Acer laptop only charges when off

Is it a new laptop?

No, an older laptop. out of warranty.

Is the charger producing enough to power and charge and the same time
Ive seen Dell chargers fail and drop to a lower wattage and exhibit this characteristic

Depending on if the AC adapter port is just the recepticle to motherboard or if there is a separate logic board that it connects to. I have seen this issue various times on multiple laptops. Most always due to damage from being dropped while plugged in.

Also, as mentioned you can test the charging adapter to ensure it is putting out the correct voltage, etc.

I'd try with a different charger if available, or if you don't have one spare get a multimeter on the end of the charger and check the outputs match what's stated on the label.

Good luck.

I have dozens of HP laptops that have the same problem. I've worked with several HP techs over the past 3 years to try and resolve it, and we have never been able to reliably. They think it is a problem with Microsoft's ACPI power drivers being incompatible with the firmware for the charging circuitry, and a few times deleting that from the Device Manager seemed to resolve it for a short while, but it has eventually returned on all laptops that ever exhibited that same problem.

FWIW, I've tested multiple replacement chargers,chargers that are working on other laptops [exactly the same models], and even sent some off to the HP repair depot multiple times, and it's not a charger problem or a circuit problem - I do believe it's a problem with the firmware and HP just can't get it fixed.

Jim Schuuz has shown it is not the charger. On patp2 laptop there may be damaged circuitry near the charging port that could cause the issue but, again Jim Schuuz appears to have shown that this is unlikely. If it is the Windows 10 firmware then you could try a live Linux distro to see if the fault persist. If it does then it points to the battery hardware and internal processes that causes the issue. If you do not get the fault with Linux then it suggests that Windows has the problem.

EDIT. Forgot to mention this. As I understand it the battery system has to safely work when the laptop is working in just BIOS/UEFI mode and when it is working with an OS. The battery system has to make sure that the battery does not get to hot, attempt to overcharge, etc. Inside it has its own simple processor with firmware to tell it what to do and a serial port to communicate with the laptop. The battery and probably the BIOS/UEFI system control all the events with the battery and it should be totally independent of the loaded OS. We shall see if someone carries out the Live Linux check.

Seen the same problem with my sister's HP. I think too its the firmware related.

Had the same issue with a consumer grade laptop from HP before. I used a new power adapter, and that fixed the issue for a few days, then it went right back to doing the same thing. Had a friend with the same model and plugged his in to both power adapters and it worked just fine the whole time[even gave him one of my adapters to use for a few weeks and it never had any issues], which ruled out the adapters in my opinion. Tried deleting the ACPI drivers as anotheruser mentioned, but that didn't make any difference.Called their warranty and ended up having to send it back. They sent it back saying it was a faulty power adapter and they simply replaced it with a new one. Upon further inspection, I found out they replaced the entire motherboard[different serial number on the motherboard and had an older bios than the one I sent in]. I lost all faith in their support after they denied multiple times that they didanything other then test it with a new adapterand that resolved the issue.Haven't had any other brand have the same issue. My solution for the future is to just steer clear of HP laptops. Been using a Lenovo for the last couple years and haven't had any issues[other than when I accidentally closed a recliner on the adapter and cut the charging cable, but I take full responsibility for that].

I would say to try with another adapter if you have one just in case that is the cause. If it still has the same issue with another adapter, try the ACPI drivers[or try them anyway if you don't have another adapter]. If none of that works, you are probably in the same boat as I was and will probably need a replacement board.

Hopefully you have better luck getting it sorted out, but you may be out of luck with it being out of warranty.

Your pretty much out of luck. Used to work a refurbishing company that did HP laptops. Laptops with the same issues would get sent back to rework. 95% of the time they wouldn't work after being repaired. After a lot of testing and repairs we came to the conclusion to scrap those boards. So if a tester found that exact same issue they would go into the scrap pile.

We've tried a lot of different things too. Including replacing or reflashing BIOS chips. The go to was replacing the battery connector. That would rarely work.

We tested on various OS' including Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1 with the same issues.

Chances are even if you send it in for support you will get a new motherboard. Albeit at a higher cost.

If it's still worth it to you then you could probably purchase another motherboard and replace if you are comfortable with that.

I've seen this happen with faulty/3rd party batteries.

The computer detects it as 'damaged', and shuts off charging to protect the computer.

Hello @patp2, thank you for your post which has received some helpful feedback. So that we can research this issue within HP do you mind pinging me with the product number and serial number of your HP laptop?

• patp2

  Jalapeno

Has anyone tried with a Live Linux yet to firmly rule out Windows OS?

I changed the charging port and it work fine now

i am facing the same problem.

I am facing the same problem and i am having using Windows 10 and Linux both as dual boot in my laptop, the problem remains the same in Linux I guess it shows that the problem is somewhere in the hardware i.e charging adapter or motherboard.

Hello @spicehead-925qa and others, I regret that you are experiencing "the same problem". As I indicated above to the member creating this post, so that we can research this issue please ping me with the computer's product number and serial number as well as your contact information.

• spicehead-6ji9r

  Pimiento
• spicehead-925qa

  Pimiento

Hi,
Have anyone found a solution? I have just started having the same problem with my laptop. The past week, laptop would switch off while I was using it...no warning, just goes off. Today, laptop won't turn on. Charges but stops charging when I try to switch it on. The light is on to show it is charging but without it turning on, I have no way of knowing if the laptop is actually getting charged.

Jeri254 wrote:

Hi,
Have anyone found a solution? I have just started having the same problem with my laptop. The past week, laptop would switch off while I was using it...no warning, just goes off. Today, laptop won't turn on. Charges but stops charging when I try to switch it on. The light is on to show it is charging but without it turning on, I have no way of knowing if the laptop is actually getting charged.

Hello @Jeri254, thank you for your post and ping with product information. Please see my response.

@Jeri254, in addition to the information in my ping, here is feedback from the consultant:

#####
HP Pavilion 11-n001nia x360 PC [ENERGY STAR], K1H70EA
Input power, operating voltage and current
19.5 V DC, 2.31 A, 45 W
19.5 V DC, 3.33 A, 65 W
DC plug: plus pole on the central pin, minus pole on the ring

Clean all cooling vents.

Operating electric current varies by platform. You can use 65 W power adapter with 45 W system but not vice versa. Verify that you are using right power adapter by cross checking readings on the power adapter's regulatory label and on the computer.

Measure that the power adapter is good.
Try other power supply. If it is not available measure voltage of the power adapter.
It is a switched-mode power supply and so it is a must to measure its voltage under at least 50% load. You can use as a load other device, e.g. computer, bulbs for car.

Run the battery diagnostics and calibration
HP Notebook PCs - Testing and Calibrating the Battery [Windows]
"If your computer does not start normally,
press the F2 key repeatedly, about once every second until the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI menu displays, then continue to the next step.

If your computer starts normally,
search for HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows, right-click on the app in the search results, then select Run as administrator."

HP PC HARDWARE DIAGNOSTICS

Uninstall, including delete driver software:
- Microsoft AC Adapter
- Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
- All other ACPI devices
After that let system search for hardware changes and reinstall the drivers above. Make sure all ACPI devices have driver installed.
######

• Jeri254

  Pimiento

I just experience the same problem with my HP laptop, no charging when on, charging when off. And HP should resolve this problem. Since I'm the last to report this problem, I suppose previous complainants had already resolved this problem. Any new advise please. Thank you so much

Ive had this problem with a 4 month old HP laptop. The solution for me was looking at the pins inside the port on the laptop there are 4 pins, top, bottom, left and right. I think the pins werent correctly lined up so it didnt work while on. I made the top and bottom pins close together to hit the central pin on the charger and the left and right pins need to be slightly wider so they dont hit the central pin. After correcting them it started to charge while turned on. Terrible charging connector and port. I'll not be getting another HP again. Poor quality for the price.