[Gllug] laptop battery problem

[Mark Williams]

On Monday 26 Mar 2007 20:08, salsaman wrote:
> salsaman wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I have a laptop which seems to be overheating, so I have decided to
> > send it back for repair. On further investigation, it turns out that
> > the overheating is most likely related to the battery. If I leave the
> > laptop switched off but plugged in overnight, then in the morning it
> > is very hot. If I leave it not charging, then it has cooled down.
> > Also, if I leave it plugged in whilst using it, then it gets very hot.
> > However if I keep unplugging it so that the battery is always slightly
> > undercharged, the heating problems don't occur.
> >
> > The other thing I notice is that, even after leaving it plugged in for
> > a night, the battery display never shows 100%, it is always something
> > like 70%.
> >
> > My theory is that the battery is getting fully charged, but the
> > machine is not recognising this, and is trying to keep charging it,
> > which leads to the excess power being dissipated as heat. The PSU is
> > rather large on this machine, and it also gets very hot - which
> > somewhat confirms my theory. This is a recent problem, the laptop is
> > almost 3 years old (so the warranty expires soon), and the problems
> > have been happening over the last 6 months or so.
> >
> > Before I send it back though, I was wondering if it could be the fault
> > of the operating system. Is it possible that Linux is misreporting the
> > battery charge ? How could I possibly check for this ?
> >
> > Any suggestions/advice appreciated.
> >
> > Gabriel.
>
> Sorry, my mistake - I just checked, and the battery does indeed show
> 100% when it is fully charged.
>
> Gabriel.

It isn't one of the exploding Dell / Sony ones is it? Dell had a list (sorry I 
don't have the link - I got it via BBC News site..) which they will replace 
for free.

My Dell (which isn't) tends to run quite hot as well, I presume this is a 
change for yours?

Mark

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