Reviving a Dead Laptop (help please)

[Andyuk2007]

Hi All, Today I've got a customer's laptop which is a dell inspiron 6000, it arrived dead as a door nail and he asked me to try and get it working its 3 years old and they have had a problem with it before, I was told that he turned it off one night and when he went to use it the next day nothing would work.

I thought it would be the battery so i took that out and just tried it with the AC Adaptor. nothing worked so i tried a spare laptop AC adaptor and again nothing, I have to admit i dont know much about laptops but i did find the service manual. http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins6000/en/sm/index.htm

I did all the usual stuff like taking the cmos battery out and replacing it e.t.c and making sure the memory modules were seated properly but it still fails to power up.

I really need help on this one as I've no idea where to go next with this.

thanks

 

[Trouble-Shooter]

No power/no boot with a notebook usually means the AC jack is bad. The solder becomes loose (which can be diagnosed by checking to see if the jack is loose while the power cord is plugged into it), or the ground spring inside has been bent back inside the jack (usually caused by broken insulation on the tip of the power cord getting stuck down inside and pushing the little spring back). Both typically require replacement of the jack.

Check eBay for that model/service tag for a jack.

 

[Trouble-Shooter]

Or check here:

http://www.powerjacksonline.com/dell.html

I didn't find one on eBay. But eBay is A LOT cheaper for these than the site listed above.

Matt

 

[Andyuk2007]

the AC Jack doesn't appear to be loose though when i plugged the lead into it, I woudnt even know how to change it as its not easy to get the cover completly off

 

[Andyuk2007]

Or check here:

http://www.powerjacksonline.com/dell.html

I didn't find one on eBay. But eBay is A LOT cheaper for these than the site listed above.

Matt

is there anyway of testing to see if it is the problem ? as the laptop dont power up on battery either and its fully charged according to the customer. also does it require soldering experience because i dont have that and nor do i have a soldering iron.

my experience is more geared towards desktop computers but i have worked with laptops but ive never had to take them apart before.

 

[MHCG]

Assuming you've tested the power supply for voltage, the AC jack is the next thing I'd check too.

Take a look at the inside of the jack on the laptop, is the center conductor there? If you plug the adapter into the wall and into the laptop and you wiggle it around can you get the laptop AC power plugged in light to come on?

 

[Trouble-Shooter]

Yeah, the first time with a dead laptop can be fun. The ground "spring" also serves as a switch. So when you unplug the power cord, that switches it to battery power. If that "switch" is bent back, it won't let the system power up with the battery either, because it doesn't know it's unplugged. And, yes, it does require some experience with soldering. Believe me, if you aren't comfortable soldering on this guy's motherboard, DON'T. Your blood pressure will spike about 40 points on both sides throughout the process, it can be stressful the first time.

Find someone who fixes TV's near your home and have him look down into the jack with his magnifying lens thingies and he'll be able to tell you for sure. For a small fee, I bet he would help with the soldering too.

I go see my TV repairman everytime I have a laptop with a bad jack, and he's always willing to help.

 

[Andyuk2007]

I'll see what i can do tommorow then when i have another go at it, the power supply checks out as i'm using mine and i know that works.

 

[14049752]

If the battery is fully charged (does it have a charge indicator on the battery somewhere?) and the jack doesn't appear to be broken. (and you've checked the adapter, used a new adapter, tried new ram, removed all the drives, etc) then the system probably needs a new motherboard.

The 6000's pretty straight forward to take apart, just pop off the plastic bezel with the power button, remove the keyboard, disconnect the video and wireless cables, unscrew the display ,then remove all of the screws from the bottom. The top half of the case should lift right up (make sure the trackpad cable's disconnected first, I guess).
I think that uses the PA12 (or PA10) series of power adapters, am I right? Those jacks are pretty bad, in my opinion, and seem to have problems internally more so than other power jacks.....
Its also not the type of jack you want to repair as your first ever solder job, it's one of the more difficult ones to desolder because it has like 9 solder points and the solder they use is some kind of dell-super-high-heat solder (not really, but I usually have to turn my air gun up to the max to desolder them).

 

[Trouble-Shooter]

In the case of certain types of Sony Vaio laptops, and some Dell models like 14049752 said above, I would rather just replace the motherboard by far. I have just finished an HP dv4170 with the problem I mentioned above. That pin/spring type thing was the problem. In reality, I would have just gone ahead and replaced the jack to begin with. But the circuits tested good, all but the little ground thing inside the jack.

I really don't like soldering, which is to say I seriously try to avoid soldering. Even to the point of paying a TV repairman $10 or $15 to do it for me. LOL.


PS- The jack on the HP I mentioned wasn't loose at all either, but I replaced it and it fired right up.

 

[Nathan H]

Paying the TV Repair guy $20 do replace the jack sound like a bargin...

I only got in to replacing the jacks in september of last year, mine broke when I caught the cable, i took it to a few reputable guys in my area (as I said I didn't do hardware on laptops before then) ther first guy wanted £90 in the US thats $180 and another guy wanted £135 or us $270, so i figured i'd give it ago myself found a step by setp online guide and it only cost me £17 $34, big difference.....

Checkout these links:
http://www.aplusperfect.com/articles/dell_inspiron_8600_loose_flex_cable
this is for an 8600, but my provide some insight.

http://defectivekit.com/2007/02/15/guide-to-fixing-a-laptop-power-jack-a-do-it-yourselfer/
Agian just an insite.

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/01/28/toshiba-satellite-m35x-a75-power-jack-problem/

Hope these helped!

 

[Trouble-Shooter]

Yeah, I will say I am fortunate that my friend hooks me up. Our shops are only a block or so apart, so it's just a matter of removing the motherboard and walking it over to him. Takes him just a few minutes on most make/models.