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February 4th, 2024 01:31
15 R4, battery woes
Alienware 15 R4
My original battery was giving me problems in my 4 1/2 year old laptop. It would suddenly drop from ~30% to ~7%. Battery Report said 64,627 remaining of 98,998. Replaced the battery with an aftermarket from Laptop Battery Express and re-pasted while I had it apart. The new battery charged fine but would not let me start the laptop. When I tried to boot on battery, the laptop would shut down as Windows started. Tried calibrating it numerous times. Thought maybe a bad battery even though Battery Report said 96,079 of 98,998. Bought a second battery on Amazon from Tevelmick and calibrated it. Boots fine, but the sudden drop from ~30% to ~7% is back. Battery Report is good and HWiNFO64 reports 2.9% wear level. Another thing, Windows will report battery level at say ~1%, but HWiNFO64 says it’s ~20%.
What I’ve tried:
-Flashed BIOS to 1.20
-Reset Windows 10
-Updated ALL drivers/updated through Dell Support Assistant
-Updated ALL Windows updates
-Ran ePSA
-Ran sfc /scannow
-Ran chkdsk /r
-Ran chkdsk /f
-Ran Windows diagnostics- Windows Repair
-Updated/Reinstalled Microsoft ACPI - Compliant Control Method Battery in Device Mgr numerous times
-Calibrated battery numerous times by draining to 5-6% then charging to 100%
I’ve done exhaustive searching for answers. Nothing has worked. Many websites recommend using only a genuine Dell battery, so I ordered one today for $150. Didn’t want to spend that kind of money on a battery. I will report back on my findings with the OEM battery. I am replacing the CMOS battery too while I’m at it
Anyone have experience with this situation or thoughts?
observing
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February 13th, 2024 14:04
I also have an 15 R4 and I've replaced the battery twice since purchasing the laptop in 2019. I replaced the original battery after approx. 18 months when I was getting about 10 minutes on a full charge. The replacement lasted less than a year before it did the same thing. I did some research and found that some people thought that excessive heating of the battery shortened its life. In an attempt to reduce the heat on the battery, I bought a mesh stand that tilted the laptop, allowing more air under it where the fan could draw it in. So far, that has extended the life of the third battery to where I'm still getting approx. 4 hours on a full charge.
midironman
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March 3rd, 2025 18:17
Ok, finally found a fix for this. I replaced the CMOS battery and reset the BIOS to default settings. Not sure which one worked because I did both at the same time. This was a long and frustrating issue and glad it’s working again.
midironman
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March 5th, 2025 00:20
Well, issue is back. I think I might have an issue with the motherboard. I've tried everything.