[mcbee]

I have a Dell Inspiron 1150 that is not charging. The LED on the charger is lighting and when plugged into the laptop all 3 power lights flash once. The charge indicator light then flashes once every 30 seconds. At this point the battery is discharged totally and the unit won't boot even with the mains unit plugged in. I think the charger may be working and the problem could be the motherboard as the battery is charged through the motherboard.( Not sure about that ). I don't have access to another battery to check if it is the problem and a new one is too pricey to buy to find out. Is anyone familiar with this problem?

[SocialWarfare]

What lights flash on the laptop? If the red one does I would suggest getting a new battery
I had a similar problem and had to replace mine

[mcbee]

The charging light flashes green every 8 seconds. No other lights flash except for the power light which flashes once on turning on the charger.

[serverguy]

If you've got a multimeter you could stick it on the terminals in the battery compartment, and watch what happen when you plug in the mains. If there is voltage present, then you know the battery is duff and the mobo probably good.

You might have to be a bit creative with this because the mobo may only charge with the battery in, so you may have to make some little fly leads to test it with the battery in. You will also have to test the different terminals.

Or, you could go on eBay and speak to a battery seller. If you talk to someone nicely he may be willing to let you purchase a battery and see if it works, and if it doesn't, buy it back again for perhaps £10 less. Or you could just sell it on again.

[Mike0001]

Some batteries go completely dead if they are on charge continuously.

Other batteries (Acer in my experience) go completely dead if the charge level drops too low, eg, through leaving the laptop unused for a while.

[thingie2]

Does the laptop turn on using the power lead plugged in the back (i.e not using the battery charge)? as this would then mean we know if the power lead is proving the proper amount of power to the computer.

[mcbee]

The laptop will not turn on which makes me think that the mobo is gone. I have been led to believe that these laptops charge through the mobo.

[thingie2]

Well then, It's either the motherboard or the charging lead I would say, have you got (or know someone who has got) the came computer (or atleast use the same power lead to check which it is?

[serverguy]

The power pack would be really easy to test with a multimeter, or even with a light bulb.

But if something lights up on the laptop, it is probably supplying power.

Some laptops won't work without a battery installed, but don't normally care if it is dud or not.

I now think there is something more terminally wrong with it.

[mcbee]

I have tested the power unit and it is working so the problem may be the motherboard. I notice if I press the base of the laptop at a particular point that the power lights blink. I am now opening up the case.