do not flash the BIOS now, has flashing yours still corrected your error message?

Linda~

Hi,

I have been having this problem with my Dell Dim. 8200 for over a year. I started about a month after I bought my computer in Oct.2002. I have tried everything to fix this including changing my surge protector. The only sure fix that I've found is plugging my computer directly into the wall. I have tried a number of different brand surge protectors and they all produced the low battery warning. So it isn't just Belkin..  Lee

Have you changed your battery at all?

 

Linda~

Hello Lilly,

No, I didn't replace my battery. I just reseated it. I really don't beleive it's the battery.. It is just too strange that so many people are having this problem. Unless Dell bought 1000's of bad batteries and that so many computers going back to before 2002 are having this problem. I did buy a new battery just incase I need one but since i've taken my computer off the surge protector and plugged directly in to the wall, I've tried a number of different brands of surge protectors and they all produce the warning message , I've not had the problem again since I plugged into the wall. So I don't believe it's a battery problem but I would still like to know why these Dell computer don't like surge protectors...  Lee   Happy New year..

I changed my battery.  Dell sent me one but I did not use theirs.  I bought one at a pc store and installed it.  I am hoping that the issue is resolved with mine.  Things like this are annoying!

Keep me posted on how things go with your pc.

Linda~

Hello Linda,

I would also like to change mine, although since I have taken my computer off the surge protector, I haven't had the low battery warning again. I would like to know when you changed the battery, did you have to fix any of your setting again? Such as in the bios, did your computer automatically reset your bios settings?  Thanks for your information... Lee

My computer saved my BIOS settings except for the date and time.  I wrote down all the BIOS settings before I changed the battery just in case.  It is very simple to do.  I think you should go ahead and change your battery and keep your pc in the surge proctor as an experiment.

Let me know how it goes!

Linda~