# HP Envy charging problem



## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

I wonder if anyone can solve this problem or has come across this fault.

My daughter's HP Envy laptop works fine and charges the battery fine when powered off but when the computer is powered on it only runs off the battery even with the AC power connected. It does this to the point where the battery runs flat and the computer shuts down, whereupon without touching anything, it starts to charge the battery (little orange light comes on). If you power the computer on at this point the battery stops charging again (tray icon shows not charging and summary gives time to run flat). This is a little frustrating.

There seems to be quite a lot of people suffering this problem when searching on line. One thread suggested the solution was letting the battery run completely flat, into shutdown, off completely with the power button, orange light comes on, wait two minutes then power up and the computer is charging and the problem is fixed - only it isn't. This "fix" made no difference.

Next we deleted the battery and AC power drivers and re-installed them. No difference.

The next advice was to re-install the BIOS but you can't do that unless the AC power is connected and charging - [smiley=bigcry.gif]

The power connector is a three terminal co-axial connector with a thin centre pin, an inner tube and an outer tube. The socket has an outer tube contact, an inner tube contact and a long split fork prong to connect to the centre pin. I've never seen such a poor design. I did wonder if the socket's centre fork prong had become bent and maybe this was a sensor pin but having corrected a slight leaning it made no difference. Wiggling the connector around makes no difference either - BUT - I discovered something:

If the connector is pushed in very slowly, so it makes a bad contact momentarily before connecting properly, an HP pop-up notice appears warning you that you have 'the wrong AC power supply connected and it may charge slowly' - BUT - NOW IT'S CHARGING! This may take a few attempts to trigger so not a proper solution.

It's as if the full voltage from the charger being quickly pushed in is somehow triggering the hardware to disconnect the supply as if it's an overload. Also that the bad connection caused by the slow connect causes a momentary low charge voltage and this is detected and triggers the warning and also connects the DC power (considered safe) and once this decision is made pushing the power connector in further gives full voltage but is ignored allowing a normal charge.

Any thoughts?


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi John, a few things to try.
There are components etc in the battery associated with charging so may be a faulty battery & requires replacing.
Remove battery & mains power & hold the power ON button down for 5 secs or so, this will discharge capacitors etc on motherboard & may cure the problem.
Hoggy.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

Hi Hoggy,

I'll try the capacitor discharge thing. The laptop is only a few months old so the battery should be Ok. I did run a battery diagnostics test which passed Ok. Other people have tried replacing their battery and found it made no difference.

I'll try a complete discharge now....


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

No, unfortunately that didn't help


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, If only a few months old contact HP, they should collect, fix & return.
Hoggy.


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## Stiff (Jun 15, 2015)

As above. It should still be under warranty and it's up to the supplier to solve and correct this problem, not you. 
I have a similar problem with my Alienware and it just won't charge but it's well out of warranty and is probably the charge lead so I'll just live with it for the time being.


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## ross_cj250 (Mar 1, 2008)

John-H said:


> I wonder if anyone can solve this problem or has come across this fault.
> <SNIP>... - BUT - I discovered something:
> 
> If the connector is pushed in very slowly, so it makes a bad contact momentarily before connecting properly, an HP pop-up notice appears warning you that you have 'the wrong AC power supply connected and it may charge slowly' - BUT - NOW IT'S CHARGING! This may take a few attempts to trigger so not a proper solution.
> ...


If I'm reading this bit right...you're connecting to the laptop with the power lead 'live'?...have you tried plugging in to the laptop and then connecting to the mains?

Alternatively, HP's are quite common, is there a friend or neighbour who you could borrow their charger and lead from to test what happens?

I'm no expert on laptops...just a couple of random thoughts that occurred when reading through! :?

Regards
Ross


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

ross_cj250 said:


> John-H said:
> 
> 
> > I wonder if anyone can solve this problem or has come across this fault.
> ...


Thanks for the suggestion. I've already tried plugging in and switching on via the mains socket thinking that may be a slower power up but it made no improvement. I don't know anyone with the same charger unfortunately. I'll enquire at work but I think they are mainly Dell.

Hoggy, Stiff,

I could ring up the supplier but I wasn't happy with their support right from the start and I can see them being useless even though it's their responsibility.

HP directly might be better.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi John, I know they say contact the supplier, but in this case I would contact HP, usually more reliable than the supplier.
You have many rights if less than 6 months old. 
Shame we aren't closer as I have adjustable power supplies that will fit any laptop.
It could be a dodgy battery that is dropping the volts & enough to power the laptop, but not enough to charge at the same time.
Like me I know you want to sort it yourself but let HP sort it.
Hoggy.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

What happens if you remove the battery and then plug in the charger?

I would have no hesitation in contacting HP. I had a problem with mine and after a fairly long on-line chat, trying all sorts of things I'd already done, the support assistant agreed there was a fault and arranged for laptop to be collected - in a secure padded container - by courier the next day. Came back the same way a few days later and fixed.
They even replaced the mouse that came with my laptop and died at 11 months and 2 weeks.
If you do sent the laptop back to HP make sure you have backed up everything as they may reinstate it to factory settings.

Edit:
Are you running the charger off a surge protected extension lead?


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

No just the raw mains. Not sure if trying to run without the battery will boot up at all or become corrupted if removed whilst running due to the power supply being unable to supply peak current demand.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Do not remove battery while switched on.
It will or should run with no battery & powered just from mains power supply. Many use their laptop without battery in place.
Hoggy.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

Hoggy said:


> Hi, Do not remove battery while switched on.
> It will or should run with no battery & powered just from mains power supply. Many use their laptop without battery in place.
> Hoggy.


We'll if you are sure I could gives that a try.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

Yes you can safely remove the battery once powered down. Then see if it will boot from just the charger. 
Like Hoggy says I used to run my last laptop with the battery removed much of the time.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

I tried it with no battery and it's the same. With the plug in (pushing in quick or switching on at the 13A mains socket) it won't power up. I have to slowly put the plug in to fool it, then it connects and will power up.

I'm wondering also if the pronged centre pin can short to the inner tube contact - I can't see what would stop it from shorting. I'm wondering if there should be a plastic sleeve around it that's missing? [smiley=idea2.gif]


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

John-H said:


> I tried it with no battery and it's the same. With the plug in (pushing in quick or switching on at the 13A mains socket) it won't power up. I have to slowly put the plug in to fool it, then it connects and will power up.


Don't worry. My wife's like that too. :lol:


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, That seems to prove it's not the battery, so either the socket on the motherboard or the power supply/plug.
Hoggy.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

As I thought. There's a broken/missing insulator. This also explains why the socket design looked bizarre.

A you can see from the pictures, the centre pronged connector is in danger of shorting to the inner tube connections. I've added a small rubber sleeve to insulate between the two. The result is it now charges on fast insertion of the plug as it should 



















It's perhaps not a permanent solution as the centre electrode can still bend as the rubber won't restrain it but at least it proves a point.


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