Power Supply problem?

[Attis7]

Hello all,

A few days ago, my laptop battery display showed that it was no longer charging. My first thoght was a charger related issue, so I switched off the laptop (after battery drained and was at 7%).

First I checked the charger fuse, which seemed to be working fine. Then I went to a local shop and tried a couple of new chargers on my laptop. It didn't seem to be charging. I decided it was a power supply/motherboard issue.

I plugged in my charger (just out of instinct) and switched on my laptop to backup some data, etc. before servicing it. It switched on normally, and the battery showed 7%, I was in a hurry to transfer some data to the cloud/harddrive, as it turns out the laptop kept going despite being at 7%. I managed to use it for more than an hour, now I started to think it was a driver issue/display issue. So I looked up some threads and uninstalled the Lenovo Power manager and tried rebooting my computer. I couldn't switch it back on. Now I'm confused as to what he problem is.

- Is it a power supply issue relating to motherboard?
- should i get my charger checked throughly?
- was my battery showing incorrect amount of charge left?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The servicing costs are ridiculous, so id like to make sure before I give it away.

 

[VincentP]

Most likely explanation is the power supply (or charger as you are calling it).
If these are not putting out quite enough voltage the laptop may run off this supply but cannot charge.
The laptop also looks for a signal from the power supply and this may not be working. This signal is why non-genuine power supplies may appear to work but not charge.
Note that you could remove the battery and run from this supply forever if you want.

Second most likely thing is the battery. Laptops batteries typically die after a year (right after the 12 month battery warranty).

If it is the power supply or battery, you can just order these yourself without taking it to a shop.

Third option is the laptop itself. This is worse case scenario because the laptop must be opened. The circuitry for charging the battery could be on the motherboard.

 

[Attis7]

Most likely explanation is the power supply (or charger as you are calling it).
If these are not putting out quite enough voltage the laptop may run off this supply but cannot charge.
The laptop also looks for a signal from the power supply and this may not be working. This signal is why non-genuine power supplies may appear to work but not charge.
Note that you could remove the battery and run from this supply forever if you want.

Second most likely thing is the battery. Laptops batteries typically die after a year (right after the 12 month battery warranty).

If it is the power supply or battery, you can just order these yourself without taking it to a shop.

Third option is the laptop itself. This is worse case scenario because the laptop must be opened. The circuitry for charging the battery could be on the motherboard.

What are the intidcators that it could be a motherboard related issue?

- I tried running it without the battery, with the AC supply alone. The laptop would not switch on

Could this indicate a motherboard/circuitry issue?

 

[VincentP]

Maybe, but my first guess would still be the power supply (charger).
Sometimes there are warning on boot or in the BIOS if the battery is failing.
When you tried another power supply, was this a genuine supply from your manufacturer or a knock off?
Were you able to try your power supply with a similar laptop?

 

[Attis7]

Maybe, but my first guess would still be the power supply (charger).
Sometimes there are warning on boot or in the BIOS if the battery is failing.
When you tried another power supply, was this a genuine supply from your manufacturer or a knock off?
Were you able to try your power supply with a similar laptop?

The ones I tried were the Universal adaptaers (aka cheap knockoffs). I still have a warranty on the machine, so I'll drop down and check whether it works with the manufcaturer's charger.

Finger's crossed its just a charger issue and not a motherboard issue, the laptop is only about 2 years old.

 

[jarotech]

Hi, what is the model of Lenovo you have? The problem could be the DC jack.

 

[Attis7]

Hi, what is the model of Lenovo you have? The problem could be the DC jack.

Heya there, thanks for the reply

I have a Lenovo Y580. It was working perfectly fine, didn't drop it/no damage. Suddenly stopped charging, couldn't get it to charge again or run it on AC, without the battery.

 

[robertdknight]

I'm having the exact same problem with an HP TouchSmart tm2 laptop. Started same timeframe as Attis7. Ordered new power supply, but doubt that's the problem. I have two HP batteries that I regularly swap out and two HP power supplies. Either power supply will fully charge either battery but will not power the computer (with or without batteries installed). Frustrating.