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Question

Laptop says "plugged in, not charging" then dies

Mar 14, 2018 9:20PM PDT

Hello everyone. I have a Lenovo Z50-70 (about 3 years old) and I am currently having some weird power issues. What is happening is that while the battery is in, it will randomly read as "plugged in, not charging." While this happens, the battery slowly drains as if it's not plugged in at all, and then the computer dies without warning. I have replaced the power port recently due to some broken wires and because I thought it was causing the problem. However, after putting a new one in, the problem still persists. My charger is also pretty new. I can run the computer endlessly if I take the battery out, so it does not seem that the AC adapter or the power port is the issue. I also uninstalled my battery, and then rebooted the computer so that it would reinstall the software. No change. So I am thinking that perhaps if I buy a new battery, this problem will be solved. However, I figured I would seek some advice here first. I don't want to spend my money on a battery only to find out that there is some other cause.

Some other background info is that I first noticed this problem when the hinge to my computer came undone. It was moving around and cracking open the case to the computer. I noticed that there was a missing screw, so I simply replaced it. However, I could tell that there was still something wrong with the hinge. Around this time I also started facing some power issues. So I opened up my computer to have a look inside. There is a flat metal piece that screws into a board, keeping the hinge in place that had come loose. I re-secured the hinge and replaced the power port as I noticed that it had a couple wires broken near the head. I was able to fix the hinge issue just fine, but there are still power issues. I do believe it to be the battery, but I know there are some wires near the hinge and I don't know what those do. If they got damaged at all, maybe they could be the issue? That's pretty much the only reason I felt the need to explain this part as well.

Anyway, does anyone know what could be causing this problem and if buying a new battery would actually help (or other potential solutions)?

Thanks!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The news is grim.
Mar 14, 2018 9:31PM PDT

Because the maker doesn't publish schematics the fix is as you suspect. You replace the broken parts and if that fails replace the suspect board. If the power jack was broken, then we replace the board first.

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PS. If you research this
Mar 14, 2018 9:32PM PDT

You often read about the ACPI item in Windows but this DOES NOT APPLY here since Windows is not running yet.

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Answer
Good chance this will work.
Mar 19, 2018 11:19AM PDT

I had a customer have this issue today and after looking on here I seen the same issue over and over but, no resolve (Didnt really look all to hard)
As I had assumed, it turned out that it was the age old head scratcher, static build up.

With laptops having the internal batteries, its a little harder than it used to to disperse it but all you have to do s open up the case to where you can reach the battery connecter and disconnect it, also unplug the charger as well- There should be no more power going to it. Next while being powerless, hold down the power button for 45 seconds to a minute to disperse the static build up. Plug the battery back into the mother board, and the charger back in and see if it says "Plugged in, Charging" and if so put your computer back together and enjoy! if not, good luck mate!

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The "static" claim is urban lore.
Mar 20, 2018 10:44AM PDT

There's a solid reason why this works. But it's not static. Please folk, don't propagate the myth about static. It's a form of reset built into laptops, phones and other devices.