Back on the forum after an unexpected laptop issue!

[The_RC_Dude]

Hi guys, just wanted to let you all know that I'm back on the forum again, some of you may have noticed that I've been offline for like a week, my PC is not functional ATM because of a "broken" battery (for lack of a better term that I can think of, at least I suspect that's the issue). Basically it got drained to "10%", I plugged it in for a few hours, but it just wasn't taking a charge, first time anything like this has happened. So now the battery won't take a charge and the PC is dead, won't turn on or give me any kind of response whatsoever (I've tried everything I can think of, from different power outlets to how long I hold down the power button). We bought it from Costco (it's a Lenovo BTW) and it's still under warranty, they sent us a new charger to see if that fixed it, no luck, we're gonna send the whole laptop to them, that's what they said. Right now I'm using another laptop (thankfully Google saved my password for RCT, I used a "recommended, secure" password that's like impossible to remember). Anyway, this post isn't supposed to be about that, just wanted to let you guys know I'm back!

-Isaac, aka TRD (for short)

 

[Doom!]

It's frustrating when you can't get your Daily (hourly in my case) fix of the forums! Hope you get your laptop taken care of quickly.

 

[Tunedfrog]

Welcome back @The_RC_Dude , I hope they get the issues worked out.

 

[Greywolf74]

Hi guys, just wanted to let you all know that I'm back on the forum again, some of you may have noticed that I've been offline for like a week, my PC is not functional ATM because of a "broken" battery (for lack of a better term that I can think of, at least I suspect that's the issue). Basically it got drained to "10%", I plugged it in for a few hours, but it just wasn't taking a charge, first time anything like this has happened. So now the battery won't take a charge and the PC is dead, won't turn on or give me any kind of response whatsoever (I've tried everything I can think of, from different power outlets to how long I hold down the power button). We bought it from Costco (it's a Lenovo BTW) and it's still under warranty, they sent us a new charger to see if that fixed it, no luck, we're gonna send the whole laptop to them, that's what they said. Right now I'm using another laptop (thankfully Google saved my password for RCT, I used a "recommended, secure" password that's like impossible to remember). Anyway, this post isn't supposed to be about that, just wanted to let you guys know I'm back!

-Isaac, aka TRD (for short)

If you're up to the task, Take the bottom off of the laptop, remove the battery and plug it in to the AC adapter and see if it will power on. If it does power on then turn it back off and put the battery back in it, plug it back in to the AC adapter and see if it will start up and charge then. If it doesn't power on the just put everything back together and send it to them.

 

[WoodiE]

It's about time you got back online @The_RC_Dude!

 

[pug]

Welcome back in!

 

[The_RC_Dude]

It's frustrating when you can't get your Daily (hourly in my case) fix of the forums! Hope you get your laptop taken care of quickly.

Still not very active...lol! I'm using a new laptop now, as I think I already said, it's a Lenovo Legion, a purpose built gaming PC even though I don't do ANY kind of gaming AT ALL! Don't ask...it was on sale and we were looking for a new laptop so we decided to give this a shot...

Welcome back @The_RC_Dude , I hope they get the issues worked out.

Thanks man! Still not very active though and it's gonna get worse as we are going on a "road trip" to California, 8 days, starting tomorrow morning, on Christmas!

If you're up to the task, Take the bottom off of the laptop, remove the battery and plug it in to the AC adapter and see if it will power on. If it does power on then turn it back off and put the battery back in it, plug it back in to the AC adapter and see if it will start up and charge then. If it doesn't power on the just put everything back together and send it to them.

Good ol' Grey is ready to take up the task of fixxing/tinkering any kind of electronic thing, as usual! So take out the battery, and see if it'll work with no battery, just running off the outlet power? May try that, but we're gonna send it off soon, I hope it's not a mess of wires inside...

It's about time you got back online @The_RC_Dude!

Ah, you're right Woodie! Have you noticed? lol
Usually I try to participate in all the new threads/posts that I can relate to (in other words, stuff that I know about, so I won't really go into Nitro threads since I know nothing about engines/Nitro!)! We're going on a trip to California starting tomorrow, the 25th (Merry Christmas!), for 8 days, but of course I'm bringing my buggy along for the trip, for some parking lot runs, and I'm gonna see if I can find any interesting locations to run at (will try to film it).

Welcome back in!

Thanks Pug! Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[Greywolf74]

Good ol' Grey is ready to take up the task of fixxing/tinkering any kind of electronic thing, as usual! So take out the battery, and see if it'll work with no battery, just running off the outlet power?

Yes, exactly see if it will run on AC power only. If it will then theres a good chance that when you put the battery back in it will start working normally again. IDK why but for the last 15-20 years its been an uncommon issue where the laptop for whatever reason gets "stuck" for a lack of a better term in a certain mode where it wont power on or charge and something about removing the battery and powering it up on AC power basically resets that condition. IDK if thats what is going on with yours but if thats all it is it could be an easy fix. That being said not all laptops are easy to take the back off of them so do this at your own discretion.

 

[Doom!]

@The_RC_Dude Have a good trip, stay safe and have fun. sorry about the fact we still have a mask mandate.

 

[The_RC_Dude]

@The_RC_Dude Have a good trip, stay safe and have fun. sorry about the fact we still have a mask mandate.

Thanks Doom! We came back on the 2nd I think, I got some okay running videos, just me driving around parking lots at <40% throttle, dropping off curbs, ect., I'll try to post those soon-ish (ya'll know my procrastination...)! We don't mind the masks, we've gotten used to it, it's the sanitizing of the hotel rooms (paper towels and alcohol in spray bottles) that's annoying...still better than catching covid or it's variants (we're all fully vacinated though, my sister still needs her second dose)!

*Warning, guy with cleaning OCD rambles on condition of road for RC cars*

I learned that the sunny weather comes with a slight drawback (it actually rained like half of our trip, so it wasn't like we got awesome tans or anything lol), Cali is somewhat dry even in winter, here in Washington, I can rip up and down the street for 10 min in winter (given it's not raining, or snowing) and only need to do like 5 min of cleaning (I'm absolutely METICULUS about the condition of my RC, I always try to have it like perfectly clean...), but in Cali, a quick 5 min blast at a gas station parking lot, and like 20 min of cleaning (again, can't stand my RC being even slightly filthy...I might be nearly as bad as Rolex )

*End of rambling*

Yes, exactly see if it will run on AC power only. If it will then theres a good chance that when you put the battery back in it will start working normally again. IDK why but for the last 15-20 years its been an uncommon issue where the laptop for whatever reason gets "stuck" for a lack of a better term in a certain mode where it wont power on or charge and something about removing the battery and powering it up on AC power basically resets that condition. IDK if thats what is going on with yours but if thats all it is it could be an easy fix. That being said not all laptops are easy to take the back off of them so do this at your own discretion.

Thanks for the info Grey, I can always count on you for whatever electronic related question I have! I decided not to do it, as we were trying to get it fixed soon, and opening the PC up would instantly void the warranty (hey, just like when Traxxas connectors are snipped off and replaced with other connectors, instantly voiding the warranty of the Traxxas vehicle!). Interesting, maybe like the battery contacts got shifted out of place or something, or just something glitches inside the PC/battery? BTW Grey, how do you have such a vast knowledge on electrics, are you just REALLY passionate about the stuff, or are you like and electrical engineer or something?