As you may or may not know, I run a business out of my home called Tech Guy Consulting. I’ve been doing this since I was 17 and have developed a pretty decent customer base in my home area. One of my loyal customers brought me their 2 year old Dell Inspiron 1525 tonight with a handful of issues, but only one stood out to me as “outside the norm.” After a factory restore, the computer power management icon (the little picture of a battery with a power cord over it –in the bottom right hand of the screen) show that the power supply is “plugged in not charging.” So I eliminated all software issues right off the bat:

-Updated the bios
-Updated all drivers (not necessary but worth a shot)
-Uninstalled/Reinstalled Microsoft ACPI Compliant
-NOTE: this is on a fresh install from a Dell factory image

And then a little hardware troubleshooting…

-Tried a working Power Adapter and Battery from another 1525 (no dice!)
-Cleaned the contact port for the power adapter
-Cleaned the contacts for the battery
-Reseated the memory
-Allowed the battery to discharge completely to 0% (I did this by removing the power adapter and booting the computer into the bios. The bios will not hibernate the computer like Windows will, so leaving it in the bios will drain the battery to the point that it will not power on your laptop)
-Tightened the screws that hold the DC Power Circuit board to the chassis
-Unplugged the adapter, removed the battery, and held down the power button for 15 seconds

After all of this, I still encountered the same error.  It’s also important to know that the system bios will report the power adapter as an “unknown adapter.”  My conclusion for this issue is that the Dell 1525 has either 1. A faulty DC Power Board (a circuit board in the computer that has the DC Power Jack attached to it along with the 2 USB ports next to it) or 2. A faulty motherboard.

Could I replace one or both of those parts? Certainly!  However, should my customer have to sink $300 + in the repair of a computer they purchased for around $500 new?  Not in my opinion.  So I set off on a research tangent…what did I find you might ask?

Sorry, You'll have to keep me plugged in from now on!

1.  My customers are not alone in this issue.  There are THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of 1525 owners with this identical issue

2. There are thousands of sites and message board posts dedicated to this issue, one stating that there are over 40,000 logged complaints about the issue. Some people state that “blowing in the battery” helped, but I assure you…this solution is most likely just coincidental Here are a few of the sites I visited…

-How to Mend It

-Google Search Results for topics on this problem that are posted in Dell Forums

I could post a tremendous list of sites but we’ll pass on that idea for now.  The fact is there are thousands of known complaints about this issue.  So, being the junior detective that I am…I called Dell.  After I spoke with one ridiculously rude foreign fellow (he had teenage girl style argument with me before transferring me in the middle of our conversation) I was sent to Tech support.  However, this particular laptop is out of warranty and I was already aware of Dell’s “No Warranty? You’re S.O.L.” policy.  I spoke with the technician and his supervisor, both of whom stated that “Dell has no official statements on this issue.”  They did, however, offer to sell me the parts at a ridiculous price, so I could keep my customers happy.  At the end of the conversation, all I got was “no warranty no help.”

So basically my customer is forced to pay the fee, use their laptop on the power adapter for all eternity.

Here’s the reason I took the time to write this article.  Dell knows about this problem, with all of the complaints there is NO WAY they don’t know.  However if there is no “big public stink” made, they will never rectify the issue and compensate the customers who, in my humble opinion, have every right to feel nothing but ripped off.  So here’s my proposition to you loyal 1525 owners: Post a comment in this blog post stating your model number, when you purchased, the fact that your having the “plugged in not charging” issue, and anything else you want to rant about concerning this issue.  In exchange, for every 100 comments this blog post receives I will send an email and put in a call to Dell Customer Care referring them to this post.  I will also post links on Ripoff Reports and the Consumerist.  My goal is to help all of you 1525 owners (my wife has this laptop, although she doesn’t have this problem) find satisfaction.  Whether that be through free replacement parts or repairs from Dell, or..dreaming a little dream here, replacement laptops from Dell.  Do not remain silent!  Let’s tell the big wigs at Dell that we will not be pushed around!

A few requests when posting a comment…

Please don’t post any proposed solutions, as I’ve already exhausted them all.  The idea is that we be straight to the point and that these comments all remain relevant.

31 Responses to “Have a Dell Inspiron 1525 with a Battery Charging Issue? Let’s talk.”