Main battery
Any laptop computer has a battery pack which provides power to the laptop while it’s not connected to the wall-plug through AC/DC power adapter. Laptop batteries come in many different shapes and they are model-specific.
The laptop battery life depends upon many conditions and circumstances: screen brightness, intensity of running programs, the temperature of the working environment, etc…
The same battery could last longer in the same laptop if you optimize the power usage settings in the control panel. You can lower screen brightness, reduce CPU processing speed, chance cooling method, and other settings available on your laptop. Some of these settings could be changed only through the manufacturer’s power management software.
In most laptops the main battery connects directly to the system board.
TROUBLESHOOTING LAPTOP BATTERY PROBLEMS.
Let’s say your laptop stopped running on the battery power. It works fine from the AC adapter but shuts down as soon as you unplug the adapter. If that’s the case, try reconnecting the main battery. Remove it from the laptop and install back. It’s possible the battery is not making good connection with the motherboard.
Unfortunately, the only reliable way to test the main battery is replacing it with another known good battery.
If the laptop cannot detect the battery, even though it’s installed, try replacing the battery with a new one. If you still have the same issue, most likely there is a problem wiht the system board.
Need spare parts for your laptop?
If you are looking for spare parts for your laptop you can find brand new and used parts here. Just search by the part name and laptop model.
November 27th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Using exclusion principle I can find out what in a motherboard can/could be blamed for draining the battery. The problem is to find some schema/spects of my motherboard and the test points. So, I guess, with a multimeter/voltimeter I can figure out who to blame. Thanks anyway.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Luis Rakkan,
There are many different components on the motherboard. I cannot tell which one is draining the battery.
November 23rd, 2009 at 11:51 pm
quote: “The battery is connected directly to the motherboard, and it drains the battery even when the laptop is off” , can you explain why and/or what in the motherboard uses the battery when the laptop is off, please? Thank you.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Hi! First, Thank you for answered my question. I turned the power off, turned off the windows (and ubuntu) alerts when the battery is low to make sure that it goes to 0%, charged back (ubuntu shows that it’s 100% full and the designed energy that it can hold is the same (a little ABOVE) of the normal. So, I tested it again: got to work and took off the battery from the laptop. I’ve put it back and… 100% full. Now, after some couple of hours with it completely sure that linux is turned off (no leds on, no device attached to any USB ports, etc), the battery is at 97%. Changed the place of it, ambient temperature is ok (checked the manual), so, I’m really lost. Anyway, if you want/need more information to make some kind of “debug” of my machine I can send you some pics of the main battery place and the battery itself. If you don’t have time, I’ll understand, your site is very busy. Thank you again.
October 10th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Luiz Rakkan,
The battery is connected directly to the motherboard, and it drains the battery even when the laptop is off. It’s normal and happens with any laptop.
Is it normal that your battery loses 10% of charge after 4-5 hours? Probably not. I guess the battery is getting old and doesn’t hold charge as it used to.
Here’s what you can try. Charge the battery 100% and unplug the power adapter. Use the laptop as normal until the battery discharges to 0%. How much time does it take to drain the battery while using the laptop? If the battery doesn’t last for a long time, apparently it’s time to buy a new battery.