Battery Lights Blink Orange 3 Times then Green Once

One or more of the cells in the battery is faulty.

Add another instance. Battery failure should be all orange (amber), no green.

Well, do Dell employees regularly patrol these boards? I've never used them before. If we don't get some response to this, I plan on tracking down a Dell rep one way or another (without shelling out $$$ just to speak to someone).

What answer are you looking for? The blinking LEDs on the battery and the amber/orange/red on the system power strip mean one or more of the cells in the battery is faulty. If the system operates otherwise (battery charges, etc.), replace the battery.

If the battery isn't charging, but will run from AC, that's another matter - it's a failing system board.

Looking back a few pages on the boards, I don't see anyone describing this strange pattern of the orange light blinking 3 times (or 4?) and then the green flashing once, and repeating. If I'm incorrect on that assumption, then it's a different story entirely. But the sudden influx of people having this same strange symptom, is of no coincidence. Dropping $120 on a new battery isn't the easiest solution for some people either.

Does seems strange. A friend had the same problem, but Dell replaced her battery under Warranty. It seems like a bad bunch of batteries, since neither of ours were running off the battery -- they apparently fail with age. Nice if there were a recall.

The battery indicator light on my Inspiron 5100 has also begun blinking orange 3 times, then green once. This began on July 25. It holds a charge fine, and I've tried unplugging it the power cord, plugging it back in, removing the battery and putting it back in, leaving the laptop off for 8 hours straight, etc. The blinking orange light remains.

I find it highly suspect that this would happen to so many people all at once during such a small timespan. Why would so many batteries decide to "die" like this?

Is the only solution to buy a new battery?

Message Edited by bugmenot0 on 07-27-2007 12:33 AM

The exact same thing is happening to my Inspiron. I read another post somewhere where they said that they plugged in a new battery, and it wrecked that battery. I have two batteries for my Inspiron, but now i'm scared to plug in the second battery in case the motherboard charging circuitry is breaking batteries... :/ Any word from dell on this?

I have Dell XPS M1710 and yesterday I started having same problem. My laptop was unplugged from AC and the extremely irritating blinking started. 4 orange quickly - and then 1 green slowly. It goes on even if I turn the laptop off. It only stops when the laptop is turned off and power cord is connected, but as soon as I turn it on the blinking starts again. My battery seems to charge normally, but the lifespan is reduced like 35%-40%. I just want to stop the blinking... it's so irritating I have to cover the light with cloth. I hope someone has found answer to this one.