Battery charging problem/issue

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jbeer32

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Weird thing happened the other day. I had my laptop off the charger running on battery power for a short while. I decided to charge the battery, so I plugged it back to the AC adapter. I checked on it a couple of hours later and the charge had not moved from the 80% it was at when I plugged it in. I then thought my battery was going bad so I replaced it with my spare battery which was at only 20%. I let that sit for a few hours and when I checked on it, it also had not charged a bit. I then thought it must be my adapter. I have a few of these and tried all of them throughout the next couple of days and none of them charged either battery as well. Also, when I remove the battery with the laptop plugged in, my laptop stays on. Therefore, I feel it is not the battery or the charger so what could it be? My laptop is a Dell Latitude C640. Please help!
 
Must be the connection between the AC and battery that isn't talking.

Not sure what the solution is. If AC wasn't working at all, I'd suggest resoldering the PSU. But as it plain just doesn't charge, I'd send it into Dell. If it is under warranty, that is.

Edit: If you exhaust the battery, bringing it down to 0%, will it then recharge?
 
No, I have not tried to drain the battery 100% to see if it would then charge. Not sure what that would do. If it does not charge at 80% or 20%, not seeing why then it would charge at 0%. I have had this laptop for about 7 years so it is not under warranty. Thought someone here might be able to help me figure out what may be the problem.
 
Yeah, batteries wear overtime. It may not be able to get to 100% anymore. Be glad it's still at 80%. Or get a new battery off eBay, see if that helps. Find one with a good warranty.
 
I know batteries will eventually go but find it impossible to believe that 2 would go at the exact same time. To me it seems to be something else.
 
Both of the batteries are as old as the unit, circa 2004. Yes, I know that is a good age for a laptop battery, especially an older laptop battery, but for both to simultaneously go 'bad' at the same time screams to me something else.
 
Is not that it cannot 'keep' a 100% charge, it is stuck at 80% and stays or 'keeps' at that while plugged in. It just will not charge past that, nor will its brother stuck at 20% which also 'keeps' at 20% while plugged in.
 
Well, yeah? Meaning it can't be charged beyond 80%.

Try draining the battery for a few hours and plug the AC back in. Does it now charge up to it's newfound 80% capacity?
 
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