Laptop dies when unplugged

I was on the road and had my laptop plugged directly in the wall without a surge protector. A storm hit, the lights flickered and my laptop made a popping sound (scary).

Everything works fine when the laptop is plugged in, but it immediately turns off when I unplug it from the wall.

The power monitor on the OS (Vista) laptop shows the battery at 100%
The power light on the physical laptop blinks orange
The computer works fine while plugged in, but shuts immediately off when it is unplugged

Is the issue the battery or something on the board? I would like to have a good idea before I buy a replacement battery.

Specs:

Lenovo T61
Vista Home Basic

blu

Posted 2009-09-15T17:31:59.620

Reputation: 267

Answers

Most likely the battery is shot. Perhaps that popping sound was one (or more) of its cells rupturing?

I say this because, if it was the motherboard (or some other component) that got fried then it probably wouldn't work when plugged in either.

What happens to the power light when you remove the battery but keep it plugged in?

Ryan

Posted 2009-09-15T17:31:59.620

Reputation: 416

The battery may be fine but the charging circuits in the laptop are fried. Happened to my laptop. It did the same thing, and even a new battery won't charge at all. – Joshua Nurczyk – 2009-09-16T12:44:23.650

Even with that circuit fried, your operating system still detected the battery and could give status about it? – Ryan – 2009-09-16T17:42:56.057

The last time I needed a laptop battery I went to a batteries plus store, they let me test my laptop with the new battery before I left the store.

Jim C

Posted 2009-09-15T17:31:59.620

Reputation: 1 748

sounds like an ad to me – hasen – 2009-09-15T18:26:24.830

Don't work for them, do own stock, just a customer. I always recognize good customer service. – Jim C – 2009-09-16T12:11:37.230

Typo, I do NOT own stock. – Jim C – 2009-09-16T12:12:36.837

Or it could be someone who is trying to help out... – Joshua Nurczyk – 2009-09-16T12:43:07.877

The T61 has a power manager program that can tell you the health of your battery itself. Try running that to see what condition your battery is in.

Jason

Posted 2009-09-15T17:31:59.620

Reputation: 63

I had the same problem with an old Sony Vaio. I replaced the battery pack in the back and now it works fine again. If everything just works fine when plugged in but immediately dies when you turn off power, it's very likely that your battery is dead. (They do tend to have a lifetime of just a couple of years.)

I did have the CPU reporting the battery was full when it was powered on. That's not the system being broken but the battery being unable to give a good report.

Wim ten Brink

Posted 2009-09-15T17:31:59.620

Reputation: 1 815

From the sound of it, sounds like you might have a motherboard issue. Though most likely, it could be the battery by the status of that amber battery light. The blinking amber battery light is usualy when it is almost done charging or its an error.

Does it blink quickly or every couple seconds?
Does the battery have a test button?
Does the battery have any physical changes (bulging, burns, warped?)

I have seen some BIOS setups that will tell you the battery charge and state also if that is available with yours. Batteries are cheaper to replace than motherboards to.

Troggy

Posted 2009-09-15T17:31:59.620

Reputation: 10 191

My guess would be a problem with the battery Control circuitry. It may be as simple as a blown fuse, or as bad as the whole circuit being fried.

Tester101

Posted 2009-09-15T17:31:59.620

Reputation: 648