Computer Hardware Help → Acer laptop odd battery issue

Have an Acer Aspire 5050 laptop here that has one oddball issue.

Unit is running Win7 HP, when the battery is OUT of the unit, it runs great. (well, as great as it can with its 1GB RAM)

However, when you plug the battery in, or boot with the battery in, the system runs like crap, and the system service pegs cpu cycles and brings the unit to a screeching halt. Take the battery out, and the cpu goes back to 0 immediately and the unit returns to normal. There is also a wireless issue when the battery is connected, it will have problems connecting / staying connected. These issues are also corrected once the battery is removed.

I've never seen this behavior before, (I've seen other battery issues before) could this be the battery alone? Or is it in power management somewhere? Booted into safe mode with the battery connected the unit will operate properly, though with networking the wireless issues are still evident. The batteries for these laptops are really cheap to buy ($20 @ Amazon) (and cheaply made) but I wouldn't want to buy one if the problem is possibly caused elsewhere.

"Or is it in power management somewhere? Booted into safe mode with the battery connected the unit will operate properly"

Since you can boot into safe mode and it runs properly I would say some power management issue is a safe bet. Same with wireless.

If you are using the acer epower management profiles you might check the wireless settings for those.

If you want more specific help just ask and I'll try to find some good documentation to help out.

Is this a replacement battery or has the unit been working on the present battery and then this problem cropped up with the same battery?

This is the original battery in the unit (AFAIK), but it doesn't hold a charge either. So I know it needs to be replaced, but I've never seen a dead / non-charging battery do this to a system. I've seen them cause no-POST issues, but never this.

I own 2 Acer machines myself, and the batteries in them suck bad. Fortunately they are on the cheap to replace. I replaced my wife's netbook battery for ~$12. Can't beat that.

This unit in question is running an upgrade Win7 HP - and I didn't see anything from Acer loaded on it, Looks to be a custom upgrade.

So if the battery is in then the machine runs slowly. When you have the battery in and plugged in with the adapter does it say Battery mode or AC Mode - Plugged in?

One more question for you, when it is plugged in without battery does it seem like the screen dims by itself? If so, your powerboard is not working.

I'd be interested in the answer to gnumantsc's question.

I would try playing around with the power plans under windows and see if forcing toward high performance changes anything.

You need the assistance of a technical engineer,
It sounds like the power socket connection is damaged, not too unusual, especially when you have used a non original charger.

I think it some kind of Power saver issue
Most CPU's go into sleep mode (down clocking)

maybe it is not clocking correctly

If the battery doesnt hold a charge then why have the battery in it to begin with? All it would protect at this point is a brown out or switching from one outlet to another which honestly doesn't sound like it is worth all of the trouble you are having with it. I would get a new battery and then if the issues continue post back on to here.

Replaced the battery and the unit functions properly with the new battery installed, no lags, no loss of wireless. So all is well.

Still the oddest thing I've seen.

Thanks for the replies.