powerdesal Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 This is not a question about france or even anything French related.I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro L20. It fails to re charge the battery and fails totally to operate when plugged into a mains supply.The charger output is good at the specified dc voltage. My first thought was...Get a new battery, but surely it should still operate on mains, or is the mains supply input dependent on going via a good battery?Maybe some computer guru knows the answer which may (or may not) mean I dont have to drive 280km round trip to take the unit to a repair shop, only to find it is totally dead and should be scrapped.There is no mains input light on the front panel (when plugged in) and the history is that the unit was draining battery life quite quickly before the total failure.I would hate to waste a valuable weekend being sold a new, expensive battery only to find the computer was a scrapper.Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Have a read of this threadmight be some useful info for youDanny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 Thanks Danny, I will try on mains without the battery in place, fingers crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Be careful when buying laptop batteries. Often they are 'new' only in the sense that they have not been used, not new in the sense of being recently manufactured.The problem is that LiOn batteries work on a very different principal to the NiCads we are probably all very familiar with and begin to deteriorate from the moment of manufacture - whether used or not. Furthermore, deterioration can be accelerated by incorrect storage such the wrong state of charge, temperature etc., so it is not uncommon to buy a new battery which is actually as old as the laptop it is going into and find that from the word go it is already well down on capacity.If you do buy one be sure to get it from a reputable source which offers guarantees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 [quote user="powerdesal"]Thanks Danny, I will try on mains without the battery in place, fingers crossed[/quote] Tried it, didn't work.The orange power light flashed briefly for maybe 2 secs after pressing the on button, then zilch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 [quote user="powerdesal"]The orange power light flashed briefly for maybe 2 secs after pressing the on button, then zilch [/quote]Could it be the power supply? Either dead or dying or incompatible? My OH and I both have Toshiba Satellite laptops but the power packs, though seemingly identical to look at, are completely incompatible when plugged into the 'wrong' laptop. I have had to label them 'his' and 'hers'.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I have come across a few laptops which required the battery to be in at all times but I'm not sure if your Tosh is like this, it sounds as if it might be.My guess is that either the battery has gone virtually open or short circuit or that the onboard charging circuitry has gone faulty.Short of buying a new battery the only other way I can think of to prove which it is would be to find someone with the same model and swap batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 Thanks for the comments.The power supply unit is the original, checked with a meter and the correct dc output is there.Ernie, I dont know anyone with a Toshiba, the Company are all on Dell units. I guess I will have to make the necessary trip to Sharjah / Dubai and find a computer shop, Fujeirah is reputed to be cr*p for computer support. Another 280 kms to drive but, hey, the Company pay the fuel so its not all bad and I can check how this new Honda Civic performs as well.Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted November 20, 2008 Author Share Posted November 20, 2008 EMBARASSING MOMENTThe laptop problem is solved, the battery is perfectly OK.I checked the dc output quite correctly but eventually discovered that I had picked up the printer power supply unit which, whilst having the same size dc jack plug , is only a 12v dc unit and the Toshiba is a 19v dc supply. Embarassing or what? Still, the IT techie at work didn't suss it either.I did feel a bit of an idiot having driven across country to have it pointed out by a repair shop though. [:$] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Ahhhhhhhhh, love it, love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Confession is good for the soul [;-)]Just as well you didn't get it the other way round though, you could well be in the market for a new printer !There is a serious point here because some people seem to think that if the plug fits it must be the right supply, in present company I don't think I need to say how how wrong and disastrous that can be !!!Even my OH, who is usually pretty savvy in these things, once blithely walked into my room and was about to plug her laptop into my supply until I stopped her. She had discovered the 'fit' one day when I was not there and thought it would be OK. As luck would have it in that case it was compatible but that's what it was, luck. In other circumstances it could have effectively destroyed her machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 [quote user="spg"] Could it be the power supply? Either dead or dying or incompatible? [/quote]Oh my goodness I was right, I can't believe it ... [8-|]Delighted to hear all is now well.Sue [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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