[Raine]

I have an older Compaq Armada 3500 that I take to school and use when at home and don't feel like being in the study... for some damned reason it's not charging anymore... the battery's good... checked the basic power settings in windows and everything looks good... don't know how to get into the bios so is there anything I can check in windows to see if something's been turned off/disabled?

[darkpuppet]

There aren't (or shouldn't be) any settings that would disable the charger from working.

how many times has that battery been discharged and charged?

lithium ion batteries get at the most, about 400 charge/discharge cycles. The carbon they use for the anode (or cathode..can't remember) deteriorates over time from the heat cycles of charging/discharging.

cheap Li Ion batteries, like the ones used in the notorious 1st gen ipods wouldn't even last a year under constant usage. (I've noticed lion batteries dying in my motorola v600 because I charged it every day.. better to let it die right out before charging if it's constantly used, otherwise, keep it fully charged).

If the battery is under 5 years of age, and under that 400 charge/discharge cycle, there could be other issues with the laptop hardware itself that you may not be able to fix. But I honestly think it's the battery that's toast.

[OAC_Sparky]

Raine,Sep 15 2005, 12:04 AM Wrote:I have an older Compaq Armada 3500 that I take to school and use when at home and don't feel like being in the study... for some damned reason it's not charging anymore... the battery's good... checked the basic power settings in windows and everything looks good... don't know how to get into the bios so is there anything I can check in windows to see if something's been turned off/disabled?
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If you go into the "power settings" item in the control panel, it should tell you if it "sees" the battery. That will at least tell you if the battery is seated properly in the laptop.

I have a Toshiba, so I can't tell you for sure about the Compaq, but most laptops if you power up holding the F1 key will give you an error message with a "Press ths soandso key to enter setup" ie the Bios

In my experience though, the in-laptop charging setup is independent of the bios or Windows, because it charges even though the computer is off.

IF the battery is seated properly AND the laptop sees it AND the adapter is ok you may have a hardware problem internally with the charging circuit inside the laptop. Also try cleaning the contacts with a Q-Tip and rubbing alcohol.

How are you sure the battery is ok?

[OAC_Sparky]

Dammit DP, I'm chasing you around. :lol:

[bluetoy]

I'd try cleaning the battery contacts and the computer contacts as well. Use a pink eraser it works just as well as anything else and works better than you'd think

[paolo]

if that doesnt work, let me take a look at the Battery.. I have a Cadex Battery Analyzer machine @ work, and can test if your battery is up to capacity or if its below or failing. If it tells me its below, you need to replace the battery.

[2001 ZTS]

Sounds like user error to me.

[D-Dub]

red means bad, green means good ;)