HP laptop only charges when off

"plugged in, not charging"

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• Fixes to try
• Method 2: Power reset your laptop
• Video liên quan

Lithium-Ion batteries require a specific current and voltage to properly charge (actually different levels depending on the specific charge profile: they're charged at constant current up to about 80% capacity, then charged at constant voltage the rest of the way). Charging at different voltages or with different currents might damage the battery or shorten its expected life, so the battery controller will simply not allow it and disconnect the recharge circuit.

Then, power units have a maximum wattage, and usually they have a "power curve" so that the actual voltage they give out is not always the rating voltage, but a little more (when nothing is plugged in) or a little less (if something is draining power). This is also related to the waste heat being produced by the power brick.

Finally, some laptops (and some chargers) can actually communicate and identify one another. The laptop can then actually refuse to charge, or charge more slowly, or not charge unless the laptop is powered down and the identification chip asleep, if it feels that the charger isn't its manufacturer-ordained soul-mate. If something interferes with the protocol, the charging process might be hindered. This is probably not happening to you, because HP doesn't seem to employ such strategies, but I'm including it just in case.

What seems to be happening here is that when the PC is draining current, the power brick voltage falls below what's required by the battery controller to safely charge the battery. There is no other phenomenon that can reasonably be going on between the two cases "laptop on" and "laptop off".

That said, there can be several causes for that one phenomenon. It's not even guaranteed that a single cause is responsible.

• the power brick isn't usually producing, say, "19V". Only very high-end, usually multipurpose, adapters will output a precisely tuned voltage. Usually laptop power bricks apply an AC-DC conversion method that, when supplied with AC in the 220-240 V range, outputs DC in the 18.5 - 20.2 V range. But if your wall socket voltage is actually, say, 216V, then it may well happen that the resulting DC voltage falls below minimum tolerance.

• voltage isn't the only parameter in AC-DC conversion. The phase of the current also is very important. Usually the power factor is not a concern, but if your electrical circuit involves heavy capacitive or, more likely, inductive loads (motors, etc.), the actual power going to the brick might be less than it expects. This phenomenon is used in "dimmers" that lower the power going to a lamp or appliance by counterphasing it (instead of wasting it into heat, as it would happen with a resistive load).

• the power brick might be defective. Its output (see above) is obtained by placing appropriately dimensioned capacitors and components in the circuit. If one of these fails or drifts out of spec, the power brick might start sending out less power than it should, and the battery will refuse to undercharge since this would damage the LiIon cells.

• (less likely) the battery controller might be defective. It might believe that it's not receiving enough power, even if it is, unless the brick sends more power than necessary; which it only does when the PC isn't siphoning off energy for its own purposes.

• (not very likely) the PC might be draining more than it should.

First test: get an electrical tester and verify the wall socket is supplying properly. Otherwise, check what happens moving the PC and charger somewhere else (at a friend's, at work, at a bar). The nearest to a low voltage power station, the better. Where I live you may get 238V next door to a power station, and 226V two hundred meters down the road. In some places in the country near the coast we have 218V and some appliances will complain, or not work as reliably. My own Dell M6800 charger for example takes exactly twice as long to bring my laptop from 20% to 100% charge. Mine doesn't refuse charging, but I wouldn't be surprised if some day it did.

Second test: try lowering the screen luminosity and, if possible, set the hard disk sleep time very low. Stop all applications you can and see whether you can install some CPU frequency governor to speedstep down the CPU when not in use. See what happens when the screen is dim and the hard disk stopped. Does it still refuse to charge? If so, chances are the power brick is defective (the battery governor can't be this much out of spec or your PC wouldn't even power on unless connected to the wall socket).

Third test: bring the PC to the shop and ask they loan you a power brick for five minutes. There're usually PC on show and they use the official power bricks. If their brick works and yours, plugged in the same socket, doesn't, that's quite a definitive diagnosis right there.

Many HP laptop users are having an issue with their laptop batteries. Their battery indicator on their laptop says it’s not charging when they’ve plugged the power cable into their laptop. This is a frustrating issue. You can’t charge your laptop battery because of this issue, and it’s very inconvenient. But don’t worry. This issue can be fixed…

The following are a few methods that have helped many HP laptop users. You don’t have to try them all; just work your way down the list until you find the one that works for you.

Fixes to try

It’s worth checking your laptop power cable or AC adapter when you can’t charge your laptop battery.

1. You may not be able to charge your HP laptop battery if you’re using a surge protector. You should try connecting your laptop to a wall socket and see if you’re able to charge your laptop.
2. You may also have the battery issue because you’re using a bad AC adapter. Try another AC adapter and see if this resolves your problem.

Method 2: Power reset your laptop

A power reset clears your laptop memory. This is helpful for fixing your battery issue. To power reset your laptop: 

1) Turn off your laptop. 

2) If your laptop battery is removable, remove your battery. 

3)Disconnect the power cable from your laptop. 

4) Press and hold the power button of your laptop for 15 seconds, then release it. 

5) Insert the battery to your laptop. 

6) Connect the power cable to your laptop. 

7) Turn on your laptop, then check the status of your laptop battery.

If this method works for you, great! But if not, there are three more fixes for you to try.

You may have the battery issue because you’re using the wrong battery device driver or it’s out of date.

You should update your driver to see if that’s the case for you. If you don’t have the time, patience, or skills to update your driver manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy. 

Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for it. You don’t need to know exactly what system your computer is running, you don’t need to risk downloading and installing the wrong driver, and you don’t need to worry about making a mistake when installing. You can download and install your drivers by using either Free or Pro version of Driver Easy. But with the Pro version it takes only 2 clicks (and you get full support and a 30-day money back guarantee):

1) Download and install Driver Easy. 

2) Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.

3) Click the Update button next to your battery device to download the latest and correct driver for it, then you can manually install the driver. You can also click the Update All button at the bottom right to automatically update all outdated or missing drivers on your computer (this requires the Pro version — you will be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All).

If you’ve updated your driver with Driver Easy but your driver issues persist, please contact Driver Easy’s support team at  for advice. You should attach the URL of this article so they can help you better.

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is a program that manages the connection between your operating system and your laptop hardware devices. Faulty BIOS settings can sometimes cause laptop battery not charging issues. To fix your HP laptop battery, try updating your laptop BIOS. To update your laptop BIOS, go to the HP official site and find the support page of your laptop. Then download the latest BIOS update and install it on your computer. (You may need to consult the instructions provided by HP on how to update BIOS.)

IMPORTANT: Be extra careful about updating BIOS. If you make a mistake or an error occurs, your laptop may become unusable and you may lose your data. So always back up your data on your laptop before updating your laptop BIOS. 

If none of the methods above works for you, you may be having a hardware issue with your laptop battery or motherboard. You should have your HP laptop serviced to fix your issue. Contact the HP customer support for advice or bring your HP laptop to an authorized service provider.