Electro Magnetic Charge build up in laptop.

[MobileTechie]

It's nor ram reseating or anything similar. When this happens the laptop acts as if there is a major mobo fault. All it takes is the procedure recommended by HP - battery out, power button down for c.30 secs then plug it in and it's right as rain.

Electrostatic not electromagnetic.

I didn't believe it till I did it myself.

 

[PcTek9]

i've seen that a lot too.

now you REALLY need to look into detailed information about the ESCD.

 

[MrUnknown]

It's nor ram reseating or anything similar. When this happens the laptop acts as if there is a major mobo fault. All it takes is the procedure recommended by HP - battery out, power button down for c.30 secs then plug it in and it's right as rain.

Electrostatic not electromagnetic.

I didn't believe it till I did it myself.

I posted a while back fixing a laptop with this issue. HP also.

I really have no idea how or why it happens. The laptop looks completely dead, no BIOS or anything, so I don't see how this could be a hibernation issue. UNLESS, the BIOS gets confused right before entering hibernation or sleep because of it being shut off improperly. Draining all the power will get it to forget this state, but the hibernation file should still be there.

Not saying anyone is wrong or right, but if a laptop wont turn on, this is something I do from now on.

 

[Styxbound]

Electric discharge

Haven't seen this with laptops, which I don't fool with much anyway; but I've seen it a good bit with desktops which seemed totally dead and then had them come back fine after unplugging everything for 30 minutes or even months. I've always felt it's just a haywire distribution of charges.

Had this happen enough I'm reluctant to toss one of my own machines until it's sat a few months.

 

[mm201]

It's nor ram reseating or anything similar. When this happens the laptop acts as if there is a major mobo fault. All it takes is the procedure recommended by HP - battery out, power button down for c.30 secs then plug it in and it's right as rain.

Electrostatic not electromagnetic.

I didn't believe it till I did it myself.

I did tech support for HP last year and we did this procedure (what they called a hard reset) on an almost daily basis. I never could get a good answer from the senior techs as to the exact cause.

 

[red12049]

Haven't seen this with laptops, which I don't fool with much anyway; but I've seen it a good bit with desktops which seemed totally dead and then had them come back fine after unplugging everything for 30 minutes or even months. I've always felt it's just a haywire distribution of charges.

Had this happen enough I'm reluctant to toss one of my own machines until it's sat a few months.

Happens with some frequency. Most customers don't want to wait, and I'm not sure how trustworthy the box would be after that. Although, I've had a few around as shop machines for quite awhile.

On the holding the power button down, I'd like some confirmation on that, as, to the best of my knowledge, most all power buttons/switches are Momentary Contact. After the initial push, holding the button does nothing.

Rick

 

[MrUnknown]

On the holding the power button down, I'd like some confirmation on that, as, to the best of my knowledge, most all power buttons/switches are Momentary Contact. After the initial push, holding the button does nothing.

I don't know the correct terminology, but the button is in a closed state so long as it is pressed down. Holding it still keeps this state, but I believe the BIOS decides what to do with it. Pretty much any computer out there now will let you hold the button for 5 seconds to forcibly turn the machine off as if the switch immediately killed the power. If after the initial push, the connection was immediately opened again, this wouldn't be possible for the motherboard to detect.

 

[red12049]

I don't know the correct terminology, but the button is in a closed state so long as it is pressed down. Holding it still keeps this state, but I believe the BIOS decides what to do with it. Pretty much any computer out there now will let you hold the button for 5 seconds to forcibly turn the machine off as if the switch immediately killed the power. If after the initial push, the connection was immediately opened again, this wouldn't be possible for the motherboard to detect.

Hadn't thought about that. You may well be correct. Tomorrow, out comes an old power switch and the multimeter.

Rick

 

[14049752]

No need for a multimeter to check that..... A momentary switch, by definition, means that the circuit is completed (or broken) as long as the switch is held. By contrast a "regular" switch keeps the circuit completed (or broken) depending on its position and stays that way until switched the opposite direction.

Most power switches (if not all) are momentary switches...with the exception of those on the back of the PSU.

Old school computers that used AT power supplies had regular switches that kept the circuit in the completed state to stay on. No need to hold them to turn off, you just pressed it again like a light switch to turn off.

 

[red12049]

No need for a multimeter to check that..... A momentary switch, by definition, means that the circuit is completed (or broken) as long as the switch is held. By contrast a "regular" switch keeps the circuit completed (or broken) depending on its position and stays that way until switched the opposite direction.

Most power switches (if not all) are momentary switches...with the exception of those on the back of the PSU.

Old school computers that used AT power supplies had regular switches that kept the circuit in the completed state to stay on. No need to hold them to turn off, you just pressed it again like a light switch to turn off.

Thanks for this. Was confused (must be the age creeping up on me).

Appreciate it.

Rick

 

[gazza]

The static charge thing is definitely true. I posted about it recently. Hp have it on their site.

By the way I charged the full standard repair fee.

Read it and weep Red12049 and the rest of his supporters.

 

[gazza]

Hmmm.... I still have most of my hair (no slight to those that don't), and I'm not normally seen in a robe. I'll settle for old and wise. Someday, if you're lucky, you might understand just a tad.

By the way; do you know what "ad hominem" means?

Rick

Yes, it means I was right and you were wrong, as proven by posts from more of the responsible senior members of this forum.

 

[red12049]

Read it and weep Red12049 and the rest of his supporters.

Sigh... Go back and read my very first post in this thread, and pay close attention to what I enclosed in the quote box. That was what I was responding to. Where in there does it say anything about static electricity? I was responding to the resume/hibernation issue. That was a very misleading statement, and I responded to it.

Rick

 

[red12049]

Yes, it means I was right and you were wrong, as proven by posts from more of the responsible senior members of this forum.

In addition to ad hominem, you might also wish to look up "strawman argument."

Rick

 

[gazza]

Hi Everyone,

I had just received a HP DV5 laptop from a customer whom stated that the laptop would not power on using either AC adapter or battery, nothing it was dead. I asked the customer whether or not the laptop had been dropped or had liquid spilled on it and she said no. I first tested her claims and she was correct, the laptop would not power up when using AC power and or the battery. I first tested the AC adapter with a multimeter and it posted the correct voltage of 19 volts. I proceeded to remove the memory and hard drive and then tried starting the laptop the AC adapter and the laptop powered on. So I thought the problem was either bad ram or a bad hard drive, not so both hardware passed memtest and HDD Regenerater tests. I then remembered reading somewhere that sometimes laptops can build up electromagnetic charge and cause it not to power on. So while I had the memory and hard drive out of the laptop I held down the power on button for 30 seconds to supposedly remove any build up of electomagnetic charge in the laptop. I then replaced the hard drive and memory modules and the laptop has no power issues at all. I ran a 45 minute burnin test and all hardware passed OK. I was just wondering if other techs out there have come across this phenomenon and what actually causes the build up electomagnetic charge in a laptop.

Thanks

Gary

It's to bad you didn't read the original post in the first place "look above and read it" instead of responding to things that you do not know anything about.

By the way, using all these big words, I think you might be better served as library technician rather than computer technician or maybe you use these words on you customers as well and charge them that.

 

[red12049]

It's to bad you didn't read the original post in the first place "look above and read it" instead of responding to things that you do not know anything about.

By the way, using all these big words, I think you might be better served as library technician rather than computer technician or maybe you use these words on you customers as well and charge them that.

Odd Gary, that the more folks respond with patience and reasoned explanations, you respond with anger and sarcasm.

I did read your original post. I had no issue with it. Your trouble shooting is what we do every day with a seemingly dead laptop.

I did take issue with what you said in the post I quoted, as it is simply incorrect. You had connected two sets of symptoms to the same problem, and that is not necessarily true.

They are not big words Gary, and the manner in which you responded to them speaks solely to you.

With that, I am done here. Best of luck to you.

Rick