Laptop not charging & now not turning on at all

[TillyWilly]

Hello!

I have a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x which is almost always plugged in on my desk. A few days ago I took it downstairs, unplugged, to do some work. When it got down to about 40% I took it back upstairs, put it on charge, and went about my day.

Later on, when I went back upstairs, I realised it wasn't charging. I made sure it hadn't come loose anywhere, which it hadn't, then tried a few common fixes: restarting it, scanning for updates, scanning for issues, troubleshooting, re-downloading the drivers etc. but nothing worked.

At this point, the charge was down to about 30% and I was worried about it running out completely, so I contacted Lenovo. They suggested I try a new charger, which I'd already ordered, but in the meantime to try one last fix: turn it off, unplug everything, press fn + s + v, hold the power button for 60 seconds, plug it back in, then turn it back on. They described this as "static electricity discharge". Since following these steps, the laptop hasn't turned on at all.

The new charger arrived yesterday but it isn't working. There are no lights to indicate the charger is even plugged in. The only difference with the new charger is that you can feel a tingling sensation when you run your finger along the lid of the laptop when it's plugged in, something you can't feel with the original charger.

My friend's dad, who is pretty tech-savvy, tried removing the battery, holding the power button for a few seconds, then putting it back in, but that didn't work either. He did discover that the original charger isn't completely broken, however, because it managed to charge his phone.

Lenovo has assured me that the laptop is not completely broken, it has "just lost the electricity", in their exact words. In all honesty, I'm not quite sure what that means. All I know is that I have a laptop that is apparently drained of power, one charger that doesn't do anything, and another that causes the laptop to tingle but nothing else.

If anyone could give me some advise I would really appreciate it! I don't think the laptop is even 3 years old yet, and it wasn't the cheapest to buy...

Thank you so much in advance

 

[phillpower2]

Hello TillyWilly,

Is the replacement charger a genuine Lenovo component specific to this computer.

My friend's dad, who is pretty tech-savvy, tried removing the battery, holding the power button for a few seconds, then putting it back in, but that didn't work either.

If you are not able to do this yourself have your friends dad remove the battery altogether and then try the original charger.

Before removing the battery the computer should have been disconnected from the mains for a while and the chassis power on button pressed and held down for at least twenty seconds to get rid of any residual charge in the circuits.

The only difference with the new charger is that you can feel a tingling sensation when you run your finger along the lid

Should not be happening and could mean that something is shorting out.

 

[TillyWilly]

Hello TillyWilly,

Is the replacement charger a genuine Lenovo component specific to this computer.



If you are not able to do this yourself have your friends dad remove the battery altogether and then try the original charger.

Before removing the battery the computer should have been disconnected from the mains for a while and the chassis power on button pressed and held down for at least twenty seconds to get rid of any residual charge in the circuits.



Should not be happening and could mean that something is shorting out.

Sorry for the late reply! Only just had a chance to try this out. I did as you said and the laptop still isn’t turning on, no charging lights either. Do you have any other ideas? Thanks

 

[TillyWilly]

Hello TillyWilly,

Is the replacement charger a genuine Lenovo component specific to this computer.



If you are not able to do this yourself have your friends dad remove the battery altogether and then try the original charger.

Before removing the battery the computer should have been disconnected from the mains for a while and the chassis power on button pressed and held down for at least twenty seconds to get rid of any residual charge in the circuits.



Should not be happening and could mean that something is shorting out.

When you say “remove battery”, do you mean unplug the cables (as pictured) or remove the entire thing (i.e. unscrew it and take it out completely)? Is there a major difference? Thank you

 

[phillpower2]

Is the replacement charger a genuine Lenovo component specific to this computer.

You missed answering the above that was asked.

As long as the battery is disconnected from the MB it would not normally make any difference but because of the" tingling sensation when you run your finger along the lid of the laptop when it's plugged in, " I would completely remove the battery in case it is causing a short.

Can I ask that you do not quote every reply as we have to read the full post to make sure nothing gets missed,, thanks.

 

[TillyWilly]

The replacement charger was not a genuine Lenovo charger, but I have since returned it. I tried both unplugging the battery and removing it entirely, with the original charger plugged in, but the laptop still won’t turn on. I think I’m going to have to send it off to Lenovo for repairs. Thank you.

 

[phillpower2]

You cannot trust a third party charger which is the reason why genuine OEM chargers are more expensive.

Does the original charger have a light on it to show when it is receiving power from the mains, if not, does the charger get warm at all if left connected to the wall socket and with the sockets switch in the on position.

A word to the wise, if the notebook is not still covered by any warranty do not send it off until you have had it checked by a reputable tech in your area, the battery may well be out of charge because of the original charger being broken and a local tech will have an appropriate charger to be able to tell you this within minutes, check what they will charge for this service beforehand though, I wouldn't charge but some techs may charge a small fee.

 

[TillyWilly]

There’s no light on the charger itself, but it was able to charge a phone, so I assume it still works. I’ll leave it plugged in for a bit to see if it gets warm though.

I ruled out taking it to a tech store simply because I believed that the fact that the original charger was able to charge a phone meant that the issue was with the laptop itself, and beyond removing the battery, a local tech probably wouldn’t be able to repair it. But that’s probably me being ignorant and a little bit paranoid thinking Lenovo themselves would be my safest bet.

The laptop is no longer under warranty, but Lenovo has quoted me approximately £115 to repair it.

If the charger does start to warm up, which I’m guessing indicates that it’s receiving power from the mains and therefore working, do you still think there’s any point taking it to a local tech before sending it off?

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[TillyWilly]

Sorry, forgot to add: looking at the itemised quote they’ve sent me, I think they plan on just swapping the battery out. This seems like something a local tech could do quite easily, if they had the part. What do you think? Thanks again!

 

[phillpower2]

As a power supply puts out various voltages it may appear that the unit is working correctly but it is not, any significant drop of any output can prevent the system from booting up, the other scenario is a significant increase in the output which can be worse as it can fry one or more major components such as the MB, CPU, RAM etc.

So they are wanting to charge you £60 to swap a battery that may not even be the problem, you are fully aware as to how to remove and replace the battery so excuse me for saying that one would have to be nuts to pay all that money to Lenovo, you could quite possibly end up paying all that money but still have no working notebook.

100% check for a reputable tech local to you, word of mouth or the local council sometimes have a list of trusted traders.

Last but not least, we have no idea as to the details of the third party charger that was tried nor if trying an incorrect charger has caused any damage, it would be far less expensive and be far less trouble to get the notebook checked locally as opposed to sending it off to Lenovo, if the MB happens to be toast it will not be a cost effective repair I`m afraid.

Edit to add: If it were only a bad battery the notebook would still work and all that would happen would be you getting an on screen message telling you that no battery was detected, this is what is telling us that there is more going on.

 

[TillyWilly]

I left the original charger plugged in with the socket switched on for a few hours and the charger is cold to the touch. Do you believe this is a sign the charger might be faulty?

I agree that paying that much is a bit ridiculous. Now that I have the part number/battery they intend to use, I could buy one and fit it myself to see if it works.

So the next step would be to either buy a new legitimate Lenovo charger and see if that works, or take it to a local tech and see if they have a charger they can test?

I completely understand your point about the risks of using third party chargers. I was desperate to find a quick fix and Amazon was the only place I could find that could deliver next day, but they of course don’t sell original Lenovo chargers. The charger I bought claims to be compatible with all Lenovo Yogas, and the reviews were good, so I thought it would at least work just to get the laptop switching on again, even temporarily… But I really hope I’m wrong (which is more than likely!) and trying a new genuine Lenovo charger fixes the issue.

Is there any way to determine if the MB is the issue? I really don’t know what could’ve fried it…

Thank you again for all your help. I can’t begin to express how grateful I am for your expertise!

 

[TillyWilly]

I’ve just realised something about the original charger vs the third party one I used! The third party one had 65w engraved on it, whereas the original has 100w engraved on it. I feel stupid for not noticing this earlier! Does this mean the laptop requires a 100w charger? Thanks.

 

[phillpower2]

The voltage and the DC jack pin that goes into the charging port must be 100% the exact same else something will get shorted out or fried,

The wattage can be slightly more as the computer will only draw what it needs but being 35W short of the required 100W means that there may not even be enough power to initiate charging the battery.

To recap, the lid causing tingling to the touch when the replacement charger was tried is a concern and asking a local tech to take a look is your best and safest option, please avoid the likes of PC World as they have no on site techs meaning that hardware gets shipped away.

 

[phillpower2]

Post separately so that the OP receives notification.

TillyWilly,

Can you post a link to the same model of Yoga Slim 7 that you have, there are different versions so specs vary and we need to be able to check what the correct AC Adapter is, the model here for example gets charged via a USB-C port, the charger also happens to be 65W.

Please also include a link to the 100W charger that was tried.

 

[TillyWilly]

I’m going to take it to a local tech this weekend, I think. Unfortunately the charger wasn’t available on the Lenovo website, so I ordered a third party one again… I know you advised against this, but I’m not sure where I can by a genuine Lenovo charger if Lenovo themselves is out of stock?

The charger I ordered has the same wattage (100w) and voltage input (100-240v~50-60Hz 1.8A) and output (5V-3A/9V-3A/15V-3A/20V-5A) as is listed on the original charger. The only difference I can see is that the third party charger is USB-C while the laptop specs list the charging port as Thunderbolt, but apparently these are the same?

Laptop model/specs: https://business.currys.co.uk/catal...p-intel-core-i7-512-gb-ssd-dark-teal/N683198W

Third party charger: https://amzn.eu/d/09RdWONs

The new charger hasn’t arrived yet, so I obviously haven’t tested it yet. But I’m admittedly hesitant to do so after what you said about the dangers of using third party chargers. I’m not sure if it’s worth the risk… I’m just doubtful that a local tech will have the appropriate charger to hand, seeing as Lenovo themselves don’t seem to stock it.

Thanks

 

[phillpower2]

Third party charger: https://amzn.eu/d/09RdWONs

Using the details that you provided the Lenovo specs here states that your notebook charges via a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, not USB-C.

Third party charger: https://amzn.eu/d/09RdWONs

Is this the previously tried charger or the one that you just ordered, either way it is shown to be incorrect and if ( A ) we have the correct model of Lenovo and ( B ) you have been plugging the charger into anything other than port 3 in the Lenovo pic that I provided it would explain both the lack of charging and the tingling in the notebook lid.

 

[TillyWilly]

I’ve attached photos of both the charging port and the charger itself. I’m fairly certain that’s USB-C, not USB-A? I found the model number I gave you by putting my laptop’s serial number into the Lenovo website, which gave me a list of the specs, so I assume it’s right. I think there are a few differences between the US and UK models, so maybe that’s it? I’m from the UK. I’ve had the laptop for over a year and it’s always charged via either of the two smaller ports next to the HDMI port in the picture provided. Thanks.

 

[phillpower2]

Is the Lenovo here the same model as what you have, can you also take a look at the attached pic and do a comparison to your notebook.

I too am in the UK btw.

 

[TillyWilly]

It looks very similar, but mine is the Intel version, not AMD. Also, my laptop has a HDMI port next to the 2 USB-C ports, which doesn’t look the same as the picture you’ve attached (port 5). Ports 1-4 are identical to mine, from what I can tell, but I’ve only ever used port 3 as a regular USB port, for data transfer etc. It’s ports 6 or 7 (primarily 6) that I use to charge the laptop.

I’ve attached screenshots of the manual for my laptop; mine is 14IAH7, not 14ARH7. It shows that port 3 on the left (USB-C) is to connect to the AC power adaptor, whereas port 3 on the right (USB-A) is for charging external devices.

Sorry this is getting over-complicated now. Perhaps there are 2 very similar models with imperceptible differences? Thanks.

 

[phillpower2]

Sorry this is getting over-complicated now

No worries, we wouldn't be here if we didn`t want to be, including the 14IAH7 details from the outset would have helped though

Genuine Lenovo A 100W USB-C charger

Any decent tech will have an appropriate charger to use for testing.

Long shot but have you tried swapping what we call the kettle lead, this is the lead that goes from the wall socket into the adaptor.