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weeweeslap
Senior Member
USA
1077 Posts |
 Posted - 28 October 2008 : 16:37:11
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Alrighty.
My laptop is just a year and 2 months old. I had to buy a new power cord last month because the other broke due to it being bent at the joint.
Now this new power cord is fine. I tested it with another laptop and it works just fine so the problem has been determined to be on the laptop itself.
The problem: When the power cord is connected, the battery indiator switches from being plugged in to being powered by the battery and it flickers to and from those stages like 5 times per second. I can't use my laptop with the power connected it because when the indicator says that it is charging, the mouse stops working and I use the mouse 75% of the time to do my work. Also the battery ends up dying because it never gets a chane to charge!
If I turn off the computr and let it charge, it takes forever becasue I assume it is doing the same thing while off, switching from charging to not recognizing that it has a power plug connected.
So I can basically state that either the AC jack has dewelded somewhat from the mobo, or the mobo is starting to go haywire.
I was wondering if you guys have experience this. When you connect the power cord to the laptop the power indicator goes from being connected to sucking from the battery and of course seeing the screen go from bright(connected status) to dull(running off battery staus)
If so, have you fixed this, how did you fix it and how much did it cost? Recommendations on what to do. Can I do it my self? How hard/easy is it to fix by my self?
Thank you.< |
coaster crazy |
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balexandre
Junior Member
Denmark
418 Posts |
Posted - 28 October 2008 : 17:51:00
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did you bought just a cable of the complete cable with the transformer (that little box in the meddle of the cable that goes from your laptop into the wall)?
it seams to me that is a problem of eighter contacts if you just bought a cable or a low power transformer if you bought the all thing, like the laptop needs a 85W transformer and you bought a 65W.< |
Bruno Alexandre
(Strøby, DANMARK)
"a Portuguese in Danmark"
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ruirib
Snitz Forums Admin
Portugal
26364 Posts |
Posted - 28 October 2008 : 18:17:26
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| Probably the problem is with the power connector on the motherboard. I had an old computer dying on me with a similar problem. For quite a while I had to find the best position for the jack. After a while it stopped working from AC power / charging, regardless of the position. It was a rather old computer, so I didn't bother fixing it, it was time to buy a new one and I did.< |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 28 October 2008 : 19:04:42
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| if it is the power connectr on the mobo you basically have one choice, buy a new laptop. it is extremely difficult to fix/replace and even if you do it is unlikely to be a very lasting fix. I have had experience of this with several laptops of colleagues and for the cost of repair ond subsequent longevity of the fix it is more economical to just replace the laptop.< |
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Podge
Support Moderator
Ireland
3775 Posts |
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weeweeslap
Senior Member
USA
1077 Posts |
Posted - 28 October 2008 : 22:19:01
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| I took it to a local computer repair shop and it turned out to be the AC jack on the mobo. Sucks that I don't have $ for a new laptop. They charge me $135 to fix it with a 30 day warranty. The laptop cost me about $700. That sound too much for a fix that's going to go bad in the future again?< |
coaster crazy |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20584 Posts |
Posted - 29 October 2008 : 02:09:32
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quote:
Originally posted by Podge
quote:
Probably the problem is with the power connector on the motherboard.
Happened to my sister about 2 weeks ago. I found the part on Ebay quite easily but I haven't fitted it yet. Dell quoted her more than she paid for the laptop to fix the power connector.
you will find it very difficult to fit, I know I have tried  the problem is removing the old one and then getting the new one to fit perfectly, if you don't the case will no longer fit together.
the best interms of lasting the longest is to remove the old one as best you can, and then get an inline socket and solder the wires to the mobo leaving the inline socket dangling through the hole, then just be very careful when plugging/unplugging the power chord.
This seems to be a very common problem (although it has never happened to me personally and I have had a lot of laptops in my life) and is about time the laptop manufactures addressed it.< |
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ruirib
Snitz Forums Admin
Portugal
26364 Posts |
Posted - 29 October 2008 : 04:44:40
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quote:
Originally posted by weeweeslap
I took it to a local computer repair shop and it turned out to be the AC jack on the mobo. Sucks that I don't have $ for a new laptop. They charge me $135 to fix it with a 30 day warranty. The laptop cost me about $700. That sound too much for a fix that's going to go bad in the future again?
I don't know whether it's going to go bad, but as you realized by the previous posts, it's a common occurrance. The price for an out of warranty repair doesn't seem that abnormal, considering the work to be done. Your call, now, but if you don't have alternatives...< |
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Podge
Support Moderator
Ireland
3775 Posts |
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ruirib
Snitz Forums Admin
Portugal
26364 Posts |
Posted - 29 October 2008 : 09:30:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Podge
30 day warranty seems a bit short. If it was me I would go with a cheap Dell laptop for about $400.
Well, it's a hard call. A computer with a bit more than a year isn't old and just ditch it doesn't sound too good an option. When I ditched mine it had about 5 years.< |
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weeweeslap
Senior Member
USA
1077 Posts |
Posted - 29 October 2008 : 14:53:39
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| Update, after opening it up and going through it again he disarded the initial diagnostic of being the AC jack, he then tried a lower voltage cord (since the current one heats up a lot and so did the original one) and the block thingy and says that it powers up and charges just fine, however the touch mouse fails when plugged in, which is what happened when the battery indicater went from charging to running off the battery back and forth. Which also started failing the same day the batt indicator was going bonkers from charging to plugged in while being plugged in. So he thinks the problem is the mobo. He should have a definitive answer in a few hours. If it's the mobo, a new laptop is in the works since that would cost almost as much a new laptop. :< |
coaster crazy |
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AnonJr
Moderator
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 29 October 2008 : 15:13:01
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| If you shop around a little you can get a sweet deal over at www.tigerdirect.com - they are a little hit-or-miss on their laptop selection though. 3 of the 4 laptops I've purchased have been through them and only one was a little disappointing - but that was my own fault for not doing enough research on the graphics chip.< |
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Laptop Power Problems - Help!?
