Razer Blade battery issues and Windows feature
Hello, since my battery overcharging / bloating Razer locked thread and got in touch for a (chargeable) out of warranty repair because battery warranties only extend to 1 year and I was 2 and a bit years into my ownership.
I'd like to set aside whether this should require a chareable repair or covered under warranty, a thread on that will go no-where an I also suspect would be locked.
But on reflection and with the benefit of hindsight I missed several the warning signs of failure while I was still under warranty and I just wished I'd acted sooner so I am posting here some of the warning signs so that other users can perhaps catch in-warranty and not be caught as I was.
Kind regards
Chris
0) Usage:
On those other forums and looking across several threads the common feature seems to be laptops with battery issues are those used while permanently plugged into power. As mine always was.
1) Temperature:
Before - When charging my laptop at around area of the touchpad got quite hot. Not too hot to touch but much much hotter than normal.
Since replacing the battery - I've noted that now when plugged in area of the laptop around area of the touchpad is now much much cooler.
[note that area does get slightly warm still while charging even when relatively idle, but no-where near what it used to be]
Thoughts/warning for users. If you feel you're getting excessive heat build-up even while laptop idle, e.g. just browsing the internet or even completely idle, consider whether laptop battery isn't swelling up.
2) Fan :
Before - Possibly related to the above I noted my laptop in screen-off mode and unused would suddenly wake up and start spinning up the fan. I enabled some performance logging and then disabled virus scanners and background services and even tried safe mode to confirm this was NOT related to idle processing like Virus scan etc. I thought it was just laptop design but now fans were waking up to cool down a laptop being heated by the battery.
Since replacing the battery - Now the laptop will sit quite silently. Even as I type this with laptop fully awake the fans are hardly running.
Thoughts/warning for users. as above, laptop spinning up fans excessively when just browsing the internet etc. is not normal. Consider booting into safe mode perhaps to rule out other processes, and if it still does this consider if your battery might have an issue.
3) Trackpad
Definitely related to the expansion of the battery the trackpad lost efficiency. As noted I often used laptop connected to monitor, keyboard and mouse (screen always ajar before anyone asks) and hence I didn't use mouse for a very long time.
Before -
When travelling to family I noted that I couldn't use the trackpad to "click n drag" in the centre as I thought I was once able - only the very very bottom edge of the trackpad would respond.
It had been so long since I got laptop that I sincerely forgot that actually the whole trackpad should be clickable.
Since replacing the battery -
The trackpad is fine.
Thoughts/warning for users. loss of sensitivity of the trackpad? From now my first suspicions if a trackpad becomes unresponsive to clicks will the battery. See above.
4) Swapping memory/SSD.
Thoughts/warning for users. As I undid each screw holding the case the swelling of the battery caused the case to want to fly apart.
Thoughts/warning for users.
When removing the screws on even routine changes like upgrading SSD consider holding down / weighting the case to try to limit the likelihood of the screws being ripped out from the case as each, or the last one is undone.
I managed to survive with only one hinge-cover broken (not the bit that surrounds the metal hinge itself)
because that was the very last screw that I was removing and by then with all the screws towards the front removed the case was wanting to open an inch or so more than it's normal height.
The force is quite significant so be warned.
Razer Blade 15 2019 FHD 144Hz | i7-8750H | GTX 2080MQ | 6 GB GDDR6 VRAM | 16GB DDR4 2666MHz | 512 GB| FireStrike TimeSpy
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I've dumped my battery stats and charted below.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ukCNfEyo-48lAvStDqSfKOk0cdwjLaWfEoF0m3v94Rc/edit?usp=sharin
To obtain your data run from command line "powercnf /batteryreport" and then open the resulting html in brower. copy/paste the table headed "Battery Capacity History" into a copy of this s-sheet or a new tab inside this one (not sure if it'll let you - never used google sheets before).
The blips downwards around weeks 115>125 with hindsight I'd say is when the issues became unmistakeable
The increase around week 147is when I installed the new battery
The slight hollow around week 36 to 44 is a period around Dec>Jan 2019 when I actually used the laptop from battery and charging inbetween. So I am wondering if that was perhaps was the true capacity and the capacity either side of that was being masked by the laptop being mostly on-charge during the rest of the period.
Show us yours. to grab run the above command and then copy/paste the table headed "Battery capacity history" from the resulting HTML into a copy of the s-sheet.
All good advice! I think your biggest issue was leaving it plugged in all the time. I did the same thing with two MacBooks (a 2008, and late 2013 Pro) and over time both batteries swelled. This is very common and happens in a lot of laptops, however the swelling become more noticeable in a thin laptop like a MacBook or Razer Blade. It may less noticeable in chunkier laptops since there could be more room for the battery to swell without causing issues with the case or trackpad.
I perhaps wrongly assumed that once fully charged and laptop still plugged in that the power draw was taken from the power brick, and battery sitting unused and not being charged.
But now I wonder whether actually the power draw is taken from the battery even when plugged in and battery is then in a constant state of having a current passed through it.
What's nuts is that I thought it was the action of charging that caused battery wear and that laptops had tech to prevent overcharge. But the evidence is that you might as well run your laptop from the battery in a non power saving mode and charge every few hours when flat.
Chris
Others with battery issues have removed the battery and the laptop still runs on AC power, so I’m not sure that the power draw is always taken from the battery. When your Blade was being used was it fully powered down or was it sleeping or hibernating? With my MacBooks I usually left them plugged in and sleeping.
I’ve only just ordered my first Razer Blasé (a 2022 14” with 3070 ti). I will defitnely keep on the lookout for signs of battery swelling. It looks like replacing the battery yourself is not that difficult.
Plugged in
I do note that they don't goto sleep very well if connected to an external monitor... Often I'd come downstairs in the morning and the laptop is pinging back and forth between sleep and awake...I think the monitor going into sleep mode wakes up the laptop and the laptop going to sleep wakes up the monitor.
Nowadays I power off both completely as I don't trust the laptop to stay asleep
crypticcNice points. Just adding bottom areas would be warm if the battery is charging it’s similar to all lithium battery devices. Blade laptops cassis acts as heat dissipation and since it’s aluminium unibody it’s more noticeable than other material, it’s similar with macs, like MacBook, iPhone, iPad etc if you charge it on low percentage and play games it’ll noticeable warm since the body dissipate the heat from lithium battery and cpu. On gaming laptops it’s important to monitor the temperature, higher it’s faster it’ll wear, and on some point it’ll be bloated, in my case I won’t let the CPU runs long in 90ish areas and gpu I’ll keep not touching mid 80ish. As a result from several Razer laptops I had in past decade only one got bloated (that was also after 3 years and due pandemic more home gaming), I still have 7 years and had 5 years their system that still running well despite some of them the battery was dead (no bloated).
Hello, since my battery overcharging / bloating Razer locked thread and got in touch for a (chargeable) out of warranty repair because battery warranties only extend to 1 year and I was 2 and a bit years into my ownership. I'd like to set aside whether this should require a chareable repair or covered under warranty, a thread on that will go no-where an I also suspect would be locked. But on reflection and with the benefit of hindsight I missed several the warning signs of failure while I was still under warranty and I just wished I'd acted sooner so I am posting here some of the warning signs so that other users can perhaps catch in-warranty and not be caught as I was. Kind regards Chris 0) Usage: On those other forums and looking across several threads the common feature seems to be laptops with battery issues are those used while permanently plugged into power. As mine always was. 1) Temperature: Before - When charging my laptop at around area of the touchpad got quite hot. Not too hot to touch but much much hotter than normal. Since replacing the battery - I've noted that now when plugged in area of the laptop around area of the touchpad is now much much cooler. [note that area does get slightly warm still while charging even when relatively idle, but no-where near what it used to be] Thoughts/warning for users. If you feel you're getting excessive heat build-up even while laptop idle, e.g. just browsing the internet or even completely idle, consider whether laptop battery isn't swelling up. 2) Fan : Before - Possibly related to the above I noted my laptop in screen-off mode and unused would suddenly wake up and start spinning up the fan. I enabled some performance logging and then disabled virus scanners and background services and even tried safe mode to confirm this was NOT related to idle processing like Virus scan etc. I thought it was just laptop design but now fans were waking up to cool down a laptop being heated by the battery. Since replacing the battery - Now the laptop will sit quite silently. Even as I type this with laptop fully awake the fans are hardly running. Thoughts/warning for users. as above, laptop spinning up fans excessively when just browsing the internet etc. is not normal. Consider booting into safe mode perhaps to rule out other processes, and if it still does this consider if your battery might have an issue. 3) Trackpad Definitely related to the expansion of the battery the trackpad lost efficiency. As noted I often used laptop connected to monitor, keyboard and mouse (screen always ajar before anyone asks) and hence I didn't use mouse for a very long time. Before - When travelling to family I noted that I couldn't use the trackpad to "click n drag" in the centre as I thought I was once able - only the very very bottom edge of the trackpad would respond. It had been so long since I got laptop that I sincerely forgot that actually the whole trackpad should be clickable. Since replacing the battery - The trackpad is fine. Thoughts/warning for users. loss of sensitivity of the trackpad? From now my first suspicions if a trackpad becomes unresponsive to clicks will the battery. See above. 4) Swapping memory/SSD. Thoughts/warning for users. As I undid each screw holding the case the swelling of the battery caused the case to want to fly apart. Thoughts/warning for users. When removing the screws on even routine changes like upgrading SSD consider holding down / weighting the case to try to limit the likelihood of the screws being ripped out from the case as each, or the last one is undone. I managed to survive with only one hinge-cover broken (not the bit that surrounds the metal hinge itself) because that was the very last screw that I was removing and by then with all the screws towards the front removed the case was wanting to open an inch or so more than it's normal height. The force is quite significant so be warned.
joikansaiHi Maybe when I said area around wrist/battery area "warm" I should've said "hot". Easily hotter than say my cup of coffee or say the porridge which this morning was 60'c. The room downstairs even mid-summer last year didn't go above 25'C As an aside, and I don't know if this is by chance, I unplugged my laptop last night with it turned off and mostly, but not fully charged. I note that even though laptop plugged in and constantly powered the charge now won't go above the 95% that it was on when I booted the laptop which I'm happy to see. Now if only I could get it to stick at 80% max instead and I'd be a happy bunny. Chris p.s. Found reference to what I am seeing here - I presume is done to manage the very issues that I had. Shame they locked that thread instead of publicising as it could've prevented my battery issues had I known. Razer Insider | Forum - 95% Available-Not Charging
Nice points. Just adding bottom areas would be warm if the battery is charging it’s similar to all lithium battery devices. Blade laptops cassis acts as heat dissipation and since it’s aluminium unibody it’s more noticeable than other material, it’s similar with macs, like MacBook, iPhone, iPad etc if you charge it on low percentage and play games it’ll noticeable warm since the body dissipate the heat from lithium battery and cpu. On gaming laptops it’s important to monitor the temperature, higher it’s faster it’ll wear, and on some point it’ll be bloated, in my case I won’t let the CPU runs long in 90ish areas and gpu I’ll keep not touching mid 80ish. As a result from several Razer laptops I had in past decade only one got bloated (that was also after 3 years and due pandemic more home gaming), I still have 7 years and had 5 years their system that still running well despite some of them the battery was dead (no bloated).
Razer Blade 15 2019 FHD 144Hz | i7-8750H | GTX 2080MQ | 6 GB GDDR6 VRAM | 16GB DDR4 2666MHz | 512 GB| FireStrike TimeSpy
1 person likes this
crypticcThis was being asked already since long time ago, hopefully they’ll listen it considering gaming laptops are mostly being used on ac adapter power and some other brand already implemented this on their gaming laptops. Unlike OSX 3rd party developers on windows for some reason that I don’t know surely don’t make battery limitation software to make longer the battery longevity.
Hi Maybe when I said area around wrist/battery area "warm" I should've said "hot". Easily hotter than say my cup of coffee or say the porridge which this morning was 60'c. The room downstairs even mid-summer last year didn't go above 25'C As an aside, and I don't know if this is by chance, I unplugged my laptop last night with it turned off and mostly, but not fully charged. I note that even though laptop plugged in and constantly powered the charge now won't go above the 95% that it was on when I booted the laptop which I'm happy to see. Now if only I could get it to stick at 80% max instead and I'd be a happy bunny. Chris p.s. Found reference to what I am seeing here - I presume is done to manage the very issues that I had. Shame they locked that thread instead of publicising as it could've prevented my battery issues had I known. Razer Insider | Forum - 95% Available-Not Charging
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joikansaiHey - actually it does work they just don't tell us about it. The trick is to unplug and run down the battery to exactly 95%, and then plug it back in again. My battery has been at 95% now for 3 days and did keep the setting after both sleeping and restart. Running battery down to a lower percentage, say 40% and then plugging back in again caused the charge to go back upto 100% (but then I needed to re-do the 95% trick to get it to sustain itself at a lower %) I stumbled onto this by chance and then found that thread which was raised as a complaint, but then locked before any useful discussion that it should be really helpful for those of us concerned about battery life if being constantly held at 100%. cheers Chris
This was being asked already since long time ago, hopefully they’ll listen it considering gaming laptops are mostly being used on ac adapter power and some other brand already implemented this on their gaming laptops. Unlike OSX 3rd party developers on windows for some reason that I don’t know surely don’t make battery limitation software to make longer the battery longevity.
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