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Inspiron 5559: battery / AC adapter / charging issue
My Inspiron 5559, which is over 7 years old at this point but has been holding up well, developed severe battery/charging issues about a month or two ago. The battery used to last me well over two (maybe even three) hours; this decreased to about an hour and a half, then an hour, and at this point a fully charged battery will barely last me 30 minutes (coupled with the fact that while the laptop used to automatically shut down around the 8-10% mark, it now does this around the 22-25% mark).
I feel like this may be the result of some charging issues I have also been experiencing. Essentially, when I plug the laptop in, it sometimes won't actually charge (the little light that indicates charging turns on for a few second when I plug the laptop in, then goes off, and the little icon in the bottom right bar also does not indicate charging and the battery percentage does not go up). It will, however, always recognize that it is plugged in and as long as the laptop is plugged in I can always use it (I am a total noob when it comes to these things but I think that means that the laptop is being powered by the AC adapter alone rather than the battery?). Sometimes wiggling the charging cable around near the charging port will shift the laptop from this state to actually charging, or sometimes this shift happens on its own after a bit; in any case I always manage to charge it eventually. The fact that wiggling the cable / changing the angle sometimes makes a difference makes me think that there might be an issue with either the cable or the charging port, but then again I feel like if there was an issue there, then plugging the laptop in at the wrong angle would just lead to the laptop not recognizing the charger at all rather than recognizing it and getting AC power but not charging. I don't particularly mind these charging issues as I always manage to get a full charge eventually, they're just a bit annoying, but my main concern is that they might be contributing to the rapidly shortening battery life, which is a real issue (I go to college and use my laptop to take notes and do work, but my classrooms aren't all equipped with outlets in positions where I can charge my laptop and still follow the class well).
For reference here are two messages that often pop up when I plug the charger in but the laptop does not actually go into charging:
I realize that the laptop is probably just old and a soon-to-be goner at this point and there won't be a good permanent fix, I'm just really hoping to make it survive for a few more months until I finish my degree. I have another battery (that wasn't in great shape either when I replaced it with the one I currently use, but that should last me more than 30 minutes a charge), but I feel like all these charging issues are what ruined my current battery in the first place so I'm hesitant to put in the new battery and then also ruin it. I'm also willing to spend money on a new charger, just want to know if that is actually where the issue comes from before I go and buy one.
If anyone has any advice on this I'd appreciate it so so much!!
filbert
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4 Operator
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March 13th, 2023 09:00
You have multiple things happening. First, your battery is very old and likely near end of life. You can test the battery:
Open an Administrator CMD prompt (CMD, run as Administrator).
Paste this command, and then press Enter:
powercfg /batteryreport
That will show a figure for the designed battery capacity (when new) and the current ("full charge") capacity.
Regarding the adapter not being recognized, there is likely a fault with at least one of three items:
It's a process of elimination to figure out where the problem lies, or at least where it doesn't lie. For example, if your AC adapter is recognized and works on another Dell laptop, then the problem is likely your charging jack or charging circuit.
Check if the light is lit at the plug end of the AC adaptor or on the adapter block. And see if that light remains lit when you plug it into the laptop's jack.
Hold F2 while booting, to enter BIOS. See if the AC adaptor is recognized.
Try another genuine Dell AC adapter of at least the same wattage/amperage. If that second Dell AC adapter works, then the fault is likely with your AC adapter.
If it doesn't work, then the fault is likely with the jack or the circuit. The jack is a relatively inexpensive item that is not difficult to replace for someone experienced in working on laptops.
If a good AC adapter and a new jack won't work, then the fault is likely with the charging circuit on the motherboard, which would normally require replacement of the motherboard.
Since you say that jiggling the AC adapter's connector in the laptop's jack makes a difference, the fault is likely with the adapter or the jack. There is a centre pin in the adapter's plug (the end that connects to your laptop's jack/port). If that centre pin is broken or bent, then that is the cause. If it's bent, you could try gently to straighten it. If it is not bent, then something in your adapter has failed and it will need to be replaced. Parts-People sells adapters and power jack for your laptop.
Run Dell Diagnostics:
Press and hold F12 while booting to enter the One Time Boot Menu, select Diagnostics and press Enter. The Dell Diagnostics will test major hardware components.
You could also try a reset: