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If Your Original Laptop Battery Or Your New Xtend Replacement Battery Is Not Charging To 100%
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If your battery will not recharge at all, but will still discharge correctly, you are likely experiencing a problem with your charge system. Most commonly this means your adapter is beginning to fail, or you have damaged the power socket on the side of the computer where the charger plugs in. In more rare cases you could have experienced a failure in the charge circuit on the motherboard.
If your battery will discharge and recharge, but gets stuck at a percentage less than 100%, you may have a failed cell in your battery, a problem with your power management settings, or a software calibration issue
Battery Report:
Windows can generate a “Battery Report” which will show the design capacity and the current capacity of your battery. For Apple users, you can find your battery health statistics in System Settings > Hardware > Power. These two numbers will almost always be slightly different, but you will be able to see if there is a substantial reduction in capacity. If the disparity is great enough your computer will recommend that you change the battery. If the short runtime bothers you a new battery will help.
Power Management:
Some research has shown that the total service life of a battery can be extended by not fully charging and discharging the battery. In some cases, your laptop will have a power management tool that can be set to restrict the amount of charge the computer gives the battery. If your computer offers this feature it is a wise idea to make sure the settings have not been changed to restrict the charge to a lower percentage.
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Software Calibration:
There is also a chance that the computer's battery software is no longer correctly calibrated. This can be a result of swapping between batteries often, not rebooting your computer often enough or simply installing a new battery. Sometimes your laptop can have trouble distinguishing between a new replacement battery and the older worn out battery. The new battery usually is charging to 100% even though the power gauge software doesn’t correctly represent this.
Often with new batteries, the operating system is unable to correctly measure the charge in the new battery. Your battery may be fully charged, but the power gauge is giving you a false reading. This can be because of some stored data relating to the former battery. If your laptop battery is not charging to 100% you may need to calibrate your battery.
Laptop Battery Power Cycle:
- Power down the computer.
- Unplug the wall adapter.
- Uninstall the battery.
- Press and hold the power button for 30 seconds.
- Re-install the battery.
- Plug in the wall adapter.
- Turn on the computer.
If the “Power Cycle” did not help, a full “Re-Calibration” might be needed. Below are the directions for calibrating the battery software:
Note: If your computer will not recharge the battery at all this calibration will not help. This process may cause the battery to fail permanently if you are unable to recharge the battery immediately following the discharge.
Laptop Battery Calibration For Windows:
- The goal is to run the battery to zero percent, and for the computer to shut off without going to sleep or going into hibernate mode.
- Unplug your laptop from the wall.
- Change the “Power Plan” > “On Battery” > 'Put the Computer to Sleep' settings to “Never.”
- If you cannot find these settings you can turn on an internet radio station, and let it play until the computer shuts off. (This is not effective in all versions of Windows)
- After the computer shuts down, plugging in the AC adapter should be required to turn the machine back on. Once the computer starts a message will appear asking if you would like to start in “Safe Mode.” Restart Windows normally.
- Leave your computer plugged in and charge it all the way from 0% to 100%.
- Remember to change your Power Scheme settings back to what they were.
Laptop Battery Calibration For Mac:
- Charge your battery to the highest percent available.
- Leave the laptop plugged in for 2 hours after you reach the topmost charge percentage.
- Unplug the AC adapter and use the computer until it forces the machine into hibernation mode.
- Let the computer stay in hibernation mode for 5 hours.
- Recharge the battery from 0% to 100%.
If the re-calibration is performed correctly and does NOT fix the problem a new battery should correct the issue.
Beyond The Wall For Mac Computers
If your computer shuts down immediately after unplugging the AC adapter, your battery has failed completely. The most common reason this happens is that the battery ran out of power completely. If a laptop battery runs to 0% and does not get recharged right away the computer will not allow that battery to be used again. Laptop batteries have a computer chip inside each battery. This chip monitors the battery status and requests a charge from the laptop when required. The chip requires a small amount of energy from the battery to continue functioning. When the battery loses all charge the computer can no longer communicate with the battery, and as a safety precaution, the computer will not allow electricity to be sent to the battery. Without the software in the chip to restrict the flow of electricity there would be a potential fire threat, so the laptop refusing to use the battery is a safety feature. Unfortunately, this is a non-fixable state, and a new battery is the only solution.
If your original battery still charges and discharges but your Xtend replacement battery will not, the new battery may have run to 0% or it may be a defective unit. This may be an indication that you need to replace your AC Adapter. It is more difficult to charge a new battery than it is to charge an older 'broken in' battery. If your AC adapter is not outputting the correct amount of power you can run your computer, and charge an old battery, but you may be unable to charge a brand new battery.
If neither battery will recharge, you are most likely experiencing a failure in the laptop charge system (AC adapter, charge port, or motherboard charge circuit).