The diagnosis:

• Charge deteriorating daily - "full charge" from 100 % to 60 % over the last 2 weeks . Windows & BIOS both recognize fact that battery is going up to 60 % capacity but can't charge the battery past that point, computer on or off. Indicator used to switch blue when at full charge. It will never switch to blue now, it ALWAYS indicates that it is charging.

The facts / history:

• Self-caused problems: Broke power supply cord while attempting to charge by jamming it into express printer "nub" port while not looking
• Bought a cheap power supply on ebay for replacement, they sent the wrong one. Was a 60W and needed a 65W, attempted to use it without looking at the fine print on the power brick. Comptuer worked for 10 minutes then shut down. Problems started happening since then.
• I bought the OEM power cord from the authorized dealer to attempt to resolve the problem.
• I tried the auto-battery learning utility - which recognizes the fact that it is not fully charged but left overnight will not go past that inhibited value (now at 60 %)
• Atttempted BIOS flash - even though it wasn't an upgrade.
• Pulled CMOS battery

Concern:

So is it the motherboard or the battery? I would hate to spend the $110 dollars on the battery to learn that it is the motherboard. My warranty will be covered if it is the motherboard, but if it turns out to be the battery and I sent it in, nothing will be covered and I will have wasted about $250 bucks in shipping and diagnostic fees. What does every one think, and have they seen this before?

My charlatan approach:

Leave the battery out and get/use the "correct/OEM" power adapter. After a day or 2 put the battery back and see.

My wild guess and leaning toward a dud battery.

cheers ...

ghd what do you feel operating on the pure power source for 2 days would accomplish out of curiousity? I am kind of hoping it is the battery, especially since they have a new 12 cell version for my model but what bothers me is that ... that must mean I can actually RUIN the battery by supply a power that is underrated.... ? I've never heard of ruining a battery like that. Have you?

Like I said, it is the charlatan approach, just want to be sure that there is nothing wrong with the motherboard

Oh yes, you can ruin a battery "very" easily with a simple surge or "under-surge" signals. You starve the battery cells somehow, and they will never recover. This ... I am sure.

cheers ...

I want to know what is the amount of stored charge when it reads 60%? Is it 60% of what it should be? Have you run the battery out and tried charging?

I think it is the battery. You want some crazy advice? Put in plastic bag, 40% charge put in freezer for 5 hours. Remove let get to room temp. Put back in notebook and charge.

How many cell battery do you have?

One thing that points to MoBo is that the notebook indicates still charging when we know it is not? If it only charged to 60% and said full that points to battery issue.

qhn's and my suggestion are desperate acts that we likely would try ourselves because they cost nothing. Stranger things have been corrected in unorthodox ways. There are ghosts in these machines.

The cycling I mentioned first is critical if you have not done. 5w should not make a difference as far as damage. It would just mean that if you ran on AC battery would charge slow or not charge I think. All electronic devices can handle variance. If 65w needed I do not see 5w +/- causing damage? VoltsxAmps=Watts so I guess if "v" and "a" are very disproportional to the correct? Sure I guess damage could happen. What is the voltage of the good and bad powerbrick?

If you have a 9 cell I have an idea that is not looking good for your battery.

The battery learning indicator indicated in percentage and in "maH" (or whatever) that the better was at 60 % but couldnt charge anymore. It kept trying to charge more, but it couldn't. Kinda like the littlest engine.

I am going to try this after I order a new battery! and I am also going to try qhn's suggestion of not using the battery at all, this weekend.

It was an 8-cell. The reason I have not bought a new one already is because the OEM website for GW C-143X (www.mundocorp.com) indicated a new battery that is 12-cell which I would rather cough up an extra 30 bucks for. They didn't offer this when I bought the laptop, but it's listed out of stock. I called and they said they don't give estimates of arrival. I'm going to wait 2 weeks, else assume this magical 12-cell battery ive never heard of since now probably isn't even in production. At that time I'd get the 8-cell. Id love to sit through all my classes without plugging in though! I'm getting excited just thinking about it... nerdy huh!

Nope , battery learning indiciates not full, tries to charge it, and fails. Windows Vista and Win7 will both get up to the 60% mark when it caps out, it will says "60% charged, not charging" when you hover with the mouse. Always the light is purple when plugged in, indicating that it is charging.

In short, it's not over.... I'm just delayed because I am dying to get a 12-cell battery now that I've seen it on the website! Will post troubleshooting results when I have them thanks guys!

huh?

I hope just a bad battery. But I just don't have a clue. The 9 Cell comment was that three cells in series to get correct voltage. 60% would indicate one bank is fried. You have 8 cells so not what I thought.

The 60% if of theoretical max is not unusual what is unusual is that it reports still charging.