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May 18th, 2025 21:24
m17 R4, charger will shutdown when running under heavy load
Good Day,
I purchased the said laptop Alienware m17 R4 model in 2020. For 6 years. It has run smoothly with the original power adapter of 240 Watts that was provided with it. Recently. I have come across an issue when the laptop goes under heavy load such as a demanding game or anything that begins to run the GPU beyond idle conditions. The adapter will power off and the blue LED light will turn black.
I have since replaced the 240 W adapter charger cable. The new cable works the same as the last. When used for web browsing, YouTube, twitch streamer watching and even discord conversations in a full server with multiple people and playing videos, it runs optimally. Whenever starting any game, even the simplest of graphics and older games still seems to cause the same problem.
The adapter charger will maintain function if I unplug it from the power in the wall on the outlet and then plug it back in. My laptop I do believe uses a hybrid battery system. I wonder if this may be linked to the battery as it goes under heavy load or if it may be GPU related. I have also additionally removed the bottom cover from the laptop, made sure there was nothing excessively loose, cleaned the insides and the fans of all accurd dust over 6 years with compressed air and then securely fastened it back on. The laptop still maintains to work the same under idle conditions and under regular use, but when starting any game or application that engages the GPU or heavy load, the charger continues to turn off and the laptop goes solely to battery power.
ejn63
10 Elder
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May 18th, 2025 22:09
If you haven't replaced the thermal pads as part of your cleaning, that could be an issue and should be next.
What is the remaining design charge capacity of the battery (run powercfg /batteryreport at a command prompt with admin privilege to determine that)?
KoriMyLake
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May 19th, 2025 00:04
@ejn63 The design capacity is 86,002 mWh and in the report it's remaining does reach 100% at 65,573mWh
ejn63
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28.6K Posts
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May 19th, 2025 00:18
The battery shouldn't be the issue, but it has lost about a quarter of its design capacity.
If the heatsink pads have not been changed, you may be seeing a temperature issue. I would pursue that before changing the power adapter (or implicating the other possibility -- the mainboard).
KoriMyLake
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May 19th, 2025 00:20
@ejn63 Thank you very much, I'll see about changing the heatsink pads and go from there
anne_droid
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649 Posts
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May 19th, 2025 12:17
@KoriMyLake
Hi
In addition to the excellent answer above is that it may be a capacitor issue on the main board that has failed.
I could be wrong....
"Yes, the Dell Alienware m17 R4 Main Board does have capacitors that supplement load bursts.
All modern laptop motherboards, including those in high-performance gaming systems like the Alienware m17 R4, are equipped with a range of capacitors-especially around the CPU, GPU, and power delivery circuits-to stabilize voltage and provide the necessary instantaneous current during rapid load changes."
but your detailed description does suggest strongly a capacitor loss.
KoriMyLake
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May 19th, 2025 17:07
@anne_droid Thank you for the information, I was not aware of such a part. I will certainly but that on my list to check/consider. Do you know of a way to test or take readings on that I would be able to do? Or is testing that more of a shops lane of work?
anne_droid
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649 Posts
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May 20th, 2025 09:21
Hi
It is specialised.
Sometimes a capacitor can show signs of swelling/bursting just like a battery, but now always.
Sorry to say it is likely expensive investigation work.