Blinking LED for the battery on a laptop?!

[JKgo]

....Okay, just now one of two LEDs my laptop has started blinking in orange. A quick googling tells me that this only happens when there is less than 10% charge remaining in the battery, but the thing is, I've got it plugged in to a wall socket and the Windows tells me there's 89% remaining. What the....?!

Is this something I can ignore, or do I need to somehow McGuyver it??

 

[TenEightyOne]

Could be a problem with the AC power supply itself. Try a different one (if you can get your hands on one) and see if that's the problem.

 

[Grayfox]

What brand is the laptop.

 

[JKgo]

Could be a problem with the AC power supply itself. Try a different one (if you can get your hands on one) and see if that's the problem.

...Will do. The power supply isn't an OEM - that one "blew" up after a power outage a while ago. The one I'm using is a.... non-standard product, but hasn't given me any issues until now. But wouldn't be the first time things go wrong all of a sudden, so I shall check it out.

What brand is the laptop.

It's an Asus X550 series or some such....

 

[Rallywagon]

Hah, I half expected it to be a Dell.
Probably a similar issue, especially if you are using a chinesium knock off charger. What happens with Dell chargers is that there is a little metal pin the in middle. It's like a little comm's pin I believe that relays info about the battery and the charger. It monitors voltage, battery yemps, etc. Without it, the charger won't work properly. Its a pretty easy pin to bend and break.
Sounds like you probably need a new battery, charger, or both. Always, always! get an OEM battery and/or charger. They cost more, but actually work, and will last longer than a chinesium knock off.

 

[JKgo]

Hah, I half expected it to be a Dell.
Probably a similar issue, especially if you are using a chinesium knock off charger. What happens with Dell chargers is that there is a little metal pin the in middle. It's like a little comm's pin I believe that relays info about the battery and the charger. It monitors voltage, battery yemps, etc. Without it, the charger won't work properly. Its a pretty easy pin to bend and break.
Sounds like you probably need a new battery, charger, or both. Always, always! get an OEM battery and/or charger. They cost more, but actually work, and will last longer than a chinesium knock off.

...Wow, didn't know that. I tried to find an OEM charger but failed to do so. And to top it off, the local Asus dealer even told me that he'd never heard of the model I own. I did some Googling and found out the charger was shared between a few Asus models but it turns out, mine was the last of the so-called last-gen notebooks and Asus no longer makes them.

It's what you'd call a near-perfect storm of unfortunate events. Heck, I can write a Black List-worthy script with the length of trouble I went through to find a correct charger for this baby...

 

[Rallywagon]

I completely understand. One of the nice things about Dell's is that their chargers are highly universal. Especially current and last gen laptops and their port replicators/docks.

 

[AOS-]

I noticed my Asus K550LD had a blinking LED as well the other day. I thought the battery was dying, even though it was still at 86%.

I followed someone's post on things to do:

1) Power off laptop.
2) Unplug battery and plug. Hold power button for 20 seconds.
3) Plug in charger and power on laptop. Wait until it gets to login screen.
4) With the laptop still powered on and plugged in, reinsert the battery.
5) Wait like a minute or so.

If the LED doesn't stop blinking, there's some more trouble shooting steps to take, but IIRC, they all lead to "replace the power adapter cable".

 

[Grayfox]

IIRC asus chargers use the same DC Barrel jack.

 

[JKgo]

I noticed my Asus K550LD had a blinking LED as well the other day. I thought the battery was dying, even though it was still at 86%.

I followed someone's post on things to do:

1) Power off laptop.
2) Unplug battery and plug. Hold power button for 20 seconds.
3) Plug in charger and power on laptop. Wait until it gets to login screen.
4) With the laptop still powered on and plugged in, reinsert the battery.
5) Wait like a minute or so.

If the LED doesn't stop blinking, there's some more trouble shooting steps to take, but IIRC, they all lead to "replace the power adapter cable".

...Yeah, I read that on a website as well. But I'm utterly clueless when it comes to.... uh, doing handy stuff and didn't wanna break the laptop any further than it already is... For now, I'm keeping the notebook plugged in at all times. It's not ideal, but I just can't find a window of time to take it to a shop.

 

[AOS-]

...Yeah, I read that on a website as well. But I'm utterly clueless when it comes to.... uh, doing handy stuff and didn't wanna break the laptop any further than it already is... For now, I'm keeping the notebook plugged in at all times. It's not ideal, but I just can't find a window of time to take it to a shop.

Those steps I mentioned cannot possibly be that hard to follow. 2 of those steps are things you already know how to do, pulling the battery really isn't that much more difficult. I suggest trying that before giving up so easily.

 

[JKgo]

Those steps I mentioned cannot possibly be that hard to follow. 2 of those steps are things you already know how to do, pulling the battery really isn't that much more difficult. I suggest trying that before giving up so easily.

...Well, for one, I have to undo the entire bottom plastic bit off the laptop first - and I've got no clue what I might encounter in there and end up inadvertently knock that thing out of place. As I said, I'll just need to find a time where I can do something with the laptop - whether that is to take it to a shop or get started on the job of mending it.

 

[AOS-]

...Well, for one, I have to undo the entire bottom plastic bit off the laptop first

Stop for a second. Your laptop shouldn't require disassembly to take out a battery.

edit: Here's a video of an Asus X550:



1:07 Guy even says "removable battery"...


There are two clips on the bottom end (little pictures of a padlock and an unlocked padlock ). Set both ends to unlock and take out the battery, and proceed forward with the troubleshooting steps I mentioned.

It's really not as sophisticated as you're making it sound. It's about as complex as changing the battery in a TV remote and pushing the power button. You can do this. I honestly don't think you should pay someone to take out a laptop battery. It's only 2 minutes of your time.

 

[JKgo]

Stop for a second. Your laptop shouldn't require disassembly to take out a battery.

edit: Here's a video of an Asus X550:



1:07 Guy even says "removable battery"...


There are two clips on the bottom end (little pictures of a padlock and an unlocked padlock ). Set both ends to unlock and take out the battery, and proceed forward with the troubleshooting steps I mentioned.

It's really not as sophisticated as you're making it sound. It's about as complex as changing the battery in a TV remote and pushing the power button. You can do this. I honestly don't think you should pay someone to take out a laptop battery. It's only 2 minutes of your time.

...Mine's slightly different from the version shown on that video. There's no panel that can be opened on mine. I need to completely unscrew the bottom panel in order to access battery, HDD, memory, whatever.

 

[AOS-]

...Mine's slightly different from the version shown on that video. There's no panel that can be opened on mine. I need to completely unscrew the bottom panel in order to access battery, HDD, memory, whatever.

Good luck then.

 

[TenEightyOne]

...Mine's slightly different from the version shown on that video. There's no panel that can be opened on mine. I need to completely unscrew the bottom panel in order to access battery, HDD, memory, whatever.

Bloody hell you picked a good'un

You should still be able to remove the lower case without problems. Nothing's fastened to it - just go slow, take your time, it'll be fine!