Compuidiot here - need help w/ laptop

[yasmina27]

I've had a Gateway MX6453 that has worked flawlessly for the past 3 years or so. While trying to research this problem, I realize now that I have committed a major faux pas leaving the battery in while running it on the AC cord. :spank:

Several days ago, it started to go dim once in a while, like the battery was losing juice. I "jiggled" the wire connecting the AC cord, and it would come back up. Two days ago, it happened and the battery died on me. I can not get the laptop to power up at all.

I cleaned the battery, all the connections, etc. with alcohol and let them dry before attempting to reconnect. Nada. I tried plugging it in to a different power socket (battery disconnected) and it powered up for about 15 seconds, then turned off.

I've checked the power cord inch by inch, and from what I can tell, there is no damage to it (we babysat a 9 month old hellion kitten over the holidays and that was my first thought).

I realize that I've probably fried the battery, but shouldn't it at least still work connected via the electric cord?

Am I missing something, or have I most likely killed the laptop??

Many thanks in advance to my DU experts! :argh:

[Duer 157099]

1. I've never heard that about not using AC with the battery in...?

I thought the whole point of being able to use it while charging means that you *must* have the battery in while using the AC?

Anyway, what very often happens with laptops is that the power jack gets jacked and needs to be resoldered or something. Sounds like what might be the case here.

[yasmina27]

2. Thanks

I agree that it seems like a problem with the AC.

I learned about the battery while researching this particular problem. Every once in a while I would run the laptop on battery only until it died, then would recharge. But most of the time I only used it when plugged in with the battery in it.

[Control-Z]

3. Wow, I've never heard anything

about removing the battery while running AC. To me, that makes no sense. Can anyone else chime in on this?

My guess would be that the power cord itself, or the port is damaged. Either way the battery would no longer receive a charge, so once it's (the battery) run down completely, it could appear to be the source of your problem, appearing nonchargeable. My experience tells me it is probably the port where the most wear takes place, second would be the cord, last, the battery. Have you tried replacing the power cord?

[Shardik]

4. The manual that came with my HP laptop suggests you remove the battery

if you are plugged into external power for more than 3 days, IIRC. While I have some ideas as to why, I'm not sure of any of them enough to postulate. :)