Intermittent Laptop Won't Power On Sometimes?

J

jackz4000

New Member
Over the last couple weeks my trusty Dell D600 (5 years old) has acted strangley when I press the Power Button to power up. Never had this problem before. Sometimes it will not power up although the battery is good and the AC is good. I will try it 5 ot 6 times and no power on. The green light on the power button will light up very dimly and the thing won't power on.

Then if I leave it plugged into the AC and come back in 10 minutes--it will power on just fine with a strong green light on the power button and boots up fine. Last night that didn't work, but this morning it did.

I get a feeling that something is going bad. Any ideas of what it is and if it is fixable? Thanks, JK
 
Well, with being on AC most of the time, those batteries will still take quite a hit in their usefulness. If you are going to be on AC for an extended period of time, you should remove the battery.

Will the computer power up at all without the battery in?

And, do you have a spare power supply? You could have a weak power supply if it has been in constant use for several years.
 
Yes, I leave the batteries in when I'm on AC power. You think I should remove the battery when on AC?

No, I don't have a spare power supply, maybe mine is dying out?
 
Yes, when operating on AC for an extended period of time, you should remove the battery to prolong its life. Most laptops operate by drawing power from the battery constantly, if it is installed. If you are running off of AC, you are constantly charging the battery.

While you are running of AC, and thus constantly charging the battery, the battery will heat up and stay hotter than under normal conditions. Most computers are set to run at greater speed or less power conserving modes when connected to AC. This will typically cause the whole machine to generate more heat. A hot battery will age faster.

Have you tried powering the computer without the battery yet? If it boots normally, that can mean that the battery is going bad and drawing too much power from the power supply. It could also mean that the power supply is going bad and is unable to both power the computer and charge the battery. Or, it may be a combination of both.
 
Thanks Zatharus, With the laptop on I removed the battery and shut down the laptop. Then I pressed the Power On button and it immediately came to life and booted up. I did this twice. Not like how it has been recently behaving. I'll keep the battery out and see how it goes. I had thought when I was on AC that the battery did not supply power to the laptop except if the charge was low.

My laptop is on AC at least 90% of the time. I guess I'll just let the batteries discharge and only put them in to charge when I anticipate that I will be using them. I'll see how this works this week. Thanks again, JK
 
My local computer guru (a friend) just got back to me. Agreed that I should keep the battery out when I'm on AC. Said my lappy probably has "electrical fatigue" and is on its way out. Thanks, Jk
 
My pleasure Jack. I concur with your friend's assessment.

You may want to pick up another power supply if you plan on keeping that laptop for much longer. Having a spare is not only handy, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is on its last legs as well.
 
He's talking about the power adapter, the cord that plugs in from the wall socket to the laptop.
 
Hhhmmm. Ok. I did pick-up a new one around 2 weeks ago since my old one the wire seemed to be looking beat-up.

I'm now wondering I got this one on Ebay. Specs are OEM for the Dell D600, but it is not the Dell one? I think I'll try my old one and see what happens.

Last night I tried to Power ON with only the battery (charged)and it would NOT Power On.

Right now it is working fine on AC with my new Ebay AC power supply. But once I put a battery in--it doesn't Power On and the green button lights are very dim when I try. Cheers, JK
 
OK. As long as it will boot from that power supply, you should be fine. From what you were talking about before, it sounded like you were just using the original one.

Yeah, that sounds like the battery is toast. If that is the original, 5-year old battery, then it most likely has been dead for 3-4 years now with the usage pattern you described. Most likely what is happening is the battery is drawing too much power from the power supply. You should recycle it. It is probably in bad enough condition now to be dangerous to have plugged in.
 
Ok. It could be I have fried my batteries or maybe just one of them? They had both been reading 100% charge with 2.5 hours of use. Thanks, Jk
 
No, no storms. Later, when I have some time I'll try my other battery, swap power supplys etc and see what happens. I'll let you know...Jk
 
I've tried a few different things and here is what I found out. The Dell works fine with both my new and old power supply and no battery. And it works fine with my spare battery I seldom had in the computer.

But, the older battery which was usually in the lappy for years while I was usually on AC is the problem and I guess it is fried and done.

So, since I'm usually on AC I'm going to keep this battery removed and only use it when I expect I'll use it--which should save this battery the fate of the fried one. Maybe put it in to charge/discharge every couple months, Thanks again, JK
 
Glad to help jackz4000.

Yeah, recycle that old battery. You are spot on for the charge/discharge every few months, too.
 
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