I have a dell laptop studio 17 . Batter says " plugged in but not charging " . Is there a solution to this besides purchasing a new Ac or motherboard or sending it away .

Hi Anonymous,

Request you to try following the below steps which might help:

(1)Check if the AC Adaptor gets detected in BIOS (F2 at startup).
(2)Check on the status bar for any messages like "Plugged in charging", "Not connected", etc.
(3)Try using a known good AC Adaptor and check if that helps.

Thanks and Regards.
Kiran Kumar.
#iworkfordell.

That looks like a pre-programed system alert code to me that activates when a certain problem arises. Check your user's manual for system alerts. If no joy, try contacting Dell and simply ask them what that particular alert means. If they want to charge you (typical of these manufacturers) throw yourself on their tender mercy and say that you are not asking them to repair it, you only want to know where you can find what that alert means. It's worked for me in the past. Also try the Dell website for your model, they may have it posted there.

You may have the wrong AC adaptor, Dell is very picky when it comes to Power adaptors, it must be original OEM Dell for the laptop to recognize it, any after market no name brand even though it has the right specs and is made for your model will power your laptop but the circuit to charge your battery will automatically be closed

Great story, but I feel your pain. There are so many times people think that just because they bought it new it works. Not true at all.

If you have a Volt-ohm meter you can check if the AC adapter for your laptop is giving out the correct voltage. Also if you have a meter and you can see that the voltage is correct on the adapter try taking out the battery and plugging in the ac adapter and test the battery connection on the computer for voltage, if do have voltage to the adapter but not the battery terminal it could be a motherboard issue. A quick question, is the ac jack loose or does the plug move around easily when plugged in?

problem with your charger or battery

Make sure the battery is well seated in the laptop. If that doesn't work, the battery may be going bad and you will need a replacement. I've had to replace my Dell's battery twice since I got it about 4 years ago.

the blinking LOCK lights are a no-post indicator. Issues could be:
Bad Ram (Try RAM modules one at a time) A peripheral device causing no -post (Remove all removable items RAM, HDD, Optical Drive, Wireless Cards) see if indications change
If no changes, then most likely a failed motherboard.

If its a brand new pc, I'd get straight back on to Dell, there could be a fault and you don't want to invalidate your warranty by messing about with it.

You can use the Dell mediaplayer button above F5 button to switch on the system.