Laptop charger is on the blink

faringdon

Hi,
I have a Huawei Matebook D Laptop bought a few years ago, I think in approx. 2021.
It has Windows 11 Home.
My 65W USB-C charger which i've used for years now seems to be intermittently failing.
It seems that when I fiddle with the wire coming out of the charger, the charger then starts working again.
(so its as if the cable strain relief has possibly kaputted)
But generally, the charge in the laptop battery goes right down to some 3% even when its reporting that the charger is connected to the laptop...then strangely the charger starts working again and fully charges
the laptop up. This has happened quite a few times now.
I'm pretty sure that the connection of the cable to the charger is somewhat suspect because the ON_LED (in the USB-C "plug-head") flickers when you twiddle the cable about.
But it seems strange that it suddenly starts working at full power when the laptop charge goes down to 3% or so.

I have a different 65W laptop charger (that one does look suspiciously small for a 65W mains charger). That charger is like
a "mains plug type" one.

Anyway, strangely, that one is now working intermittently aswell, even though I hardly ever use that one.
I bought that "mains plug type" charger years ago...it actually has a detachable USB-C to USB-C cable with it, in which the USB-C "Prongs"
of that cable don't seem to fit fully in to either laptop or charger.

Ive ordered a new charger from Amazon, but that doesn't come till a few days time, and the way things are going, I am not even sure
that that will solve the problem.

Do you know what's the problem?

Neil_Jones

If the issue is the same for both chargers on the same laptop the issue is most likely with the laptop and you can buy chargers until the cows come home and it won't make any difference.

I believe the USB-C charging port on this unit is attached to the board and if its broken or partly broken, while you can probably get a replacement port, it would (apparently) be what's known in the trade as a pain in the backside to do.

born_again

try another usb C cable, but would agree with the above.

PRAISETHESUN

Do the "faulty" chargers work fine with other devices? Would agree it does potentially sound like a faulty port on the laptop otherwise. Do you have the same intermittent connectivity issues when you plug in other things? (eg. USB C storage drives?)

Vitor

Check for fluff or debris in the laptop's USB-C port. A wooden toothpick can remove lint etc.

Newcad

One thing not mentioned yet is the laptop main battery. At 5-years old it may be failing and need replacing.

One of the signs of a failing laptop battery is that it won't charge, and/or if it does take a charge it won't hold it's power for long.

(I had a similar sounding issue with a 10 yo Asus laptop, after I had let the battery fully drain by mistake it would no longer hold charge until after a month or so it wouldn't charge at all. I've got a replacement but haven/t got round to fitting it yet).

PS if you are opening up the laptop to replace the main battery then it's usually* also worth changing the CMOS button battery whilst you have the case open.

*Some laptop CMOS batteries can be pretty awkward to get to, eg. in that Asus I mention it's on the underside of the motherboard, so you have to totally dissasemble the laptop and take out the motherboard just to get to it.

mta999

Not familiar with that exact laptop but if it is possible to easily remove the laptop battery then do that and plug the charger in and see if you can boot and run the system

that will tell you if it is the charger / usb port that is failing or the battery