Replacing Laptop Battery - Dell D630 Laptop

williacg

Morning all,

Apologies in advance for my ignorance, I've never replaced a battery on a laptop before, and so not sure what to expect / what is normal.

Anyway, after ongoing problems with the battery running down, I have bought a new one, and closed down and disconnected all cables before putting the new one in. Having just switched on again, the Power Meter is reading at 48% and charging. The old battery, before taking it out read 62%. Can I continue to use my laptop while it fully charges, or do I have to switch it off for a particular length of time or any other procedures I should follow?

Many thanks for your advice and patience.

Williacg

rich13348

Just use it as normal. Batteries will never be full power when they have been disconnected and shipped.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

as you have it plugged in, I would think you will be using mains power, whilst battery charging.

williacg

Thanks Rich and Frugal for your responses,

It's plugged into the mains, I was just unsure whether I should be using it while it's charging the new one, and roughly how many hours / days can it take for it to finally return to 100%?

Williacg

[Deleted User]

Hi,

what's the meter saying now, it was 48% two hours ago, it'll give you an idea.

williacg

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

what's the meter saying now, it was 48% two hours ago, it'll give you an idea.

It's still on 48%, is that normal?

rich13348

No that probably wont be normal. Dell's can be tricky they don't like non standard batteries or chargers. Was the battery a OEM Dell part?

williacg

rich13348 wrote: »

No that probably wont be normal. Dell's can be tricky they don't like non standard batteries or chargers. Was the battery a OEM Dell part?

The meter is still at 48%.

I did not buy it directly from Dell, I purchased the battery from Ebay, the details are as follows:
"Brand new unopened DC764 TD175 for Dell Latitude D620, D630, D630C, D630N and D631"

Is there anything else that I can try before I have to take it into a pc repair shop, as I don't want to leave it until the Power Meter drops any further?

Thanks for your help.

GunJack

shut down lappy, disconnect from power, remove battery. Hold down lappy power button for 1 minute. Reconnect power lead. Switch on mains socket and power up lappy. If this works, the power jack in the laptop is ok.

Next, power down lappy and reinsert battery and power up lappy. If this doesn't lead to normal charging, the likeyhood is that either:-
1. battery is duff or
2. charging cct in lappy is duff.

take it from there....

williacg

GunJack wrote: »

shut down lappy, disconnect from power, remove battery. Hold down lappy power button for 1 minute. Reconnect power lead. Switch on mains socket and power up lappy. If this works, the power jack in the laptop is ok.

Next, power down lappy and reinsert battery and power up lappy. If this doesn't lead to normal charging, the likeyhood is that either:-
1. battery is duff or
2. charging cct in lappy is duff.

take it from there....

Hi GunJack,

Followed first set of instructions, and laptop came on fine, no problems, on completing your instructions, the meter reading remains the same.

Have placed a message with battery retailer regarding the matter, asking for their advice, I'll see what they come up with.

Thank you for your advice.

Williacg

Oblivion

In the system tray (bottom right of the screen) you should have a battery icon. Hover the mouse over it and it should say if it's on mains AND charging. If it doesn't say 'charging' it probably isn't. Also if it's charging this is usually indicated by the battery icon pulsing from empty to full.

As has been said, Dell operate a policy of not cooperating with non-Dell replacements. I think it's appalling but they seem to get away with it. If you've purchased from ebay you've probably got a cheap lookalike which your Dell laptop refuses to recognise ... it may even be a scam product.

I made the mistake of buying a 'Dell' mains charger for my lappy off Amazon. It looked well made and identical to the failed Dell product it was replacing. But when I plug it in a message pops up saying the charger is not a recognised Dell product and that the laptop will now operate at reduced speed! Very annoying.