Dell Inspiron screen flashes when battery is installed

I have a five-year-old Dell Inspiron 7370 laptop running Windows 11. The graphics driver is updated. I do not, however, believe this issue is Windows related. The problem began occurring a year ago intermittently and previously resolved on its own after a few minutes but now it is constant.

When the internal battery is connected, whether or not the laptop is on AC power, the screen flashes to the extent that the laptop is unusable. The flashing occurs when rebooting (when the Dell logo appears before Windows has started loading) and even when in BIOS setup, which is before Windows loads.

Once in Windows, if I adjust the brightness, the flashing changes randomly from dark to light flashing but not coordinated with the brightness setting.

I tried a new battery, and nothing changed. (Old battery was only a year old.)

The oddest part and hopefully a clue of some sort is this: If I remove the battery and run on AC power, the screen will stay solid and usable provided the brightness level is within a certain range. (Range is 0 - 99 and the problem disappears only if set between 29 and 40). However, once the battery is reconnected the problem fully returns both with and without AC power.

I assume this is hardware related but what I don't understand is how the problem almost disappears if the laptop is on AC power while the battery is removed. Once the battery is put back in, the problem returns even when on AC power.

Any thoughts or possible solutions?

Thanks much.

First thought, is it a genuine Dell battery? We see a lot of problems with non-Dell or fake Dell batteries on the Dell forum.
Another is bad/flakey battery connection.

fireberd said:

First thought, is it a genuine Dell battery? We see a lot of problems with non-Dell or fake Dell batteries on the Dell forum.
Another is bad/flakey battery connection.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's a genuine Dell battery that's two years old. The issue started about a year after it was installed. I just tried replacing it with another new battery but nothing changes.

I'm using the laptop now with the battery disconnected. If I keep the brightness within a certain range, the display is fine; if I make the brightness lower or higher, it goes very dark and flashes. If I reconnect the battery, with or without the AC power plugged in, the display flashes very dark or very bright no matter what I set the brightness to. Thanks for replying. Any further thoughts will be appreciated.

As the screen brightness is also affected on AC power there is more than battery causing this.
Suggest you post on the Dell laptop forum for help.