Who knows what ddid happen? (laptop, installed, software, hardware)

[irman]

I have an older laptop, HP, which I use as my main computer.
The battery is installed and is NOT plugged in when I use the computer.
I can see the amount of charge of the battery in the lower right.
The latest version of WIN 10 with all of the updates.

During normal use, I always saw a charge of about 55% at the end of my usage and then, after I turned the machine off, I left it plugged into the charger for the next day's use.
When I then turned it on the next day, I could see that the battery was overnight again fully charged...


Then One day, the battery did not show fully charged anymore but a steadily lower charge the next day.


This went on for a couple of days. It looked like the battery was defective and did not charge anymore overnight.
The charge shown, went all the way DOWN to 12%.

All of a sudden, the charge shown was again fully charged after an overnight situation.

The computer has since operated again as usual.
I start with an overnight full charge and end up with a lower charge when I am done a couple of hours later. Then turn it off and the battery is again fully charged the next day.

I have no idea why this happened. Does anybody know what may have happened?

Thanks for looking into this.

[TurcoLoco]

If everything went back to normal and stayed that way, then more than likely a fluke.
Probably not a hardware but a software fluke unless there was a faulty connection or something.
Laptop chargers are typically 2 piece, the part that connects to the wall outlet which then plugs into the charger box which then has typically a longer cord with a DC tip that plugs into the laptop. One of these connections might have been loose and not properly charged the laptop.

If you have an aftermarket charger then all bets are off.

Not sure how old and what type the battery is, but check its health and charge rating using a freeware like Battery Mark, BatExpert or the simple standalone one called BatteryInfoView.

Also, unless the laptop has the intellicharging (chipset) and NiMH or Li-Ion type battery, I would not leave it plugged to the charger for hours.

[MidValleyDad]

Have you checked the connections to the wall outlet? could a cord have been lose and then someone 'fixed' it. Could it just not have been plugged in fully one or a few nights? Or since this was over the holidays, did someone unplug your charger to plug a decoration or other temporary item in?


If everything has returned to normal I would just mark it up as a gremlin. If it happens again I would examin every segment of the powerflow closely as soon as it is noticed and see if you can figure out where the problem is.