How To Charge Laptop Battery Manually: A Detailed Guide
Have your laptop’s battery malfunctioned or you cannot charge it internally? Do you want to know to charge laptop battery manually or externally?
Laptops serve us in many different ways. You can use them while on the go or laying in your bed. However, things can go out of hand if your laptop battery breaks down all of a sudden or refuses to get charged. The situation can worsen if you are completing an important business assignment or a university task. You can end up losing all of your sensitive data, ruining your hard work and reputation. Not to mention you have to work all over again. This could not only be a hassle but a waste of precious time as well.
If you don’t take the necessary measures, you can also face a lot of other issues. For example, you may have to replace your laptop battery or laptop altogether. Even if you can afford a new battery or laptop, it would take some time for you to get a new one. As a result, this rather insignificant problem can cost you a lot of money, time, and effort. In simple words, losing access to data on your laptop can be a serious issue, prompting you to take immediate action. One such action is to charge a laptop battery manually or externally.
How to Charge Laptop Battery Manually?
You can always charge your laptop battery using unconventional ways if the conventional methods don’t work. There are many battery charging hacks that can save your day.
Some Reasons for Battery Malfunction
It is imperative to discuss some of the reasons your battery may malfunction before talking about the charging hacks. The following are some of the potential reasons why your battery would not charge.
- Your laptop’s charger can be faulty
- It has completed its life
- The port on the laptop can be faulty or lose
- The charging cord can be faulty
- Damaged internal power connectors
- Dead wall sockets. Most people ignore dead wall sockets.
You must verify whether or not any of the above is responsible for the dead charger. Identifying the right problem would help you find the right solution as well.
Now, let us throw some light on all the options we have when it comes to charging the laptop battery externally.
Using a Universal Power Adaptor
Perhaps the easiest method to bring your dead battery back to life is to use a universal power adapter. However, you must employ this technique carefully for safety reasons. Laptop manufacturers build laptop batteries which are only compatible with their own adaptors. Using a third-party adapter can inflict serious damage on your laptop as well as your health and safety.
Another thing to note here is that universal adaptors are not necessarily universal. For example, the adapter you buy from the market may not work for your laptop. Therefore, you need to ensure the adapter you have purchased is compatible with your laptop battery. Universal adaptors make it super easy to charge your laptop but different adaptors support only certain laptop models.
You also need to keep in mind that there is no specific adapter for your laptop model. There are only general adaptors for HP laptops, Chromebooks, Lenovo laptops or Dell laptops. Similarly, you can use universal adaptors for Lenovo to charge only Lenovo laptops. The same is the case with all other adaptors.
Finally, you must check customer reviews even if you find an adapter for your laptop. Make sure the adapter works perfectly without any glitches and safety risks.
USB-C can Come to Your Rescue
You may be wondering how to charge laptop battery manually using USB-C. Using a USB is the first method people resort to when they try to charge the battery outside of the laptop. Gone are the days when it was impossible to charge a laptop through its USB port. All the latest laptop models feature USB-C ports. These ports are a little more advanced and different compared to the earlier USB versions. It is an innovative new USB cord that has quickly become a new standard for transferring data and charging devices.
Therefore, you can employ this technique to charge your laptop battery as well. UBS-C cord has a miniature connector with the size of a micro USB connector. You may only need this versatile and unique connector to connect all of your devices. On top of that, the cord is available easily to everybody nowadays.
However, your laptop should also have a USB-C port for this method to work. All the latest laptop models come with this port. Therefore, you won’t find it difficult to charge the laptop battery using USB-C cord.
Using External Battery Charger
Another viable solution is to buy a new or external battery charger. Such chargers are easily available in the market. All the laptop companies manufacture external chargers you can purchase for charging their laptops. Their website also has a list of all such charges.
Similarly, you can also buy a new third party charger. Once again, make sure that the third-party charger you choose is compatible with your laptop. For example, the charging connector of your laptop should match the connectors of the external charger.
You must also read the specifications of the external battery charger to ensure it is a perfect fit for your laptop.
Make Travel Adaptor Your Friend
A travel adapter can by your perfect companion if you want to charge your laptop on the go. You can use these adaptors to charge your laptop battery while you are travelling. Travel adaptors are a type of universal adaptors but you can only use them in a car, train or airplane. Just like a USB-C cord and a universal adapter, you have to ensure that the travel adapter you have brought along is compatible with your laptop.
It is also imperative for you to confirm that the air or car charger works as expected or promised. It is necessary to avoid any problem while you are on the road or an airplane. For instance, some car chargers only work with the power chord of your laptop’s charger. You must go for a car charger which chargers your laptop without a power cord.
Portable Laptop Chargers
Just like travel chargers, portable chargers are an excellent solution to your battery woes. However, it can be a cumbersome task to choose the right portable charger. The best portable charger should easily meet your laptop’s power needs. Secondly, it should support a variety of systems so people with other laptop models can also use it. The charger should also be lightweight and easy to carry otherwise it is not a portable one. You can easily find a good portable laptop charger online.
An AC Adaptor is Worth a Try
Do you know how to charge laptop battery with an AC adapter? To use this option, your laptop’s battery must have an AC adapter hookup. Some of the laptop batteries come with this brilliant feature. If your laptop is one of them, simply connect the AC adapter directly to this port. You need not worry even if your battery does not have an AC adapter port. Just go to the nearest store and get a new AC adapter and you are good to go.
Charging Laptop Battery Using a Power Bank
You can solve most of your battery charging problems by purchasing a new external battery pack or a power bank. All your laptop needs to have is a USB-C charging port. Just connect the power bank to the USB-C port and it will start charging your laptop instantly. It is a remote, convenient, and hassle-free method of charging a laptop battery.
Unfortunately, you cannot charge older laptops with only built-in power jacks through a power bank.
Charging a Laptop Battery Using Solar Energy
Yes, you have heard that right. It is possible to charge your laptop using solar energy. This particular method has garnered immense popularity among laptop owners of late. It is also an ecofriendly method because you happen to use only a natural resource which also available in abundance.
Nowadays, you can buy a solar energy kit, specially designed to charger your laptop battery. It contains solar energy panels just like a common solar energy kit you come across every day. The solar panels convert solar energy into electricity which chargers your laptop battery.
Modern solar energy kits have improved tremendously in terms of design, capacity, and efficiency. They come with flexible, smaller, and more productive photovoltaic cells. Similarly, you can carry them around easily thanks to their foldable design. More importantly, they are compatible with most of the laptops.
Go for Super Laptop Batteries
If your laptop has an option to remove the battery, you must consider replacing your dead battery with a super laptop battery. Their biggest advantage is that they last for at least 7-8 hours. As a result, you don’t have to charge them, again and again, using an external charger.
You can keep a super battery with you even if you have a fully functional laptop battery. Charge your original battery while you run your laptop on the super battery and you will never run out of power.
Buy a New Battery
If nothing seems to work for you when it comes to charging your dead battery, the best option is to purchase a new battery from the laptop’s manufacturer. We cannot emphasise the fact that the battery you buy should be compatible with your laptop. Similarly, it is advisable to check the specifications such as battery cells and run time before placing the order.
Once you get your new battery, you can easily charge it internally through the laptop’s original AC adapter or charger.
How to Properly Charge Your Laptop Battery
The following is a complete guideline for properly and safely charging your laptop battery.
Never Heat Your Battery
Most modern laptops come equipped with lithium batteries. You need to handle these batteries carefully because lithium can be hazardous, especially when batteries are outside the laptop. Therefore, prevent the battery from heating by covering it up while trying to charge it manually.
Prevent Sunlight Exposure
You should never expose the battery to direct sunlight. It is not only hazardous but can also inflict irreparable damage to your battery. You should ensure your safety and that of everybody else even trying different hacks.
Never Mix Up Wires
Take necessary precautions to ensure you don’t mix up wire while making different arrangements to charge your battery. The consequences of mixing wires can be drastic. For example, lithium can easily explode if you don’t use and store the batteries the right way.
Calibrating MacBook’s Battery
If you have a MacBook, you can calibrate its battery to make the most out of it. MacBook battery starts to behave strangely after a couple of years or so. Similarly, it declines in power and cannot run your laptop for the specified time.
You can take the following steps to resolve this problem.
- Plugin the power adapter and weight for adapter light to turn green (fully charged) from orange (charging).
- Leave the charger plugged in even after the charging is complete for at least 2 hours.
- Now, remove the power adapter from the laptop.
- Now, use your laptop until the battery runs down and discharges completely. Let the battery turn off by itself. Your computer will go to sleep as well.
- Leave the computer in the sleep mode after completely discharging the battery for 5 hours. A time will come when the processor will indicate absolute zero power.
- Now, you have successfully recalibrated your battery. Reconnect the power adapter to your laptop and charge your battery again.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned techniques can help you charge your laptop battery manually. You need to take special care of your batteries as they are sensitive equipment. You have to use them constantly and therefore, they are usually the first laptop component to go out of order. Similarly, regular use can decrease their capacity over time. It is advisable to maintain your batteries until it is too late.
