Battery & Power Repair Terms
Battery swelling, not charging, or dying too fast? These are the terms your technician will use — and what they actually mean.
A percentage showing how much charge capacity your battery retains compared to when it was new. Below 70% you will notice significantly reduced runtime. Below 50%, replacement is strongly recommended. Singapore’s heat degrades batteries 20–30% faster than cooler climates.
Each full charge from 0–100% counts as one cycle. Most laptop batteries are rated for 300–500 cycles before significant degradation. Charging from 50% to 100% twice equals one cycle. MacBooks display cycle count in System Information.
When a lithium battery degrades it can produce gas and physically expand. A swollen battery lifts the keyboard, trackpad, or bottom cover. This is a safety issue — stop using the laptop immediately and bring it in for safe removal. Do not press or puncture a swollen battery.
The physical power socket on older laptops where the charging cable plugs in. DC jacks are soldered to the motherboard and suffer mechanical stress over time. Symptoms: laptop only charges at a specific angle, intermittent charging, or no charge at all. Common on HP, Dell, and Lenovo models.
Modern laptops charge via USB-C or Thunderbolt ports. These are more complex than DC jacks — the port handles data, video, and power simultaneously. Damage from incorrect chargers or bent pins can affect all three functions. Replacement requires board-level work on some models.
The external charger that converts mains power for your laptop. Always use the correct wattage — an underpowered adapter will charge slowly or not at all under load. A faulty adapter can damage the charging circuit. Test with a known-good adapter before assuming the port is broken.
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