Laptop Battery Problem

[cpark90]

Hey guys and gals, I've had my laptop for about 5-6 years. Its a Toshiba Satellite (i dont know the number of my head) and I have never replaced the battery so it's fairly old. The past 6 months or so the battery can only charge when the computer is off or in a low power state. If its on and plugged in it will still lose its charge unless its already at 100%. On a full charge without being plugged in it only holds its charge for about 1 hour on "power saver". This makes it extremely hard to use it as a portable device so i'm trying to find a way to troubleshoot the problem without having to buy a new battery or laptop. Unfortunately I need it for the next few months in some of my classes so its kind of urgent
I realize it is probably due the the age of the battery but I really need to find a way to fix it otherwise.

Thanks for your help!

 

[undergroundtech]

you can replace your labtop battery, its pretty old and more than likely that battery has run it's course, it happens, may i direct you to this site and good luck with it!

http/www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/findBatteries.jsp

and consider upgrading it's pretty old but if its your only option try a new battery! best wishes

 

[Pinhedd]

All batteries decay over time. Lithium batteries lose about half of their peak capacity after about 18-24 months. This is normal and there is nothing that you can do about it except replace the battery

 

[cpark90]

Thanks guys, ordered a new one on amazon. It's off brand but its $20 compared to $99 from toshiba and reviews said it worked. If not I'll send it back and get a new laptop

 

[cpark90]

Ok I got a new battery and it still wont charge.... it says "plugged in not charging", it only charges when it runs out of battery. Any ideas?

 

[Pinhedd]

If you got an offbrand one it's probably a shitty as *** battery

 

[cpark90]

I really dont think thats the reason, all of the reviews were good for it and it has the same exact problems as my toshiba battery. So i believe it has to do with either an internal problem between the battery and laptop or maybe the charger which is doubtful

 

[Pinhedd]

Your laptop has internal power switching circuitry which charges the battery when on AC. The AC adapter has nothing more than a supply terminal, reference terminal and occasionally a third terminal for communication between the supply and laptop to ensure authenticity (Dell does this). If your laptop runs while plugged in, the problem is not with your power supply, that much is certain.

Aftermarket batteries are notorious for being shitty because they're one of the few components which can be easily counterfeited.

With that said, it's possible that your laptop's power switching circuitry is defective. If possible, test the battery in another machine