battery wont charge

[toffeetop]

hi guys

i have a dell inspiron 6400 and i cnat get my battery to charge. the laptop works fine when taken of the mains but the battery just wont charge. it has been like this for a number of weeks now. however on one occasion when i had it at uni and pligged it in to the mains it charged up. cna anyone help i need to travel tomorrow and need the battery power badly. also the power adaptor is only a few months old althought the wire leading into the computer looks a bit frayed and cracked if this may be the prob.

thanks in advance guys

 

[Lexluethar]

If it works plugged in, but not plugged in you can be assured it is the battery. Batteries on laptops don't have a long shelf life and will only last about 2 years. You may just need a new battery. Usually you can purchase one through dell, or a third party vendor. If you are purchaing a new battery through another party make sure that it is rated for your laptop model (there are no 'univeral' batteries).