Gateway Laptop NV7915U - New battery problems

Good Morning!

I have a gateway NV79 laptop, 4 yrs old.  Went to Batteries Plus for a new 11 cell battery.  I installed it on the counter in the store, booted it up and it worked.  shut it down and went home to drain it down to 10%, plugged it in, charged to 100%.

shut it down and waited til it cooled, rebooted and it would not charge. 

shut down, removed the battery, rebooted, in Device Mgr I uninstalled the battery, shut down, installed the battery, rebooted and the laptop reinstalled the battery in Device Mgr.  It then charged the battery successfully.

I unplugged the laptop, drained it down to 10%, shut it down, let it cool, rebooted, plugged in power, let it charge.

I did this drain, cool down, charge cycle 3 times as per the instruction from the Batteries Plus salesman.

Yesterday morning the battery icon was normal.  I went to work, came home and booted up after dinner and I have a red X on the battery icon.  It tells me there is no battery detected.

I shut down last night and rebooted…if I unplug, the lap top shuts down.

It seems like the laptop no longer communicates with the battery.  What happened?  It was fine all day saturday and sunday.

Please advise!!  I have enclosed a pic.

Darlene Pirozzi

i too have this problem

sounds to me like it's either a bad connection between the battery and pc or you are unlucky and got a dud battery, personally i'd take it back and show the sales person, get a replacement battery and hope everything works fine with the 2nd new battery.

read this, don't do that charge, discharge cycle with the new battery it's not good for it. :- http://batterycare.net/en/guide.html

don't download anything from that site either, nothing is needed to care for the battery, the link is just for information.

probably a better link :- http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/taking-care-of-your-laptop-battery

Good evening!!

I came home from work expecting to battle with my laptop.  I unplugged it, turned it on…expected it to not boot,……much to my suprise….the lap top has found the battery and it is running on the battery……

nothing has changed.  No one has touched this laptop during my day at work.

Good thing I took a pic this morning…you might think i'm nuts!

dar

After a  smooth 30 min after I booted up..now I have 0% and NOT charging..but i'm plugged in.

After it shut down and the screen went black, the powerlight button flashes red..normally a steady blue when on.

I got a black screen with white letters telling my battery reached a critical point, but I had 3/4 charge…I don't get it.

I also showed I should run repair and I did that…have no clue what it did.

Now I have zero % battery.  After dinner I may take the battery out and check it for dust….then start all over.

dar

sounds like a bad battery to me, after a day on charge there was enough power on it for a short time use before it was dead again, i'd definitely take it back and ask for a replacement.

i assume everything works just fine with the battery out and just connected to the ac adaptor, proving there is nothing wrong with the power output from that?

I called the store after dinner last night, the man there suggested I bring my laptop and charger in.  I did that.  Of course, it was Wild Buffalo's 60 cent wing night next door, and the drunks were out in full force and in the store…..

when it was my turn, he asked me to turn on the laptop, unplugged…..it started to boot, then died.  He had to finish waiting on another customer and I asked him to plug it in, and I rebooted.  when it did, I had 67% battery and charging…..not what I had at home…0% and no battery detected!!

The salesman came walking by and said, ok - I seen what it did, I'll replace it.  Turns out they didn't have one in stock, and he is going to call me today when one from the south hills store comes in today.  I can go back and exchange it and the story goes on!!

I had a gut feeling it was the battery, but ya never know…there might of been something I needed to tweek on the laptop.

Dar

just don't do that charge /discharge routine 3 times with the new battery it really doesn't need it.

fully charge it then use it without plugging in the ac adaptor until it shuts itself down then plug in the adaptor and fully charge it.

it doesn't have to be used continuously until it shuts it's self down, you could take a few days to discharge the battery.

the reason to do that charge/discharge once is just to calibrate the charge indicator to the battery.

after that i'd suggest never letting it run down low enough so it shuts down the laptop, personally i'd keep it nearly fully charged at all times unless your out and about with it and there's no where to charge it.

HI

thanks for the advice!  I appreciate it!!!

the replacement was in so I took the laptop, power cord and receipt back to the store.  I got the standard lecture that it is RARE to have a battery be bad.  And that if this battery reacts the same way, then bring it all back and we will help you.  Most likely, it's not the battery! I said, well, I had no problem with this laptop until I bought your replacement battery.  I will let you know1

I booted her up, and the battery icon recognizes the battery - no red X, no plugged in and not charging, no 0%.  Knock on wood.

will keep yenz posted!  thanks for your help!

Dar

The red X is back..says no battery is detected…..

is there a trouble shooter for this??  I can't find one!

dar

Ok - this is wierd.  different than the last battery……

I rebooted.  It starts out charging.  and the battery icon has a white line that goes up and down. If I hover the mouse, it says ti's plugged in and charging.

then it flat lines..still white…and wait for it…it comes.. the red X appears.  And as I type alone. the red x goes away, and it's flat white line does not move, but the red x is gone.  Now it is back.

this one comes and goes.  As I typed this, the red x is gone, and the white line is going up and down like it is charging….

Is there a trouble shoot for this???  any diagnostic I can run???  I'm confused.

This gateway laptop came with a 6 cell battery.  I bought an 11 cell battery.  Could this be my problem?  Is this gateway only able to handle a 6 cell battery.?

I"m so befuddled.

dar

Hello is there anybody in there?

What a cycle.  I shut down.  I took out the battery.  I put it back in and pressed hard.  I rebooted.  this battery had 57% charge…..so why the no battery?

Is it possible this Rayovac replacement 11 cell battery isn't making good contact?  I have 65% (plugged in and charging)  the white line is NOT moving up and down as before and it is charging…I even have a % - something I did not have before.  so far so good…it's got 66% now….but will it last?????

Anyone got any ideas here?

dar

the charge no charge thing sounds like the ac adaptor connection is loose or not making good contact at all times, so does that only happen when your moving the laptop/using it on your lap yet if you keep it still on a table top it will charge continuously without problem?

try running it completely without the battery plugged in, just off the ac adaptor and see if it shuts down unexpectedly when in normal use, be that on your lap or table top this would then more or less prove the ac connection is dodgy and sometimes doesn't make good contact at all times.

no the 11 cell battery won't make any difference compared to the 6 cell battery, just means it takes longer to charge and will last longer in use than your old battery.

what battery monitoring software have you installed on that laptop? it does sound like there is at least 2, one where there's a moving charging icon and one where it just shows the icon with charge amount. i'd remove any all battery monitoring programs you may have installed yourself and see if that makes a difference maybe they are conflicting with each other and causing conflicts when trying to read the battery charge level.

yes it's definitely possible the battery isn't making good contact and why it sometimes shows as disconnected with the red x.

no sorry there really isn't any troubleshooter you can run to easily tell you exactly where the problem is.

see if this helps :- http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/window-7-home-premium-a-small-little-red-x-on-the/bea7651c-7fa8-4e60-887a-e8d3e40e3513

Good Morning!

thanks for the reply!

I have not installed any battery monitoring software.  I have never opened the battery compartment ever, until I bought the new battery Saturday.  The power plug is tight, there is no movement.  The laptop is always on this table, I rarely move it unless I'm taking it to do a seminar or travel.  I do however, unplug it from the wall when not in use.

Last night the last thing I did was to shut down, remove the battery and reinsert it and press hard on it.  I rebooted, and it started to charge and showed 57%  available (plugged in and charging).  By the time I shut down, it was charged to 72%, I shut it down, and left it plugged into the wall socket so it could continue to charge - as the light on the laptop was flashing.  Upon booting up this morning, it had charged to 83%., it has currently charged to 94% as I type.

I do not have any more red x ( knock on wood), no just plugged in and charging without the %.

I typically do not move this laptop.  I don't use it on my lap, only on the table here in the dining room.

The battery is at 97% and so far so good…….knock on wood!

Will let you know the progress!!

dar

Morning!

I checked out the link in your suggestion and followed his link and the txt file is attached.

I can't make sense of it..maybe you can!

Dar