Battery Stated as "Plugged in, Not Charging"

I've been having an issue which started this morning. The previous night, I forgot to plug in my Dell Inspiron N5050 after using it. I woke up to find that my battery had died (obviously). I plugged in the laptop, running Windows 7 HE 64 bit, and turned it on. It booted normally and I was able to do all of my tasks as needed. Then I noticed my problem. The battery icon down on the taskbar showed that the device was plugged in, but was not charging. It has stayed at a constant 2% charge for more than 24 hours now. The Battery Meter stated that my battery is performing normally, so I ruled the battery out as the cause. The adapter I am using is the default one that came with the laptop when I bought it, and it appears to be functioning normally as well. What could be the cause of this incident, and what can I do to fix it?
 
Most likely you have a bad battery. Dell has had whole series of batteries that they shipped out in a not fully functional state. I have an HP laptop (about 8 years old now) that the battery took a "steamy one" and it will no longer charge properly. You can try this trick (it may not work, but worth a try because did work for me a couple times): power down laptop and take the battery out for 30 minutes; replace battery and plug in charger but do not power on; wait 4 hours of charge and power on. I had it work a couple times that it gave a full 100% charge. Again, if it doesn't work then sorry, but at least you tried.
 
Most likely you have a bad battery. Dell has had whole series of batteries that they shipped out in a not fully functional state. I have an HP laptop (about 8 years old now) that the battery took a "steamy one" and it will no longer charge properly. You can try this trick (it may not work, but worth a try because did work for me a couple times): power down laptop and take the battery out for 30 minutes; replace battery and plug in charger but do not power on; wait 4 hours of charge and power on. I had it work a couple times that it gave a full 100% charge. Again, if it doesn't work then sorry, but at least you tried.
30 minutes is a bit lengthy. He should just let it sit for like 1 minute or even 30 seconds for the temporary memory and what-not to clear.

I think Spykez might be right, it could be a bad battery. Before going out to replace the battery though, try unplugging the power adapter from the computer and plugging it back in, that worked for me when my laptop did the same thing.
 
Didn't work. Dang. My Dell Battery Meter reports the battery as "performing normally," though, but how reliable is that?
 
288s1z6.jpg
Took a screenshot of this. What does this mean?
 
If the PC runs with the charger (indicating power is being produced), but the battery will not charge, then it IS the battery failing to recharge.
 
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Replace the battery. The posted chart is clear. Battery is fully charged and it has only 1 minute of use left...
 
If you never used the battery and let it discharge down to almost empty at least once every couple of weeks, it shortens the battery life to less that 2 years. Laptop batteries need to be "exercised" this way to last 3 or 4 years. In any case the battery is shot...
 
The reality is "Dell software says it's ok when in fact it is not".

BTW: It is extremely rare that consumables (ink, batteries,..) can ONLY be obtained from the original vender.
If you fall for that hype, then you will pay extra. Search for "Dell laptop battery model xxx" and insert your pc model.
 
Is it true that it only runs for 1 minute on battery power? If so you need a new battery. That may not be as straightforward a purchase as you might expect because a Dell battery is likely to be silly money. Tread carefully because I found that with Sony Vaio laptops they pre-installed spyware called "Battery Checker" that immediately shuts down the laptop if a non-Sony third party battery is installed. Thankfully Sony are now out of the computer business. Hopefully third party batteries for Dell laptops don't have a similar problem.
 
Is it true that it only runs for 1 minute on battery power? If so you need a new battery. That may not be as straightforward a purchase as you might expect because a Dell battery is likely to be silly money. Tread carefully because I found that with Sony Vaio laptops they pre-installed spyware called "Battery Checker" that immediately shuts down the laptop if a non-Sony third party battery is installed. Thankfully Sony are now out of the computer business. Hopefully third party batteries for Dell laptops don't have a similar problem.
@bazz2004, I have a Sony Vaio laptop & would like to know how to see if mine has a "Battery Checker".
 
Battery Checker is Sony Utility software and runs when Windows boots so you'll find it included in Control Panel - it can be uninstalled. I think it works in the same sort of way that some printers reject third party ink cartridge replacements.. The battery/cartridge is chipped so that the hardware rejects any non-proprietory replacement. If you look on eBay you'll see that some batteries require a bios change before they will work in a Vaio laptop. Others will for example not work with Windows 7. If you are aware of these complications buying a replacement battery for a Sony Vaio is not so hard. The one I bought was a fraction of the price of a Sony and works well but the Battery Care function is greyed out so it's not possible to set a different charge level. I threw the original battery away but if I hadn't I believe I could have used it to reset the Battery Care charge level. Battery Care and Battery Checker are different utilities. One's good and the other's nasty.
 
Well my little experiment showed that it was just that battery. My brother's had worked fine. Any suggestions for replacements?
 
I had a trawl through the eBay listing for Dell laptop batteries, not looking for any particular model, and was struck by the reasonable prices and absence of warnings over incompatibilities with certain OS's or the need to use a CD to update the BIOS. What a contrast with Sony. I'd go for a specialist supplier of laptop batteries and check their feedback. Email them first if you have any worries.
 
Just a FYI.. Allot of guessing.. I have same problem.. changed Battery and Charger and Computer still says 'Not Charging' on Power Icon on Bar... Need so real Tech here??
 
The motherboard charging circuits have probably fried... New motherboard or laptop is needed. HAPPY Halloween! No tricks
 
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