# Solved: Toshiba laptop battery loses charge



## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

My Toshiba P755-S5198 battery loses charge even when the computer is shut down (not sleep, not hibernation -- powered off by clicking "Shut down" at the Start button). The rate at which it discharges is alarming -- 15-20% per day. I've checked the BIOS to see if by chance something was enabled that would drain it, but nothing is. It's only just over a year old and has always done this.

What's draining the battery?


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

If it has been doing this from the very beginning did you ever check in with warranty about it? One bad cell can cause what you are describing and I would have thought this could have been resolved with Toshiba.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

captainron276 said:


> If it has been doing this from the very beginning did you ever check in with warranty about it? One bad cell can cause what you are describing and I would have thought this could have been resolved with Toshiba.


Did not. Didn't really notice until recently because the computer had been going into sleep mode when I closed the lid, so for a long time, I assumed that was why it was draining the battery. But recently I started shutting it down. It's only then that I noticed that it still loses power when shut down.

If its a bad cell, I assume it would lose a noticeable amount of juice even when removed from the computer. . . which I just did this morning. I will put it back in tomorrow and see if it has lost some charge.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

Keep us posted..


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Put the battery back in this morning, so it was out for about 20-22 hours. NO LOSS OF CHARGE (was 100% when I put it back in). So, there appears to be nothing wrong with the battery.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

I would have to agree; but it sure is a shame that it's not under warranty now Maybe one of the Tech's will have an idea for you DKTaber.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

I found a forum on Toshiba's site. One of the major sub-forums was Batteries and Power, in which I found a couple of old threads dealing with the same issue. The suggested solution was to turn off "Sleep and Charge" in the BIOS; that option apparently draws some power while the computer is in sleep or hibernation. Not sure about its effect when the computer is turned OFF, but I have disabled it, turned the computer off, and unplugged it from the charger as 11am today. Will check it tomorrow and report back here.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

OK


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Just fired the laptop up after being off for 26 hours and not plugged in. Battery was fully charged when it was turned off. Battery (after boot) was 94%. Given that the boot-up itself takes a fair amount of energy, that seem's normal/A-OK with me. So I think turning off the "Sleep and Charge" (which should be renamed "Sleep and Discharge") in the BIOS did the trick.

I have marked the thread as solved.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

Thanks for the update DKTaber


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

Back around the time you got your computer Toshiba replaced my battery which was almost a year old then. They were having a problem with the batteries they were getting - maybe they changed vendors or something. Try calling Toshiba (support number should be on your Computer Properties screen (right click on computer in start menu then click Properties). My battery was only getting two hours instead of the advertised four. I had no problem with them at all. They didn't give me a hard time or anything. They knew!!!


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

I don't know that there's anything wrong with the battery. I've never left the computer on long enough to run the battery all the way down. My sense is that it would last about 2-2.5 hours. . . but how long a battery charge lasts is highly dependent on the power settings. I'm sure I could get 4 hours out of it if I use eco mode, but that slows the CPU and greatly reduces screen brightness, neither of which I'm happy with. I want full CPU power and a bright screen -- all the time.

Toshiba support claims I have a utility on the computer called "PC Health Monitor" that will tell me (among other things) whether the battery is healthy or not. I'm supposed to be able to access it by typing "health" in the Search bar. Doing so produces only documents and files with the word "health" in them. I downloaded and installed the latest version of that program from their site, but again, "health" in the Search bar doesn't find it and it's not in the TOSHIBA folder. It IS listed in Programs and Features, but I can find no way to access it.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

Try this free program as it does check on battery health among other things like temps and voltages.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

captainron276 said:


> Try this free program as it does check on battery health among other things like temps and voltages.
> 
> http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html


Well, I installed it, but am not sure what the figures mean. Its design capacity is 4400mWh, but full charge capacity is only 4222mWh. Under "Levels" (what's that?), it says the "Wear Level" is 5%. Charge level Value is 98%, Min is also 98%, Max is 100%. All of these are with a fully charged battery immediately after unplugging the charger.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

I have a new battery in my old Dell D610 and it shows a 120% charge, which is above the design capacity. My old battery which still holds a 92% charge is showing some wear and of course does not last but only and hour or so; but is good for a backup. Your battery seems to be in pretty good shape showing only a wear level of 5%. Keep in mind this is not 100% accurate; but does give us and idea what is taking place.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

I left the computer on, running on the battery, for about 1 hour while I ate lunch. The Charge Level dropped 11% during that hour, which suggests that it would last 9 hours. However, my power settings turn the screen off at 10 min. and put the computer into sleep mode at 15 min. when on battery. So it's not an accurate estimation of how long the battery would last if fully active all the time. Doing that would require something like watching a movie or playing a very long game or series of games, neither of which I do. So it looks like the run time I'm getting is adequate for what I normally do.


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Good news: I put the computer into hibernation (by closing the lid; advanced power setting is to go into hibernation when lid is closed) late yesterday afternoon, noting that the battery was at 83%. So it was in hibernation for about 15 hours when I turned it back on this morning. The battery had dropped only 3 points to 80%. Turning the Sleep and Charge feature off it the BIOS was apparently the magic charm.


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

Thanks for the update


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## DKTaber (Oct 26, 2001)

Just gotta' add this: Today, just for kicks, I closed the lid at 11:23am, putting the laptop into hibernation with a 100% charge on the battery. I opened it at 2:23pm -- 3 hours later -- and the battery was still at 100%. I'm ecstatic!!!!!!!!!! Turning off "Sleep and Charge" solved this problem IN SPADES!


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## captainron276 (Sep 11, 2010)

Well done :up:


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