topic Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z in PCs & Accessories

Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

clyarwo — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:58:27 GMT

Sad that my first post is a problem but hey....

Anyway, I picked up a new FZ21Z on Thursday and all seemed to be fine until yesterday when the charger seemed to just stop charging {green light went off and it got very hot}. Plugged it into my friends Vaio and it did the same thing.

Today it has been doing it all day long until about an hour ago when I pulled the battery and now the charger seems to be working and is not getting too hot. So I was wondering if anyone else has had these problems and whether anyone thinks that it is the charger or battery or both that could be at fault?

Apart from that though I love this laptop

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

Thalamus. — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:06:47 GMT

Hi Chanandler

welcome to Club Vaio..

Did you buy your vaio locally.?

If so a way to check your battery and charger would be to take your Vaio to the local stockist and ask if you can test another battery and charger on your Vaio.

Hopefully that should help identify the problem if not ask to exchange your Vaio..

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

clyarwo — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:34:11 GMT

Hiyah, thanks for the welcome

I did buy it locally but they are a big electrical store and when I went back they said they were out of stock and could only give me a refund.

As I have spent quite a bit of time now setting this thing up and I actually really like it I didn't take them up on their offer.

I am pretty sure that it is the charger now though, after running it fine for the last few hours with no battery I popped it back in and the charger stopped after 5 minutes of charging.

The charger must be having to work harder when the battery is fitted as it is not only powering the laptop but charging the battery as well which I think must be tipping it over the edge and making it pack up. But hey, who knows

A phone call to Vaio support at 8m in the morning is going to be my best option I think.

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

Thalamus. — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:38:23 GMT

A phone call to Vaio support at 8m in the morning is going to be my best option I think.

Good luck, let us know the outcome please..

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

printmiles — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:42:32 GMT

I've had problems with my new FZ21S which I diagnosed down to the battery (not charging, showing differing charge levels, erratic behaviour when running solely on battery). I spoke to the guys on the Vaio Support line and swapped the battery out and I haven't had any further problems.

Excellent support from the guys on the phone.

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

clyarwo — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:47:09 GMT

I did wonder about the battery, I find that if the laptop is running on battery only it drains in about 30 minutes. Is it possible that the battery is intelligent and tells the laptop that it is full which somehow stops the charger from charging?

Of course it could be both of them

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

swishi — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:54:37 GMT

I have exactly the same problem on approx the same machine mine is a VGN FE21M at approx exactly the same date... since a few days?

Please let me know any outcome!

Regards and a happy new Year!

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

clyarwo — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:21:08 GMT

Well I had a nice long chat with a techie from Vaio support yesterday and after checking every aspect of the system I was told that it had to be a problem with the battery and charger and he is sending me new ones, hopefully by the end of the week.

I will let you know if it resolves it. How long has this been happening with your Vaio? Does the charger get really hot on yours as well?

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

clyarwo — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:06:05 GMT

Well I am almost 100% sure now that it is a problem with the charger. I decided to buy a seperate charger on Sunday from a company on the web and it arrived this morning. I have had the laptop on and charging all day long with no stops or crashes or problems at all!

I have even had CoD4 running on it for most of the day and it all worked perfectly. Now I am going to run through the battery checking steps they sent me to see if that is faulty as well

Hopefully I will get the official Sony charger tomorrow and all will be good with the world again...

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

swishi — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:17:15 GMT

Hy Chanandler and thanks for your update... I noticed the problem on last sunday... My charger does not heat at all... I would say it has a normal temperature...

Can you please tell me what kind of checkings (checking procedure) you were told to do by the technician... are there any kind of tools to check up the battery? What do you mean by CoD4 is this a Tool (can you tell me where to get it or maybe send me a copy?) How did you finaly find out that the problem is caused by be the charger?

I ordered a new battery yesterday and it should arrive tomorrow... I'll try it out then and let you know the outcome!

Very best regards!

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

clyarwo — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 23:15:20 GMT

Well they didn't really have much to offer in the way of troubleshooting steps, luckily I had a friend with the same laptop who let me borrow their charger.

CoD4 is a game lol, Call of Duty 4. I ran it as it pushes the computer quite hard and makes it use more power and hence draw more current from the charger.

I hope that the new battery solves your problem, it's such a pain when these things go wrong.

Re: Charging problem with new VGN-FZ21Z

Thalamus. — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:59:18 GMT

Hi Chandler,

I hope all is working correctly now..