Ive tried 2 other chargers with exactly the same result and my battery is still at 3V, so Im goign to order a new battery and see what happens

thanks everyone

As in my case with the Dell, it could be the battery charging circuit or the power pack, as both batteries show current voltage close to 12v. So I have ordered a new power pack to eliminate the batteries and the battery charging circuit! It can only be one of these three components!

I have same problem with a Dell Inspiron 1545, after a couple of years the battery wouldn’t charge, went and bought a new battery to no avail, came to the conclusion it is the battery charging circuit or the power pack.

(Some) Dell's will not charge the battery if they think the power pack is inadequate. If you go into the BIOS on booting you'll see what it thinks the power supply is - if it doesn't recognise it then it won't charge.

There's a little chip in the power supply that identifies itself via the slender centre pin on the plug, if that chip is dead, or it's a non-standard PSU, or if the socket connection / electronics on the laptop have died then it won't charge.

I did once change the power socket daughterboard for someone who had bought two new PSUs and a new battery to no avail. It's a design flaw IMHO.

Thanks Phil,
When the power pack/PSU arrives sometime next week, it will at least prove that the batteries are ok, if anything, if not I will have just wasted £12.99 trying to find and eliminate the faulty part.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

In reply to a post by drummerjohn:

Certainly on first use it is recommended to discharge and fully charge 4 or 5 times in succession - manufacturers instructions. After that it is advised (again by manufacturers) that you do this cycle occasionally (ambiguous).

This too is incorrect. See here for example http://gemini-lights.com/explore/how-charge-lithium-...

No - that's an opinion of a supplier - not a manufacturer. The various manufacturers of Lion laptop batteries supply our business all state what I have quoted. So which one is wrong? The supplier or the manufacturers?

Edited by drummerjohn (Thu 20-Sep-12 10:38:37)

They could both be right for different reasons. Could depend if the intention of one or the other is to increase turnover?

Can you provide a link to this advice from the manufacturers?

[ed] I assume you made it up.

Edited by BatBoy (Thu 20-Sep-12 17:59:42)

For your information; yarwell you are spot on “There's a little chip in the power supply that identifies itself via the slender centre pin on the plug, if that chip is dead”. Perhaps it is wise to connect the PSU to the laptop first and the connect it to the mains and not the other way round, in order to protect the little chip in the power supply that identifies itself via the slender centre pin on the plug!
New power pack/PSU arrived today, connected it to the Dell laptop and the battery immediately started to charge!
Battery stats before charging with new PSU;
New battery
Current Voltage 12v 12v 12v
Designed Capacity 32560 mWh 32560 mWh 32560 mWh
Full Charge Capacity 32516 mWh 32516 mWh 32516 mWh
Current Capacity 858 mWh 858 mWh 858 mWh
Wear Level 1 % 1% 1 %
Charge Level 2 % 2 % 2 %
Old battery
Capacity
Current capacity value Min Max
0mWh nothing shown
Levels
Wear Level 17% nothing shown
Charge level 0% nothing shown
New battery
Capacity
Current capacity value Min Max
89mWh 15mWh 118mWh
Levels
Wear Level 1% 1% 17%
Charge level 0% nothing shown

New stats for new battery after 2 1/2 hrs charge;
Current Voltage 16.75v 12.72v 16.75v
Designed Capacity 32560 mWh 32560 mWh 32560 mWh
Full Charge Capacity 32516 mWh 32516 mWh 32516 mWh
Current Capacity 32560mWh 15 mWh 32560 mWh
Wear Level 1 % 1% 1 %
Charge Level 100 % 0 % 100 %
New stats for original (old) battery after 2hrs;
Current Voltage 16.76v 11.62v 16.76v
Designed Capacity 29600 mWh 29600 mWh 29600 mWh
Full Charge Capacity 24568mWh 24568 mWh 24568 mWh
Current Capacity 24302 mWh 30 mWh 24302 mWh
Wear Level 17 % 17% 17 %
Charge Level 98 % 0 % 98 %
Old battery stats refelect the 17% wear level!