Toshibal laptop not charging past 80%

[mr__ed]

I have a fairly new Toshiba satellite series laptop and I've noticedthat it stops charging the battery when it reaches 80%charged. I don't recall if that's normal because I'm pretty sure the battery charged more fully before. Any ideas? BTW, it's running Win 8.1.

[ReadyToGo]

Thats a new one for me. Mine have always stayed at 100 % going back to win95 days. I dont think i ever had the battery wind down until i got Toshibas.

[mr__ed]

That's precisely what happened to my old XP laptop, whicj Istill use, but only when plugged in. The ebattery will barely start the computer
but won't run it for more than a few seconds.I'm experimenting now with a different power setting on my current laptop to see if the battery will fully charge.

[MNtundraRet]

ReadyToGo wrote:
How would one know if they have a battery problem if only used 2 percent of the time and plugged in the rest of the time? Because the battery is being charged all the time it is plugged in, if it wouldn't hold a charge, it would fall below 100 percent even while plugged in.
As you might know, there is a battery charge icon available that shows the status of the battery.
It used to be that some laptops wouldn't boot if the battery was at 0 or missing. I don't know if that still happens, and I don't need to know but that would have told anyone that the battery was bad.
Also, since the laptop does move occasionally, it would show up then. For instance, right now we are traveling every day, and use the computer once in a while on battery.

I would just like to add to your post here that not all laptops work the same way as yours. My Asus when plugged in only charges the battery when it drops below 95%. Right now indicator states "96% available (plugged in, not charging)". When the battery drops to 94% or lower it will read "94% (example), plugged in, charging".

If someone were to continue to leave the laptop plugged in, almost never using unplugged like their old desktop computer, eventually a number of years down the road the battery will loose capacity to the point that the laptop may start but the battery is so low that the computer may shut down within a few minutes. It may do this for more cycles looking like a program, or CPU, problem which may go undiagnosed.

At this point a new battery (after being fully charged) may have solved the problem.

[ReadyToGo]

How would one know if they have a battery problem if only used 2 percent of the time and plugged in the rest of the time? Because the battery is being charged all the time it is plugged in, if it wouldn't hold a charge, it would fall below 100 percent even while plugged in.
As you might know, there is a battery charge icon available that shows the status of the battery.
It used to be that some laptops wouldn't boot if the battery was at 0 or missing. I don't know if that still happens, and I don't need to know but that would have told anyone that the battery was bad.
Also, since the laptop does move occasionally, it would show up then. For instance, right now we are traveling every day, and use the computer once in a while on battery.

[MNtundraRet]

kellertx5er wrote:

ReadyToGo wrote:
My toshiba which is over 2 years old, is plugged in 98 percent of the time. My last toshiba was plugged in about 5 years and 98 percent of the time. Never had a problem with the battery.

I am curious how one would know if they had a battery problem when the battery is used only 2% of the time.

How true.

The easiest way to check out the current battery would be to use the laptop on battery power alone. See how many hours it will go before it warns of "low battery". Most likely the amount of time will be much less than original time when new (or what was mentioned in specifications received back then.

I have an Asus i7 gaming 17 inch gaming computer from late 2010. The battery when new was only good for 1 3/4 hours. Since I replaced a desk top computer I too use the computer when plugged in most of the time at the same desk the old computer resided on.

Generally the computer is only used on battery when going on longer RV trips between spring and fall. Just short of 3 years the battery showed signs of less time on battery. Also; if I left the laptop home and unplugged from AC to protect from possible electrical storms, the battery might drop to 90 to 95% charge. When plugging in when getting home the laptop indicator started blinking red/green alternately. It was an indication of a battery no longer capable of 100%soc (same as your RV batteries.) The Asus site stated that this battery was normally needing replacement soon after 1.5 years.

[kellertx5er]

ReadyToGo wrote:
My toshiba which is over 2 years old, is plugged in 98 percent of the time. My last toshiba was plugged in about 5 years and 98 percent of the time. Never had a problem with the battery.

I am curious how one would know if they had a battery problem when the battery is used only 2% of the time.

[mr__ed]

Well, I'm going to change the mode to allow 100% charging since I run the computer plugged in only occasionally. Thanks for the helpful info.
btw, my power setting was in balanced mode, not eco as previously stated.

[ReadyToGo]

My toshiba which is over 2 years old, is plugged in 98 percent of the time. My last toshiba was plugged in about 5 years and 98 percent of the time. Never had a problem with the battery.

[mileshuff]

My Lenovo laptop has a battery protection mode. When turned on it charges to 95% and then stops charging and allows the battery to discharge to about 40%. This charging and discharge cycling helps the battery have a longer life.

[MNtundraRet]

mr. ed wrote:
Well, I believe I've found the answer. My computer is running in the power saver mode, which doesn't charge the battery to 100% in order to increase its life. So, I answered my own question. T

Running in "power saver mode" just lowers brightness and shuts the computer down to sleep mode sooner. Not charging the battery to 100% shortens the life of a battery.

If your computer has not been used on battery alone recently this problem can happen. Remove the battery and put it back in to reset the battery monitor/charging system. Then use the laptop on battery only to run down to 30 to 40% charge.

Now plug it back in and allow the power-brick on 120v, ac, to recharge the laptop battery. It should recharge to 100% as when new.

Instructions that come with replacement batteries say to charge; run down to around 30%; recharge and do the cycle a few times before leaving plugged in on power brick for extended times.

[old_guy]

my toshiba lap top also told me, in a pop up message, not to leave the unit plugged in all the time either. it is hard on the battery and will shortan the life of the battery

[Mandalay_Parr]

You are welcome. Thanks for coming back with the answer.
So many leave us hanging.

[mr__ed]

Well, I believe I've found the answer. My computer is running in the power saver mode, which doesn't charge the battery to 100% in order to increase its life. So, I answered my own question. T