Dell Vostro 3500 - Battery Idle, AC Adaptor Not Installed

Question

Hi,

I recently purchased a secondhand Dell Vostro 3500. When I first received it, it seemed to be fine. But my son turned it on yesterday and although the laptop turns on with the AC Adapter plugged in, the battery is at 0%.

I checked BIOS and the Battery State is Idle. The AC Adapter says not Installed.

I've tried upgrading to the latest BIOS, I've tried uninstalling the ACPI Driver. To no avail.

The health of the battery is good. and I've disconnected it and reconnected it from the motherboard. I've ran the computer with no battery installed with just the AC adapter and the laptop powers up.

I've read that downgrading the bios is an option? Is this something I should try as others with other models have had success with this.

Also I've opened task manager and the processor is currently running at less than 1ghz.

The seller has offered to give me a new battery, but I really don't think this is the problem . He hasn't had this problem, and it was a problem that just appeared suddenly.

This laptop was a gift for my son, so I'm hoping I can try and get this resolved ASAP for him.

Any help would be appreciated,

ejn63 · Answer

It's not the battery -- if the AC adapter is unrecognized, the system will run but the battery will not charge. The fault is either with the adapter, DC jack or the mainboard itself.

CrazyRach82 · Answer

Are there any steps I can take to test these issues? obviously apart from getting a new charger. How could I test the DC jack and the mainboard. Also my bios says its currently at 1.27.1. Is this the correct bios for my laptop and would it be worth downgrading it to see if it solves the problem. Thanks

(edited)

ejn63 · Answer

Your best option is to return the system to the seller, but no - there's no real test other than to try another OEM Dell AC adapter to see if it's recognized. If it is not, replace the DC jack in the system. And if that doesn't result in a recognized adapter, the mainboard needs to be replaced.

CrazyRach82 · Answer

OK, so I've managed to get it working. Gave the charger a really good wiggle, it started to charge and shows up in bios at 65w and charging normally.

I presume this means its either the adapter or the DC jack, both of which I can easily replace. If thats the case, I'll go ahead and order the parts.

Mike1788 · Answer

@CrazyRach82​ Probably a damaged DC Jack, the charger tips tend to not fail unless obviously damaged physically with the black ring and/or the center pin severely bent or missing. The DC Jack tends to crack, removing tension from the center pin contacts which results in it not recognizing the Adapter and refusing to charge while running extremely slow. Dell has great PDF service manuals and replacing the Jack is <$10 and easy enough for anyone to manage if you use some common sense and care removing the bottom cover and not overtightening the screws. Your 3500 shares the Jack and a ton of other components with a lot of other 13-17' Dell laptops from within a few years at least. The Jack will probably have an obvious break in the black post with the two tiny copper contacts inside where the pin inserts, while the Adapter can pretty much be ruled out by comparing your tip to a picture of a new tip online.

CrazyRach82 · Answer

@Mike1788​ Hi, Yeah it turned out to be the DC Jack. The jack had a silicone sort of edge which had corroded and the wires were showing. Seems fine now anyway. Thanks for your help everyone, just glad I managed to get it working again.

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Dell Vostro 3500 - Battery Idle, AC Adaptor Not Installed

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