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So! We have an Acer Aspire, model number PEW76. (The red model, 17 inch screen.)
Just for some basic background info:
Laptop is running Windows 7 with no problems. It has been refurbished and the graphics card changed to a dedicated graphics card (as opposed to the Acer standard integrated).
Recently the laptop has stopped charging the battery from the AC adapter while the computer is powered on and running. To be clear, the computer:
1. Cannot run on AC power alone (with the battery removed). However, the other Acer in our home (same make and model, without the dedicated graphics) can.
2. ONLY charges the battery when the computer is powered OFF and shut down.
3. Only partially recognizes the AC adapter while powered on and running.
a. The software (battery icon) does not recognize the charger. The software shows that the battery is not being charged, no "AC adapter connected" icon.
b. The hardware (the indicator light on the side of the laptop) is showing that the AC is plugged in. The light blinks orange when the AC adapter is plugged. It SHOULD show a solid orange light when the AC is plugged. When the battery is fully charged, the light is a solid blue. On the other Acer in the house, this remains accurate (solid blue for charged, no light while the battery is discharging, solid orange while the battery is charging). No blinking orange on that laptop, ever.
4. We have tried:
a. Removing the battery entirely and running on AC power (doesn't work).
b. Using the AC adapter that is working with the other Acer laptop (doesn't work).
c. Removing dust and debris from the chassis, and checking the fan, as well as monitoring core temperature. (Reads at 50-60 Celsius, which did decrease by 10-20 degrees after dusting.)
d. Exchanging the battery in the non-charging laptop with the battery in the charging/functioning laptop, which is the same make and model. The battery from the non-working machine works fine in the other machine.
e. Using the non-working machine's AC adapter with the working laptop. (The AC adapter charges the working laptop just fine.)
f. Updated the BIOS software to 2.14 from Acer (identified as a potential source of the issue.)
g. Reset and updated the device drivers related to general power, battery, and AC power.
We're running out of ideas. I can't think of anything that would cause this except a motherboard issue. This laptop was purchased from Tiger Direct right around Christmas, 2011, so it's not all that old. The laptop DOES work, the real problem is that it only runs for 3 hours before needing to be shut down so the battery can charge again (which is SUPER annoying).
We're not computer idiots and we do have friends who can help. Right now we're trying to decide if we should just scrap the current laptop for parts (or try and take a part from the working Acer to replace what MIGHT be broken on the newer machine, because that one has the dedicated graphics, which it would suck to lose).
Right now we are working on dual-booting from Linux (Ubuntu) to see if that will help us isolate a problem.
Does anyone have any idea what might cause this? It just doesn't seem to make much sense. As far as we can tell, it looks like a software or hardware problem that is NOT the AC adapter itself or even the DC connector port, since the battery charges when the laptop is off. I thought maybe it could be a voltage/current issue but that would only be so if it were the "wrong" charger or a replacement charger, and testing the AC adapter with the working Acer laptop shows that the current amounts are correct since the AC adapter charges that laptop without issue.
We're just stumped.
Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Laptop troubleshooting forum: Help with a strange laptop power issue? Thanks!
by: Chicobo April 7, 2012 10:37 AM PDT
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Total posts: 4 (Showing page 1 of 1)
Warranty issue?
by MarkFlax 
- 4/7/12 12:34 PM
In Reply to: Help with a strange laptop power issue? Thanks! by Chicobo
I am not an expert but from your post I see you have done everything I would have tried, except the Ubuntu test. A very good step by step description of the testing you have done.
As a matter of interest, how do you think running Ubuntu will help diagnose the problem, and more importantly, does it? Have you seen anything that is helpful?
Since this Acer is only a few months old, rather than scrap it for spares, have you thought of returning it for warranty repairs?
One other option that I have seen mentioned in these forums before, but not specifically for this problem, is a hard reset. System closed down, battery out, charger disconnected, then hold the power button down for 60 seconds. It does not affect the OS. Battery back in, adapter reconnected, then power up.
But whether that will solve the problem I am not at all sure. I know that laptops have software for the charger not associated with the OS so it is something to consider. If that fails, it does point to a hardware problem, and that is where the Acer warranty steps in.
Mark
Not sure if there's a warranty left :(
by Chicobo - 4/7/12 3:15 PM
In Reply to: Warranty issue? by MarkFlax
Hey Mark!
Thanks for the input. I try hard not to be the kind of person who lists some vague problem and then the people who respond say, "well, did you plug it in?" and I have to answer, "uhhh, no." LOL. Helps having friends who work with tech.
I was thinking (and I haven't done this yet, so don't quote me) that the Ubuntu run might show if this is a hardware issue, as opposed to perhaps a software corruption somewhere in Windows. If that's true, Ubuntu in my experience is less fiesty about deleting files it "thinks" are important. Windows hates when you mess with it, so sometimes things that are wrong can't easily be fixed. Honestly? I'm probably just grasping at straws.
The problem as I see it is that I got the laptop as a refurb, and the warranty was limited. I can't remember the precise details, but I am a law student so certainly in a worst-case I can take a look and see if I can't get some warranty work done. But I think that the warranty was something like 3 months on refurbs unless you paid another $200, which at the time I sadly didn't have. I should have waited until I could afford more, but I actually don't work, so "earning" more money wasn't likely. Long and short, I took a risk to try and help my b/f out because his old comp had bricked. We do have (luckily) two laptops here, including one Acer of the same make and model that just has a broken screen. So there's a chance that we could have a friend take a peek and see if we couldn't combine the two Acers to make one working laptop, silly as that sounds 
I'll look into the warranty, though! I tried the hard reset, actually, but only did it for 30 secs (I had an HP that had that reset issue and sometimes carried residual charge in the battery pins, I think?) so I will try again at 60 secs if you think that might make a difference?
Thanks for the help, it's very much appreciated. This might be among the weirder problems I've ever seen in a laptop, but I'm a humanities person so my technical knowledge of computers is sort of limited to "need-to-know" and personal curiosity.
Thank you!!
E
Ahh, I missed that and I bet you're right
by MarkFlax - 4/8/12 5:25 AM
In Reply to: Not sure if there's a warranty left :( by Chicobo
On a refurb the warranty period may well be a lot less, 3 months or so, and you're likely just out of it. Isn't that typical?
Might still be worth a try though, both with Acer and Tiger Direct. At worse they can only say No, but they may be able to tell you what the likely cause is.
I like the idea of trying Linux and I can see why you suggested, but other than that, all I can suggest is purchase another adapter and battery from Acer, (no 3rd party ones will do as some of them can be dangerous), and hope this is not a hardware problem.
Hopefully others here might have better ideas.
Mark
Total posts: 4 (Showing page 1 of 1)
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