Solved! Laptop shuts down when I unplug the power while watching movies

[ole.sandberg]

I've searched the forum and many others. I've found many threads with people having the problem that their laptop shuts down when they unplug the power chord but none with my specific problem. My laptop (an Asus UX31, Windows 10) does not do that every time, but only when I'm watching a video - which makes me think it is related to either the power setttings or the graphics card or something like that (I'm not an expert on these things).

Description of problem: If I unplug the power chord while a movie is playing the laptop shuts down instantly - no shutting down process but goes straight to off (as if it had no power at all). I can turn it on again by pressing the power button. It does not happen if I pause the movie first and then unplug. It also does not happen if the movie is playing while the laptop is on battery. Only if the movie is playing while the laptop switches from plugged in to battery.

I guess I can live with pausing a video before unplugging (although sometimes the chord accidentally gets unplugged) but I'm worried it is indicative of further issues. It is a refurbished laptop, newly bought, still under short-time warranty, so I need to know if it is a simple problem I an fix or whether I need to take it back.


Further issues: This may be relevant too. The laptop is running fine on battery for hours but when it gets low (around 30%) it also shuts down immediately (like the problem above: no shut-down process, it just goes dead), and when I turn it on it shuts down again when I get to the login screen. When I plug it in it works fine. My guess is here that it is a problem of battery calibration: That the battery is really at zero while the laptop thinks it is at 30% (the laptop also never gives me a "low battery" warning). I've seen that described here, and I've done the battery callibration process (charging it fully, letting it run down fully, re-charging it). I don't know if that is resolved as I have not used the battery down to that level yet (but when I recharged it I could see it had gone dead on 14% instead of around zero).

Do I need a new battery? Or is a worse thing like faulty wiring or hardware? Or is it a simple issue that I can fix myself?

Update: It just did it even though I was *not* playing any movie. Only thing open was a browser. I unplugged and the laptop shut off. This did not happen the last few days. Now I'm worried.

 

[stevenjemint]

I would suggest you buy a new battery, try it when it arrives. If that doesnt solve the problem then you can send it back.

 

[webworkings]

I second that. Sounds like a bad battery.

 

[ole.sandberg]

You might be both right. But can you tell me how that works? The battery is charged and the laptop can run on the battery (at least until it gets below a certain level). It just shuts down the computer when I unplug it. After that, it can start up again on battery.

To me - who have no knowledge about these things other than what I can find on the internet - that indicates a problem with the electrical connections (either the socket or wiring between the hardware) or something. Do you really think merely replacing the battery can fix this?

If so, I will ask them if they can do that (and if they can't, I will reluctantly return the laptop).

 

[stevenjemint]

it seems to be struggling with switching over, like there's a lag or something. When you're playing a video its demanding power, when you unplug the charger it momenterilly does not get the power it needs to run and thats why your getting a shut down. Also when you pause the video as you said, then remove the charger cable, as the power demand is lower it seems to cope ok with that.

i dont know enough about laptops to say whether the problem is battery side or laptop side but as i said the easiest way for you to find out is replace the battery. if that doesnt work send the battery back and get a new laptop (if its enough of a problem to warrant it).