I have a very strange issue with my Laptop 16. Every once in a while it stops charging. It is plugged in all the time. This happens at random intervals, no pattern as far as I can tell. The light next to the USBC connector that is used for charging goes off (instead of being whit or orange). Plugging/unplugging either end of the charge cable doesn’t help. The only thing that seems to reliably re-start charging is if I unplug the AC line from the power brick (the high output version), restore AC power and then all seems to work again.
It sort-of feels like the power brick ‘trips’ and cycling the AC resets things.
I am not using a lot of power (no GPU installed) so I am thinking it’s not an overheating/overloading situation.
Because it is such a random occurence, I have not been able to narrow things down - for all I know it might be a laptop issue (olthough I doubt it)
Anyway, has anybody seen/heard of such an issue?
Which OS (Operating System)?
Windows 10
Which Framework laptop (11th, 12th or 13th generation Framework laptop, Chromebook or Framework Laptop 16) are you asking for support with?
Laptop 16
Thank you for your reply. I see two battery options in the BIOS settings - charge limit (80%) and ‘disconnect battery’ which is only used for servicing. Do you happen to know which other setting could be causing this issue?
BTW, I have set up the computer so I can watch the power light and it did turn off overnight. Unplugging the charging cable, waiting a few seconds and reconnecting the cable caused the light to become active again (orange).
Regarding the charge limit, I have Framework13 computers (running Ubuntu) that are set up for 80% limit - while they might turn off charging at 80%, none of these will disconnect the battery and let the battery discharge. They (to the best of my knowledge) will turn off charging at 80% and turn charging back on when the battery is below the threshold.
It seems that I made a mistake with my initial thoughts on what was going on. I have now seen the battery charge up to 80%, sit there for a while and then the computer switched to battery power. I am currently at 72% and still on battery power. I suppose it is possible that Windows works that way but my Ubuntu laptops stay at the 80% mark with the computer turning off charging at 80% and turning charging back on as soon as there is room in the battery. No matter when I look at the Ubuntu laptop, it is always at 80%.
With the Feamework 16 under Windows it seems that the battery charging is turned off and not necessarily back on which is why I think there is an issue. I am currently plugged into an AC outlet, the computer reports being on battery power, the light next to the charging connector is off.
I will see what happens down the road - does it start charging again or does it stay on battery power until it runs out of juice.
I’ve seen similar behavior with my laptop. I don’t leave it plugged in all the time but frequently I’ll close it, plug it in, and come back to find that the charging light is off (not white or red) and when I open the laptop it is at 72% or 56%. Anyway, not 100% or 80%. Sometimes I’ll come back and it will be discharged completely and will have shut down. I have Linux Mint running on it.
Thank you ever so much for confirming that I am not dreaming, that I am not doing something inherently wrong and that it happens under Linux as well (Framework’s last email suggested that it might happen because I am running Windows 10 and the Framework 16 was primarily designed and tested with Windows 11).
I will see if I can scrounge up a live version of Ubuntu and see if the behaviour continues.
After testing all kinds of different scenarios, it now appears that my original thought of a defective power brick was in fact correct.
I have requested a replacement power supply from Framework and for now I will assume that the problem has been located and will be fixed.