Armada 7400 Charging/ Battery Question

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I have two matching Armada 7400 laptops for wife and self-use and both work
really well while on battery or AC power, but one does not charge
normally...it will not charge above 18%. If I first charge the problem
laptop's battery to above 90% using my other Armada it will run fine on
battery, but if plugged into AC power it acts like it's switching back an
forth between battery and AC as screen brightness flutters but it does not
actually start charging until reserve drops below 17%. If I run the battery
down to 10%, it will charge normally to 18% but no higher. The battery
charges normally in my other Armada, and both batteries that I have behave
the same way in the problem laptop. I would like to think that I just need a
nice fresh battery, but I'm not sure that these facts support such a
conclusion...Any help or ideas for troubleshooting or fix would be greatly
appreciated.

Cliff
(2)Armada PII 366 7400/128Meg/10G/WindowsXP

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I can swap AC adapters and batterys between Armadas and they both work
perfect in one, but neither batterys will charge normally in the problem
laptop. Is there anyway that both batteries could be a bit flaky, but that
one laptop is less sensitive to battery condition? Otherwise I suppose that
the problem must be on the MOBO in the charging system.

Appreciate your input.

Cliff
"Quaoar" <quaoar@tenthplanet.net> wrote in message
news:SMydnXpeSJGoiCDcRVn-1g@comcast.com...
> Cliff M wrote:
>> I have two matching Armada 7400 laptops for wife and self-use and
>> both work really well while on battery or AC power, but one does not
>> charge normally...it will not charge above 18%. If I first charge the
>> problem laptop's battery to above 90% using my other Armada it will
>> run fine on battery, but if plugged into AC power it acts like it's
>> switching back an forth between battery and AC as screen brightness
>> flutters but it does not actually start charging until reserve drops
>> below 17%. If I run the battery down to 10%, it will charge normally
>> to 18% but no higher. The battery charges normally in my other
>> Armada, and both batteries that I have behave the same way in the
>> problem laptop. I would like to think that I just need a nice fresh
>> battery, but I'm not sure that these facts support such a
>> conclusion...Any help or ideas for troubleshooting or fix would be
>> greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Cliff
>> (2)Armada PII 366 7400/128Meg/10G/WindowsXP
>
> What happens if you swap AC adapters? Does the problem also switch
> laptops? If so, its a failing adapter not supplying enough voltage. If
> not, it might be a failing power control circuit in the laptop that will
> not provide sufficient overvoltage to charge the battery or sufficient
> amperage to both run the computer and charge the battery.
>
> Q
>