Hi everyone

I have a Dell Inspiron 3500 (antique, i know) anyway the battery was working fine until yesterday, when all it says in the charge meter on the taskbar is "1%, charging". Its been like that for 2 days now. If I take the battery out and use the test button on the side to see how full it is, no lights come on, meaning its not charged. Has the battery lived its life, or is there something else to check?

Thanks

-Nick

You can take a volt meter to the charger to see if it's still working, if the is proper voltage there then it would be a bad battery. Another way to go would be if you know someone else that has a means of charging that battery, try theirs and see if it charges.

There was a product recall of Dell batteries a while back. It might be worth looking on their website to see whether yours is one of the ones affected, in which case they may replace it free of charge. (sorry for unintentional pun!)

Luci2a

Thanks, I contacted support and they determined that from a light code (1st, 3rd, and 5th lights flashing) that it means that my battery is just gone. (They probably just want me to buy a new one since they wouldnt tell me what the code meant- typical Dell support )

Thanks

-Nick

Hi Nick, just curious here, where were these lights located, and I'm guessing that you are referring to LEDs, and are they all the same color?

Did you try to google for the trouble codes?

The lights are a built in self test for the battery, they are located on the top of the battery. There are 5 indicating the charge of the battery and they are all green. I could not find any code for lights on google, but I got the idea to try the battery in a different bay.

-Nick

Ebay has many listings for a replacement battery starting at about $35 including shipping (of course they may charge you more for shipping because they have to deal with the mostquitos!) Look HERE.