Dell Inspiron battery "problem" ?

Do you have the correct charger in use? A too low voltage or current can be enough to charge the batteries but not enough to be sensed.

Same charger it came with when I got it a year ago.. everythings still good on it checked for cuts etc...

Dell has one, two, and three year limited warranties . . . depending. If you purchased as small business, you probably got 1 year with in-home (third party agent) repair (which is mostly over-the-phone repair). Since your warranty is about to expire, or has recently expired, you should contact Dell quickly. Very likely they will be willing to help you to diagnose the failure, if any, and probably replace as needed. It would be a good gesture to offer to share a little in price of parts if needed (they would turn you down of course).

Can you run it without the battery pack? Maybe the bad batteries draw more power than the charger can deliver.

I would contact Dell and replace the batteries.

I am replacing the batteries and the charger (Dell Latitude) as well to match with the new better performance batteries.

Are the contacts clean? Have you taken the battery out and measured the voltage with a voltmeter or multitester? How old is the computer, and is this a recent problem?

Important test as requested by poster #3, remove battery, plug in mains unit and switch on, does everything work correctly now, if yes, the battery is defective, if no, the power supply or the laptop is defective.

The problems are usually caused by running on the mains and leaving the battery in, it just ruins the battery!

Either unplug the mains and run the battery down to say 50% before pugging back in, or just remove the battery when working with the mains only....

I have NEVER see a Laptop battery and charger that worked perfectly in this area....maybe there is one somewhere, but do not bother asking me, it cannot be that difficult to my mind!!!!

I had the same problem with the same unit and found that it was in the connector in the computer. Itried a new power supply - no help. I had to hard wire the power supply to the computer to get it to work. The Geeks at Best Buy told me that it was a typical problem with that model and I sould contact factory for repair info. good luck

Before you spend money replacing the battery or adapter brick you may want to have the notebook checked out at a repair shop. It sounds like the power management components (diodes, triacs or something like that) on the motherboard may have gone bad. I just went through the same thing with a Compaq Presario. The local shop said the only fix was to replace the motherboard (about $500). However, I found a shop in Florida that will repair a motherboard for a flat fee of $150. Contact me if you would like the contact information for that shop.

Bill Morrow

www.support.dell.com/

...and keep your fingers crossed. Dell support is no longer what it once was (reputed to be); and that goes especially for laptops. As a consequence, Dell support can become quite expensive quite quickly...that is, unless your time and effort is worth nothing to you.

Your question is not clear; but, since the laptop cannot tell you that "it's not plugged in" (... only if 'the battery is charging'), then it must be assumed that you are being told that the battery module is not connected...and, by inference, that the battery cartridge might not be latched in it's computer receptacle. This is not uncommon since moving the machine around on the lap and such can sometimes cause pushing against the latch and disengagement of the battery module.

Disconnect AC adapter, first from wall then from computer.

Turn computer over and unlatch and remove battery module.

Check battery contacts inside receptacle and clean/bend contacts to ensure good contact.

Insert battery module into computer battery receptacle and press firmly, ensuring that the latch latches securely.

Turn computer over and turn on.

Check battery status.

Connect AC adapter to computer and then to wall.

Check "battery charging" status. (You might also want to turn of the machine and let the battery charge for and hour or so and then check again.)

Another point:

You say your battery depetes in an half hour, which seems quite soon under normal operation...even for a 3-cell battery. One wonders if the battery might not be in need of replacement...in order for power management to work as per design??