So I did a dumb thing and dropped my laptop while it was in Sleep mode (laptop was in a backpack).
Following the drop, the screen was smashed but otherwise working fine. I was able to use it with an external monitor.
After using the laptop for a number of hours, it was then was placed back in Sleep mode. About 60 minutes later attempted to use laptop again and the battery would not charge.
I've replaced the laptop screen, but the battery not charging issue has persisted.
The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite L50-B with SSD upgrade.
All works fine except that the battery does not charge. The battery is only 2 years old, as is the charger cable.
Windows shows the power status as "0% available, plugged in".
Battery Report shows it is a Panasonic battery with a cycle count of 99 and charge capacity of 32,412 mWh before it stopped working.
The DC IN/Battery indicator light stays solid amber, though on one occasion the amber light was flashing. Returned to a solid amber light after a restart.
I've been watching many youtube videos trying to find out how to troubleshoot, but I'm having difficulty finding help that addresses this problem.
I have used a multimeter to attempt to verify if the battery connector pins on the motherboard have charge.
I can't find out how to interpret my results.
The battery connector has 9 pins - https://ibb.co/SnHCGgs
Using the far right pin as ground and going from left:
- The first two larger pins on the left show a reading on the multimeter that is variable and slowly trends down
- Third pin is 3.19v
- Fourth pin is 0v (I assume this is another ground pin)
- Fifth pin is 3.3v
- Sixth pin is 3.32v
- Seventh pin is 3.32v
I'm possibly way outta my depth, but if someone can tell me if the above indicates the health of the battery connector pins or otherwise, that would be great. Or any pointers in the right direction of diagnosing the issue. Thanks!
TLDR: Dropped my laptop, smashed the screen. Initially everything but the screen was working ok, and then after having the laptop on sleep for 60 minutes the battery stopped charging. Went from near full charge to showing as 0%. Do the multimeter readings on the battery pins (above) suggest that this component is healthy or unhealthy? Can you help with next steps?
Take it to a local computer repair shop or mall kiosk to diagnose professionally and advise you further would be my suggestion. They'll be able to fix your screen too.
It could be a component solder knocked off, could be defective battery cell, could be some burnt or broken chip, could be detached interior cable, could be million things. You've wasted enough time and frustration on it and risk further damage.