Something happened to my MacBook which caused the battery to swell, and I had to ship it out for repair two days ago. I was told it will be at least two weeks before I get it back, and that’s the best case scenario. In the meantime I’m having to use my dads laptop, which being Windows based is bad enough, but it’s randomly shutting down for no apparent reason. So I’m hoping someone can help me figure out how to resolve this.

The laptop is an Acer Aspire 5740-5255 with Windows 10 Home, and was plugged in when it randomly shut down. I noticed when I hover over the battery icon it says “0% available (plugged in)”, and if I unplug the power supply from the laptop it instantly shuts down. Also, my dad said the battery lasts only about ten minutes.

Can someone tell me how to determine the cause of this issue? Or is my only option to replace the battery, power supply, etc until the issue is resolved? :-(

Thank you in advance to anyone who responds!

 

Sounds like the factory battery is dead or dying; the laptop is shutting down because the laptop is drawing more power than the charger supplies = the battery runs down to 0% and the computer shuts down.
Normally, the battery will THEN start charging again, and you repeat the cycle.

1) switch to ethernet and shut down wifi (if you can) to save power
2) hit windows-key then type in "T A S K" and then run task manager as Administrator to shut down every unnecessary program you can.

 

I had a laptop that was acting like that, and I had to replace the battery since it would not work with a bad battery even if it was plugged in.

 

If the battery has an internal short (bad cell), it may be drawing power from the A/C adapter. Try removing the battery and see if that makes a difference.

 

There's a 50/50 chance that will work.

 

Haha... All my advice is 50-50. It's either going to work or it's not.

 

Hey..... even the weatherman is right half the time.

 

I agree with other responses... Battery issues. Battery needs charging or needs a new battery.

I'm not sure if you have tried it yet but, try leaving the power cord plugged in for an hour or so & see if it will charge the battery enough to run the laptop while charging the battery to full charge. If not, then it needs a new battery.

Good luck.

 

Yea, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

I agree it's the battery. Possibly a bad charger connection at the battery.

 

I ordered a replacement battery, which delivered yesterday, but I'm not too sure about it.

My dad let me use his multimeter to check the charger, and motherboard pins. Both checked out, so I ordered a new battery, and it definitely helped. The new battery is taking a charge, so the laptop no longer turns off at random or when I unplug it. But the new battery only lasts about two hours on a full charge, and that's when the laptop isn't even in use.

Is it normal for a battery to drain so quickly?

 

Did you order this battery direct from Acer? And is it considered an OEM exact replacement?

 

That's about usual for the cheaper replacement batteries available online through Amazon or Ebay.

 

Unfortunately batteries are hit and miss these days. There are a lot of cheap ones that barely work - and some better ones, but unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to tell the difference.

You may also want to try calibrating the battery (technically calibrating the battery charging limits). I haven't done it on an Acer, but if you google 'Calibrate Acer Battery', you'll find the process that involves charging and discharging the battery once or twice. This will better display what level the battery actually is and might get some more usage out of it.

 

I couldn't find an original anywhere, and ended up ordering from Amazon.

I rarely use the laptop and did order from Amazon, but expected at least a couple hours of use from a full charge. Instead it only lasts a couple hours in sleep mode or one hour of light use. I did at least a half dozen recharge cycles in the first 24 hours and the manufacturer says it will last up to 500. So at this rate its life expectancy is less than 3 months.

I did, and what I read said to charge it fully to 100%, then discharge to 2%, and repeat the process three times. So unfortunately the times I've been referring to are as good as it gets.

In the meantime, I've had to have all the fun of dealing with Amazon support who sent a replacement but after going through the same process the results were the same. After receiving the first battery I did notice on the product page there are two areas that list the devices the battery is compatible with. The laptop is listed in one but not the other, so I contacted the seller multiple times for confirmation, and they responded but refused to answer.

So as of now UPS is scheduled for Monday and I'm supposed to return both. But I'm trying to decide if I want to return them and be done with it since the laptop is rarely used, or if I should keep one 'just in case' since another battery won't likely be any better.

 

In my opinion, you have one of two issues related to battery life.
1) the processor is a power hog or,
2) the batteries you bought are of poor quality.

Now, first, you could have a little of both problems.
If its the processor, you're just kinda stuck with what you have. However if its the batteries, you can try another brand form another source on Amazon. I'd do a little research on both. You can check reviews on the laptop or the processor if you want to do a little digging to find out what processor is in it. Then you can check the reviews on the batteries.... both, the ones you bought & any other ones you can find on Amazon. You also might try a battery store like Batteries Plus or something similar.

Good luck....