HP250 G3 Battery not charging

[mon2]

Hi. Have a HP250 G3 laptop (schematic attached) that will not charge the battery.

1) The laptop works fine with the AC adapter.

2) The laptop works fine with a pre-charged battery (HP original with 880 cycles). The battery was depleted when brought in for service and we purchased a new clone with 2 charge cycles on it. The clone battery was received DOA and also will not charge with the laptop.

Then we purchased the NLBA1 tool which worked well to ping the clone and HP battery with success. While we could readout the parameters with the I2C / SMBUS interface, the clone battery was unable to be charged with the NLBA1 tool.

The same NLBA1 tool was able to charge the HP original battery with 100% success in about an hour.

We applied this pre-charged battery onto the logic board and the laptop booted fine into Windows and reports the battery gauge @ 98%. The laptop continues to work while the battery drains and is presently @ 45% and going down.

If we attach the ac adapter, the battery level will become static but continues to state "charging" but it does not charge up. Will remain at the current % level.

3) Have replaced the charger IC @ PU101 and the 3 interface mosfets with no improvements.

So we know that the AC adapter is able to power the logic board and does not make use of the battery since the battery level does not drain in this configuration.

If using the battery only, the laptop works but drains the battery.

In the absence of the battery, the BATT rail is ~3V.

With the battery & ac adapter, the BATT rail is ~15V.

Is it possible that PU101 (charger IC) is unable to charge this somewhat stale battery due to perhaps a higher current draw during the charging cycle ? Again, NLBA1 tool can charge this battery if out-of-circuit.

Any ideas / suggestions on what could be at fault ? Thanks.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Check the ADP_ID circuit ,voltage on PR1 both pins

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Thanks @SMDFlea for your suggestions.

To confirm, you are referencing PR108 & PR109 ?

This logic board has been worked on by other techs so will investigate.

Forgot to mention that with the battery docked on this logic board, the WHITE adapter light does turn ORANGE.

Respectively, without the battery, the WHITE light remains WHITE. Perhaps this LED colour is triggered after the I2C / SMBUS investigation of the battery.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

i meant PR1

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Thanks.

1) PR1, Pin1 = ADP_SIGNAL @ +1v8.

2) PR1, Pin2 = voltage divider junction @ 0V9.

We are using a universal AC adapter @ 19V on this logic board.

Update:

OMG - just found the following using the keyword "ADP_ID":

https://yashan.co.in/hp-cq40-battery...g-discription/

Had no idea on this ID pin. We are < 1V here with the charging cable.

Can a 3v3 rail feed be placed onto the ADP_ID rail to pacify the logic level ?

So, the idea is to REMOVE PR1 -> apply a 3v3 jumper off the logic board to emulate the logic '1' (high) for the KBC.

More...

If the power adapter cable is REMOVED and measured without connecting to the logic board, then the ADP_SIGNAL = 19v0 !!

If the same power adapter cable is connected to the logic board, ADP_SIGNAL drops to +1v8. According to the above website, the end result for ADP_ID must be +3v3..+3v6 to pacify the KBC.

Removed PD2 - same results. ADP_ID remains @ 0v8.

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

So the plot thickens...zener diode PD3 is missing off the logic board.

Based on this, believe that 19v0/2 = ~9v5 was seen by the ADP_ID pin on the KBC ??

This would certainly nuke the GPIO pin?

This would imply that KBC @ UK1 must be replaced?

Never programmed the KBC9012 devices. From where can we source the contents of this KBC device ? Do see the mention of the SVOD3 programmer and see it on Ebay. We need this tool to program a fresh (empty) KBC?

I think a damaged GPIO pin is the only way the 19v0 on pin 5 of the power connector tanks to 1v8 and ends up being 0v9.

Welcome your comments.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Use your bench psu and solder a 290k resistor from ADP_SIGNAL pin 5 to ADPIN and check voltage again. What programmers do you have now.The SVOD 3 is a good programmer ,it even has a battery tester built in.Other programmers that can flash the KBC are the Vertyanov JIG , SAS IO (vertyanov clone... ) RT809H,RT809F and even the CH341A.

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Thanks.

1) what should the psu value be?

2) still leave in the 10k pull down on the logic board? Please note that PD3 zener diode is missing.

3) without the logic board, pin 5 on the hp power cable is 19v. Believe that the KBC gpio pin (adp_id) is internally shorted. Have the kbc9012qf on order.

4) can we extract the firmware out of this kbc9012qf or from where are the contents available?

Thanks again. This charging issue is finally making some sense.

Ok, just watched this:

https://youtu.be/GQGH6yZuXCc

Will test to read out with this tool. Which tool is the fastest for R/W of these kbc chips? 1.5 hours is insanely slow.

If the kbc was dead, we can just apply the firmware from the internet from someone's dump? That is, no special locks or encryption in the firmware?

[piernov]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

ADP_ID is perfectly fine, especially if it turns on with AC adapter only and white LED is lighting up at DC-in connector. ADP_ID is a simple voltage divider.

ADP_ID = 19V * PR7 / (Radapter + PR1 + PR7)
With a 90W AC adpater, Radapter = 220kΩ (I think for blue tip)
ADP_ID = 19 * 10 / (220 + 10 + 10) = 0.79V

PD3 is no stuff as indicated in the schematics.

No need to waste time troubleshooting a motherboard issue and risking killing it by taking a wrong path if you don't even have a known good battery.

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Thanks.

1) We are not using the original HP adapter but a universal 90W.

2) Where is this Radapter located? Inside the small 8 pin module that accepts the adapter voltage ?

3) What is the identifier in the schematic to show that PD3 is a no-stuff part?

The (rather old) HP battery does charge with the NLAB1 tool in about an hour.

So at this time, you are recommending to test with another battery? We should have one soon but the client also tested a new battery from Amazon with the same failed results.

We are very comfortable with the TQFP ENE chip replacement but of course do not wish to do this if not required. Running out of ideas fast on this one.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

What brand is the "universal" charger,a lot of cheapo chinese ones can be 45W or worse with a 90W label on

A 19V 65W charger has a 383Kohm resistor. 90W = 294K - 300K ,120W = 180K ,or thereabouts

A well worn battery will charge quicker. Agree with piernov that you need a good battery to start with.

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

The adapter is some generic we picked up from local resellers. The charging icons do appear on Windows and does report to be "charging" along with the battery gauge. However, the battery never "tops" up from the static reading upon power up. So if @ 45% charge, the battery remains at this level while ac adapter is docked (with orange light on).

Quite confused but will test with another battery although this old HP battery does indeed charge. We brought in a DOA battery from a local vendor and it has been returned to their factory for a swap. The customer also purchased one from Amazon with similar issue of unable to charge.

This universal adapter does indeed output about 19V under load. All these years, thought the barrel jack power supplies were only 2 contacts = Ground & HOT pin (positive). Now after some readings, there are 3 contacts (ie. adapter ID resistor contact). Quite interesting.

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Thanks.

2) Where is this Radapter located? Inside the small 8 pin module that accepts the adapter voltage ?

3) What is the identifier in the schematic to show that PD3 is a no-stuff part?

The resistor is inside the charger tip. PD3 is no stuff as it has an @ before it . @PD3

[SMDFlea]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Thanks.

4) can we extract the firmware out of this kbc9012qf or from where are the contents available?

Will test to read out with this tool. Which tool is the fastest for R/W of these kbc chips? 1.5 hours is insanely slow.

If the kbc was dead, we can just apply the firmware from the internet from someone's dump? That is, no special locks or encryption in the firmware?

There`s a few EC dumps here on badcaps.There`s no special locks or encryption.There`s a copy of the EC inside the bios.Some boards will automatically flash the EC from the copy to a blank KB90xx at first boot.

All the programmers i mentioned are just as quick,they can program in under a minute.The ch341a is ok for those who don`t want to buy an expensive programmer for one time use.

[Sametbey]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

my own measurements, voltage and oscilloscope measurements in the diagram are in charge of the battery. ADID completes the circuit over the PU1 circuit. can you check.

[mcplslg123]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Lets keep it simple and begin from scratch. Measurements of Charging IC Pins for voltage?? Supporting mosfets for HIDRV/LODRV checked?? DC-in mosfet Gate voltage correct?? Battery is detected,so smbus communication is likely to be good.

[Stevedb]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Use your bench psu and solder a 290k resistor from ADP_SIGNAL pin 5 to ADPIN and check voltage again. What programmers do you have now.The SVOD 3 is a good programmer ,it even has a battery tester built in.Other programmers that can flash the KBC are the Vertyanov JIG , SAS IO (vertyanov clone... ) RT809H,RT809F and even the CH341A.

Hi SMDFlea

How do you program an KBC with a CH341A Programmer.

Do you have an tutorial for that?

Thanks

Greetings Steve

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

@Stevedb, from my earlier post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQGH6yZuXCc

[mon2]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

Hi. Voltage readings of PU101 (charger IC):

(battery removed from logic board & AC adapter connected - WHITE LED on)

Pin # 1 = 19v3
Pin # 2 = 19v3
Pin # 3 = 19v85
Pin # 4 = 19v83
Pin # 5 = 3v30

Pin # 6 = 2v698
Pin # 7 = 0v
Pin # 8 = 3v31
Pin # 9 = 3v31
Pin # 10 = 0v71

Pin # 11 = 3v06
Pin # 12 = 3v02
Pin # 13 = 3v05
Pin # 14 = 0v
Pin # 15 = 0v

Pin # 16 = 6v0
Pin # 17 = 5v89
Pin # 18 = 0v
Pin # 19 = 2v9
Pin # 20 = 19v5

[Stevedb]

Re: HP250 G3 Battery not charging

@Stevedb, from my earlier post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQGH6yZuXCc

thank you Mon2