The laptop's battery isn't charging properly?
The laptop's battery isn't charging properly?
Hi All,
I hope everything is fine.
I purchased this laptop used, classified as Class A, without a charger. At the same time, I bought a USB Type C charger from another source—original Lenovo. When I connected it, I noticed the charger was making a noise, indicating something was amiss.
I thought the issue might be with the charger itself, which is designed to stop charging if it’s incompatible. I tried using a different charger that worked without noise and kept the battery charged. However, even after resetting the device, the battery still showed only 2% charge and never fully charged.
The laptop only functions when plugged in. I checked the battery and found it had only five cycles left, suggesting it was brand new. But I suspect the faulty charger may have damaged it or drained the battery too much, preventing recharging. It seems a replacement is necessary.
I’m not very familiar with these advanced features in modern laptops. What are your thoughts?
It seems like someone claims they repaired the issue. This person mentions a past incident where Lenovo destroyed many devices with a harmful firmware update. They own a device that no longer charges, USB-C and docking station are faulty, and HDMI over USB-C is non-functional. In the video, they attempt to bring this notebook back to life and share their experience.
I reviewed the issue page and noticed T14 isn't listed, which suggests it's not the correct model.
I checked the laptop and captured some photos. The battery was also removed.
I don’t see any obvious signs of damage—just discoloration that looks like it’s been browned.
For the chargers, I found a 45W one that didn’t work:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226329026231
This appears to be an older model from 2019, though it claims Gen3 compatibility.
I also found a 65W charger that still powers the laptop:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256938325130
This one is newer, from 2024, and supports T14 Gen3 Intel models.
The battery is from mid-2022, which is over three years old.
The UEFI BIOS version is as outdated as the battery—v1.03 released in July 2022.
Thanks for the link, it really helps me understand the BIOS setup on these Lenovos. Compared to other vendors, it seems simpler since they provide the binary directly for flashing BIOS in any way you prefer. In this case, there’s only a Windows EXE installer available, but I don’t have Windows installed. They also offer an ISO file that can be used to create a bootable BIOS flash utility. Necroware mentions LVFS for Linux, which is something I’m planning to use.
It began charging the battery, though I’m unsure if reconnecting yesterday caused this. Now it shows 42%. Upgrading all the firmwares is necessary, including the battery firmware, which appears to be quite old. Do you know if a fully charged battery is required for an EFI firmware upgrade? It’s already plugged in. I ran fwupdmgr get-updates and it prompted several questions before asking for a restart. It seems some updates must run in EFI mode. After restarting, the screen displayed “Reset System,” then a progress bar showed 0% and the device turned off. I believe it’s reacting negatively to something. I removed the EFI menu lock so it can modify boot entries. Is there a firmware update restriction or lock involved?
The fix for the issue I reported involves installing firmware updates one at a time using fwupmgr instead of all at once and then restarting. All firmware, including the BIOS, was updated, but the battery firmware upgrade didn’t succeed. There’s a significant jump from version 1.0.4 to 1.3.7 (259.0.0.7). I’ve noted that the battery reached about 42% before dropping, even though the operating system showed AC power charging. After that point, it began discharging despite the AC indicator. The laptop functioned without a power supply for some time, but once it dropped to 0%, it stayed at 0%—not even returning to 2%. I’m unsure if this is due to charging problems or a battery issue.
It seems the story continues without end. I recently received a new Lenovo battery from Lenovo, just installed. The model is dated August 2024 and manufactured by Simplo instead of Celxpert. The battery is already pre-charged to roughly one-third.
I connected this 65W Lenovo charger, but it doesn’t appear to be charging properly. It remains at about 27% for the last fifteen minutes, whereas rapid charging should bring it to full capacity in under an hour.
It looks like either the charger or the charging unit inside the laptop is faulty. Before replacing the battery, I noticed the laptop would shut down a few times while plugged into the charger. Although the battery was initially dead, I thought it should remain powered indefinitely. There were no power outages. It might be that this charger has an issue.
Even after more than fifteen minutes, the display still shows 27%. I suspect there’s a problem with the charging reporting. I believe it discharges and then shows only about 2%, just like before.
Just reviewed the charger itself. From what I see, a 65W USB-C charger from Lenovo doesn’t match another 65W model from the same maker. Even if it’s from September 2024, it seems unsupported by T14. However, these systems are compatible:
Lenovo 65W Standard AC Adapter (USB Type-C) Power Adapter works with:
- ThinkPad 13 2nd Gen
- X1 Tablet 2nd Gen
- X1 Yoga 2nd Gen
- X1 Carbon 5th Gen
- T470
- T570
- T470s
- T470s
- T570
- T470s
I think the problem lies with the laptop itself. I’d recommend getting a matching charger or using one of these voltage readers. Should I suggest returning the device now, or would you prefer to wait? It’s better to follow advice rather than rush into a purchase during this period.