Battery Problem or something else??

[shoaibv]

I have a sony vaio VGN FZ38M, purchased around 9 months ago, I mostly use it with AC Adapter plugged in, couple of days ago I was running my laptop on Battery Power and all of sudden the system lost power and turned off automatically without any low battery sign. I tried to turn it on but it did not unless I attached the AC Adapter, when the system turned the battery however was showing around 70% Charge.

I left it on AC Power for about 3-4 hours and when battery was showing 100% charge I removed the AC Power and system turned off again in 3 to 4 minutes (again without any low battery indication), so I turned it on again after inserting the AC Power, and again the battery was showing 96% charge.

I then left the computer on (Did not run any program) and it hibernated itself instead of shutting down abruptly after about 45 minutes and when I turned the system back on it was showing a battery capacity of 03% and it turned on without AC Power as well

Hence I figured that as soon as I start using the laptop with 2 or 3 programs simultaneously running the battery it off the system abruptly, however if no programs are running then the system hibernates

I phone vaio support and they told me that the problem is with battery and sony only gives 6 months of battery warranty and hence I need to purchase a new one, but I am not convinced that the problem is actually with battery I think it might be something wrong with the system itself

Can someone please advise as to what steps can be taken to ensure that the problem is actually with battery, as the vaio service advised me that if I purchase a new battery and the problem is still there then I can not get a refund for battery and if they pick up the system and found that the problem is not with system then they will charge me with a service fee as well

Many thanks in advance

[Thalamus.]

Hi Shoaib,

a simple way to check if this is a battery or possible hardware problem is to take your Vaio to a local stockist and ask if you can try another battery in your Vaio..

[shoaibv]

Dear Thalamus,

Many thanks for your reply, I tried this already, but unfortunately this model is no longer in production and my nearest vaio stockist (Sony Center) told me that they no longer have the battery available for this model

However I have installed a program called Battery Monitor and as per this program's results the battery current charge capacity is same as it was designed for, do you have any experience of using such program and if they at all are reliable.

Just to further explain i also installed the same software in my 4 year old IBM Laptop and for that it is showing that current charge capcity of battery is only 40% of what it was actually designed for

I have attached the screenshot of both results as well

Thanks again for your suggestion and waiting to hear back from you

Regards
Shoaib

[Thalamus.]

do you have any experience of using such program and if they at all are reliable.

No I've not used Battery Monitor before..

One thing that I did notice from your Sony screen shot is that it states Rechargeable: No..

What is the model of your battery.?

[shoaibv]

Hi Thalamus,

Many thanks again for your reply, the battery mode number VGP-BPS8A, I am not sure why it is saying No for rechargeable.

Vaio service center finally told me a reasonable solution to find out if the battery is actually faulty or not, the asked me to leave the computer on Bios Setup screen and see how long the battery lasts, and it lasted only 10 minutes, so I am convinced that its a worn out battery alone

However I am still not sure why the battery has worn out only in 9 months, as 90% of the time I use my computer on AC Adapter

Thanks for your help

[Thalamus.]

However I am still not sure why the battery has worn out only in 9 months, as 90% of the time I use my computer on AC Adapter

Leaving a battery attached to a laptop when running on AC power can reduce the batteries life..

You may find these sites on How to prolong lithium-based batteries and If I remove the battery & run from a power source will it lengthen battery life? of interest..