Laptop broken after overheating

jarhodes314

I've been having a problem with my Dell XPS 15. I bought it in July. Since then, it has started to suggest it has run out of battery when it clearly hasn't (it will hibernate and give a BIOS message saying it is out of charge if I try and turn it back on), but will show the correct amount of charge after plugging it in and rebooting (and generally won't encounter the same issue if unplugged from almost the same amount of charge).

Recently, this became a much bigger problem when the laptop "died" and I placed it in my bag, only to discover an hour later that it had switched itself on and overheated, frying the SSD inside. Since I have had some issues with the company that sold it to me taking responsibility, I started a thread in comsumer rights (I'm not able to post a link as a new user) but also thought a post here would be good to try and investigate what the fault might be. I believe the laptop should automatically turn itself off if it gets too hot to prevent exactly what happened, is this true?

Inner_Zone

jarhodes314 wrote: »

I've been having a problem with my Dell XPS 15. I bought it in July. Recently, it has started to suggest it has run out of battery when it clearly hasn't (it will hibernate and give a BIOS message saying it is out of charge if I try and turn it back on), but will show the correct amount of charge after plugging it in and rebooting (and generally won't encounter the same issue if unplugged from almost the same amount of charge). Recently, this became a much bigger problem when the laptop "died" and I placed it in my bag, only to discover an hour later that it had switched itself on and overheated, frying the SSD inside. Since I have had some issues with the company that sold it to me taking responsibility, I started a thread in comsumer rights (I'm not able to post a link as a new user) but also thought a post here would be good to try and investigate what the fault might be. I believe the laptop should automatically turn itself off if it gets too hot to prevent exactly what happened, is this true?

Spamming the forum is against the rules you agreed to when you signed up.

jarhodes314

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Spamming the forum is against the rules you agreed to when you signed up.

I understand why I can't post a link, I was simply making that clear. I was posting on this thread because I got the following reply on my other thread.

agrinnall wrote: »

Although I understand that your concern in this post is about your consumer rights, I think it would be worth posting about the technical issues on the Techie board as it might be helpful to your case to work out exactly what the problem is.

Browntoa

You need to Google and see if others have had the same problems

karcher

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Spamming the forum is against the rules you agreed to when you signed up.

I don't understand this post? What Spam?

John_Gray

karcher wrote: »

I don't understand this post? What Spam?

A better word would be "multiposting" - posting [almost] identical content in more than one forum.

jarhodes314

Browntoa wrote: »

You need to Google and see if others have had the same problems

I've tried that, trouble is I don't know how I could summarise the problem in a few words to actually find anything about a similar fault

Debbie_Savard

>Since I have had some issues with the company that sold it to me taking responsibility<

Did you buy using a CC? If so, that card company can also help

were

jarhodes314, your post is hard to read. Suggest next time you break it up into paragraphs.

There are different models, and generations of Dell XPS 15, on top of this you do not say which version of windows you are running.

XPS 15 - have you checked the bios, and is it Dell's latest from their site, and will the fixes in between cure the problem?

That on switch is under the lid, and takes a fair bit of prodding to automatically turn itself on.

Batteries can be measured in different ways, so some indicators could be misleading. Green LED push buttons on some batteries are only indicators that some charge is stored, rather than an indicator of battery's ability

Windows on power saving mode does turn itself off if no movement has taken place in x minutes, but this can be changed, and disabled too.

This sounds second hand, and 5 months have passed since purchasing.

Check the air vents with a torch and a brush with a long bristles and look for visible blockages. Also check that the fan works - air blow out of the vent when hot enough, though some do automatically come on for a few seconds when booted.

There once were Dell diags on their site, to download and then check the machine.

Dell do have their own technical forums.

jarhodes314

were wrote: »

jarhodes314, your post is hard to read. Suggest next time you break it up into paragraphs.

Ammended now

There are different models, and generations of Dell XPS 15, on top of this you do not say which version of windows you are running.

It was running elementary OS, but since the SSD is knackered it now doesn't run at all.

XPS 15 - have you checked the bios, and is it Dell's latest from their site, and will the fixes in between cure the problem?

It wasn't up to date, but it appears none of the updates since 1.2.25 address related issues anyway.

Batteries can be measured in different ways, so some indicators could be misleading. Green LED push buttons on some batteries are only indicators that some charge is stored, rather than an indicator of battery's ability

Windows on power saving mode does turn itself off if no movement has taken place in x minutes, but this can be changed, and disabled too.

This sounds second hand, and 5 months have passed since purchasing.

It was sold to me as refurbished following a reutrn during a 90 day return period. My problem is a £300 SSD that is now no more useful than a bit of plastic the same size, not the battery isssues per se, I could put up with those if I absolutely had to.

A battery lifespan of 9 months would still be pretty poor and since it was sold as "nearly new", the battery shouldn't have had much wear to begin with, and false readings can't really be put down to wear and tear.

Check the air vents with a torch and a brush with a long bristles and look for visible blockages. Also check that the fan works - air blow out of the vent when hot enough, though some do automatically come on for a few seconds when booted.

It's always used on a desk, and there was no obvious dust/other blockages when I have looked under the bottom cover. The fans are working too.

were

You still have not mentioned the exact model. On ebay put in "Dell XPS 15" and loads of different XPS 15 are out there.

Does elementary OS support trim by default? Was trim on? Did you disable automatic defrag - if there is one?

Nearly new... very subjective statement. Sat on a shelf for 3 years and not used? To be fair when I see 'Nearly new' to me it mean little cosmetic damage.... as you can't really tell besides model number, scratches and keyboard wear. Refurbished means cleaned, re-installed and tested somewhat..... and if you are lucky they blew the dust out

Batteries are a consumable item, though expensive one. If it is 90 days plus your 5 months, dell may still warranty it, though if the ssd is third party then the manufacturer may warranty this.

Working for an organization that needed xp, we (another IT team) bought 10 refurb laptops and no one immediately checked them and they sat for months. Two had cracked screens, One blank screen, two had passwords on the bios. three had no hdd, memory was mostly 2Meg, 3 had no memory, 2 had 4mb in it, and no o/s install in any (not an issue), one broken lid hinge, and then there was a few dead batteries too. Ended up getting 3 completely working without completely dismantling them, think I could have got a fourth one up and running, but it is not my area/team, and to much work for me just play about with during work time. - Buyer beware