You may have plugged in your Dell laptop in some instances, but the battery isn’t charging as expected. Honestly, if such hppens, it can prove to be a very frustrating experience. In this scenario, there are various steps you can take to troubleshoot the problems on your laptop without heading to a repair shop. In addition to this, Dell laptop batteries may experience significant drain in a short amount of time, which could be caused by either existing hardware problems or software-related issues. In this write-up, we shall focus on how to resolve common Dell laptop battery issues.
The simplest answer is often the right one
If you have plugged in your Dell laptop, but the machine is not charging, the problem may be the power cord or the Dell laptop battery. This mostly happens if the laptop’s battery is older than its counterparts, which leads to the battery discharging faster than expected. These days it is easy to find Dell laptop batteries at online stores, but this means you should ensure the current battery’s voltage specifications match those on the new one exactly. The average third party Dell laptop battery costs roughly $70 to 100 dollars.
Power cords also tend to act up after extended periods of use. The good news is that it is easy to obtain a replacement power cord from eBay or Amazon for only +/- $10. As always, the most important step is to check your Dell laptop’s model number, which would guide you to the appropriate replacement power cord.
Understanding why your Dell laptop battery is draining fast
Aside from old and discharged batteries, there are various reasons why Dell laptop batteries drain faster than usual, including:
- You may have changed your laptop’s settings, which leads to fast battery drainage
- A large number of background processes
- Faulty drivers accompanied by many peripherals attached to the laptop
- An increased number of Internet and network connections
- Heavy apps, including game apps, do drain the battery resources fast
- The Dell laptop’s system may be set to high brightness
Overheating batteries
Overheating could be the reason why your laptop is plugged in but not charging. This problem is extremely common in older model laptops that are not equipped with today’s best cooling technology. If you like to watch movies on your bed or couch, the cooling vents are usually blocked and may cause your Dell laptop battery to overheat. As an extra measure, you can check the air vents and clear any obstructions that may be present.
Update your laptop’s drivers
Most Dell laptop users are running Windows software and can check in the Device Manager located in the Control Panel. Navigate to the battery section and check if the drivers are up to date. Once you finish updating the battery drivers, restart the machine to see if the problem has been resolved.
If none of these methods fix your problem, the only other option is to visit a repair shop or contact technical support.
Conclusion
Many Dell laptop users have run into problems with their batteries draining faster than normal at some point. This could be caused by old batteries, overheating, bad settings, or using the laptop while on the bed or couch. To avoid this, one should take good care of their device batteries.
