Oscillating/intermittent charging under load (‘20 Blade Advanced, RTX2070S) | Razer Insider

Oscillating/intermittent charging under load (‘20 Blade Advanced, RTX2070S)

  • 4 February 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 360 views

Hey all, wondering if anyone has found a fix to this problem. I’ve seen a notable amount of other posts about this issue, but most seem to go to PM before a fix is shared. I’ve tried to be thorough about symptoms and my process in this post, but important info is bolded for skimming purposes :)

The Issue:
While plugged in and under load (in my case, Apex Legends), my Blade charging status begins flickering - it will very quickly switch between AC Adapter power and (stock) battery power. The symptoms of this problem are:

  • the laptop quickly throttles to battery performance mode, and then restores to plugged-in performance mode — causing massive FPS fluctuations and RGB/lighting flickers. Makes games unplayable
  • slowly discharges while plugged in and under load

To show the switch interval, and also get some more information, I generated a battery report from PowerShell. A screenshot of that is attached below - essentially, it’s changing state every 1-5 seconds.

What I’ve Tried (sequentially):

  • Turned it off and on again :big_grin_:
  • Not yet realizing that it was a charging issue, I assumed thermal throttling. Propped the machine up on a laptop stand for extra ventilation space, and used OpenHardwareMonitor to check on temperatures of components. Under load, CPU maxed out at around 82C, and GPU around 71C. Utilization and temperature stayed within normal limits, and continues to.
  • After poking around online, I found lots of reports about bloated faulty batteries in Razer Blade 15. Makes sense to me that it could be a battery problem, so I poked around. I was aware of this when I bought the laptop so I’ve always kept an eye out. No visible expansion while laptop is closed, so all good.
  • Ran the laptop on battery for awhile at various loads to see how it performs. It holds 60fps in Apex, and discharges at a reasonable speed based on load.
  • Took off the back and visually inspected the battery to look for signs of wear, bloating, imminent explosion, etc. Everything seemed to be in order, so I put it back together. At this point, I’m pretty sure that the battery is not causing the issue.
  • Stumbled through two dozen Razer Insider threads, I found a handful of suggestions that I gave a shot. I followed the instructions at https://mysupport.razer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/393/~/the-razer-blade-battery-is-either-not-charging-or-not-detected to see if it was a driver issue. No resolution.
  • At this point, I realized my keyboard lighting flickers ever-so-slightly to accompany the FPS fluctuations. I had the brightness settings pretty close for Plugged In and On Battery, but I now suspect the charger in some way. I put my 230W charger up on my desk so I now have a clear view on the LED indicator (per an Insider thread), and also installed a nifty little app called BatteryBar. BatteryBar shows charging/discharging rate in real time, so I can see it flicker between +40W and -70W in milliseconds! LED indicator on the charger does not visibly blink/flicker/dim.
  • Visually inspected the charger; no damage, and makes firm connections at all touch points. To test the charger, I removed the battery and ran my laptop on AC adapter power alone. Computer started up and worked fine. Putting it under load caused the computer to shut down right when it would have started flickering. Repeated this twice to make sure.
  • Tried two different outlets around the house, just in case. Same deal. Re-inserted battery, defeated. I don’t have any other chargers to test with, or any other compatible laptops to test the charger with, so I’m stuck at this point.

Looking forward:
I’m pretty convinced now that the cause is a faulty AC adapter. Either that, or something is wrong with the port/motherboard, which is something I’m definitely not suited to fix and getting it fixed will be out of my budget for awhile. Has anyone else experienced this, and are there any potential fixes/causes I’m missing? Preferably something cheap :wink_: - not looking forward to the $140 gamble on a new charger, so if you know a fixing-computer cheat code, let me know!

Reader in the distant future, hopefully one of my steps helps you figure out what’s wrong with your computer!


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1 Reply

Userlevel 7
mi-kol
Hey all, wondering if anyone has found a fix to this problem. I’ve seen a notable amount of other posts about this issue, but most seem to go to PM before a fix is shared. I’ve tried to be thorough about symptoms and my process in this post, but important info is bolded for skimming purposes :) The Issue: While plugged in and under load (in my case, Apex Legends), my Blade charging status begins flickering - it will very quickly switch between AC Adapter power and (stock) battery power. The symptoms of this problem are:
  • the laptop quickly throttles to battery performance mode, and then restores to plugged-in performance mode — causing massive FPS fluctuations and RGB/lighting flickers. Makes games unplayable
  • slowly discharges while plugged in and under load
To show the switch interval, and also get some more information, I generated a battery report from PowerShell. A screenshot of that is attached below - essentially, it’s changing state every 1-5 seconds. What I’ve Tried (sequentially):
  • Turned it off and on again :big_grin_:
  • Not yet realizing that it was a charging issue, I assumed thermal throttling. Propped the machine up on a laptop stand for extra ventilation space, and used OpenHardwareMonitor to check on temperatures of components. Under load, CPU maxed out at around 82C, and GPU around 71C. Utilization and temperature stayed within normal limits, and continues to.
  • After poking around online, I found lots of reports about bloated faulty batteries in Razer Blade 15. Makes sense to me that it could be a battery problem, so I poked around. I was aware of this when I bought the laptop so I’ve always kept an eye out. No visible expansion while laptop is closed, so all good.
  • Ran the laptop on battery for awhile at various loads to see how it performs. It holds 60fps in Apex, and discharges at a reasonable speed based on load.
  • Took off the back and visually inspected the battery to look for signs of wear, bloating, imminent explosion, etc. Everything seemed to be in order, so I put it back together. At this point, I’m pretty sure that the battery is not causing the issue.
  • Stumbled through two dozen Razer Insider threads, I found a handful of suggestions that I gave a shot. I followed the instructions at https://mysupport.razer.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/393/~/the-razer-blade-battery-is-either-not-charging-or-not-detected to see if it was a driver issue. No resolution.
  • At this point, I realized my keyboard lighting flickers ever-so-slightly to accompany the FPS fluctuations. I had the brightness settings pretty close for Plugged In and On Battery, but I now suspect the charger in some way. I put my 230W charger up on my desk so I now have a clear view on the LED indicator (per an Insider thread), and also installed a nifty little app called BatteryBar. BatteryBar shows charging/discharging rate in real time, so I can see it flicker between +40W and -70W in milliseconds! LED indicator on the charger does not visibly blink/flicker/dim.
  • Visually inspected the charger; no damage, and makes firm connections at all touch points. To test the charger, I removed the battery and ran my laptop on AC adapter power alone. Computer started up and worked fine. Putting it under load caused the computer to shut down right when it would have started flickering. Repeated this twice to make sure.
  • Tried two different outlets around the house, just in case. Same deal. Re-inserted battery, defeated. I don’t have any other chargers to test with, or any other compatible laptops to test the charger with, so I’m stuck at this point.
Looking forward: I’m pretty convinced now that the cause is a faulty AC adapter. Either that, or something is wrong with the port/motherboard, which is something I’m definitely not suited to fix and getting it fixed will be out of my budget for awhile. Has anyone else experienced this, and are there any potential fixes/causes I’m missing? Preferably something cheap :wink_: - not looking forward to the $140 gamble on a new charger, so if you know a fixing-computer cheat code, let me know! Reader in the distant future, hopefully one of my steps helps you figure out what’s wrong with your computer!

I love to see the details and work you have put in to isolate/resolve the Razer Blade's charging behavior. And yes, the issue could be the power adapter, charging port, and even the motherboard. Try updating your laptop's EC firmware by clicking this article and see if it helps. Otherwise, send me a PM including a photo of your laptop's BIOS main tab so I can check your laptop's information and firmware version. Save the file to any online drive account, then paste the link in your message. I'll be locking this thread to curb our conversation privately.

 

Update (7/11/2023):

Hi everyone! mi-kol mentioned that after the EC firmware update, he bought an OEM Razer charger which fixed the issue. Feel free to submit a case or send me a PM  if you need assistance. Thanks!