Laptop not charging.

[T i m]

Hi all,

I have asked elsewhere but I think this may be more an electronics
than computer question as such so:

A couple of years ago daughter b/f bought a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop
and it has been running ok till just recently when his Mum caught the
power lead somehow.

From then on it still runs ok from the power adaptor / PSU but it
doesn't seem to want to charge the battery. What could be part of the
same issue is it now flashes the front power indicator with what looks
like 4 fast amber flashes and one longer white.

Going into the BIOS tells us that it thinks the battery is there and
'healthy' but is not charging and at 0%.

We tried another battery and psu from a different 1545 (that had a
broken DC socket) but that didn't change anything.

Yesterday, thinking it /could/ be a socket and where the tiny inner /
3rd pin connects (thinking it might be a 'sense' wire and a socket was
cheap etc) I changed it for him but again, no improvement.

I think it still runs from the battery but of course it's now flat
(coincidentally a mate is considering getting a Dell 1545 so we might
be able to do some tests <g&gt.

So, is there anything else we could do to try to work out what's going
on here please? I still have some test gear from my 'daze' as a
support tech (DMMs, scope, fc, bench PSU etc).

Cheers, T i m

 

[Ken]

T i m wrote:

Hi all,

I have asked elsewhere but I think this may be more an electronics
than computer question as such so:

A couple of years ago daughter b/f bought a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop
and it has been running ok till just recently when his Mum caught the
power lead somehow.

From then on it still runs ok from the power adaptor / PSU but it
doesn't seem to want to charge the battery. What could be part of the
same issue is it now flashes the front power indicator with what looks
like 4 fast amber flashes and one longer white.

Going into the BIOS tells us that it thinks the battery is there and
'healthy' but is not charging and at 0%.

We tried another battery and psu from a different 1545 (that had a
broken DC socket) but that didn't change anything.

Yesterday, thinking it /could/ be a socket and where the tiny inner /
3rd pin connects (thinking it might be a 'sense' wire and a socket was
cheap etc) I changed it for him but again, no improvement.

I think it still runs from the battery but of course it's now flat
(coincidentally a mate is considering getting a Dell 1545 so we might
be able to do some tests<g&gt.

So, is there anything else we could do to try to work out what's going
on here please? I still have some test gear from my 'daze' as a
support tech (DMMs, scope, fc, bench PSU etc).

Cheers, T i m

I encountered the same symptoms with a Toshiba Satellite laptop my son
had. Your problem might be totally unrelated, but here is what I found:
Toshiba had a problem with the connector they used for the external PS
coming loose on the mother board. Soldering or repairing that connector
did NOT solve all the problems, as like your computer, it would run from
the PS but not charge the battery. It seems my son (knowing nothing
about electronic repair) thought it would be useful to push something
into the case in the area of the power connector, and unknowingly
damaged a surface mounted transistor. I measured the voltages at the
damaged SMD and determined that it needed to be an NPN and what it
needed to withstand voltage and current wise. When I replaced the
transistor it worked fine.

As I said above, your problem might be totally unrelated, but you might
look for any damaged components in the vicinity of the power connector.
Quite a coincidence that the symptoms are identical.

 

[T i m]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:16:35 -0600, Ken <Ken@invalid.com> wrote:

I encountered the same symptoms with a Toshiba Satellite laptop my son
had. Your problem might be totally unrelated, but here is what I found:

Ok and thanks for the reply ..

Toshiba had a problem with the connector they used for the external PS
coming loose on the mother board. Soldering or repairing that connector
did NOT solve all the problems, as like your computer, it would run from
the PS but not charge the battery.

Ok.

It seems my son (knowing nothing
about electronic repair) thought it would be useful to push something
into the case in the area of the power connector, and unknowingly
damaged a surface mounted transistor.

Ah. ;-(

I measured the voltages at the
damaged SMD and determined that it needed to be an NPN and what it
needed to withstand voltage and current wise.

Nice to be old enough to remember and know how to deal with
transistors, SM or otherwise eh. ;-)

When I replaced the
transistor it worked fine.

Hmm, I don't think there has been any 'tampering' in this case however
these is a (20 pin) ship on the same daughter board that carries the
power socket (and Ethernet and a couple of USBs). I did inspect the
board for any sign of damage but there was none. However, because it
/is/ on a daughter board it would be possible to swap it to at least
see if it were that rather than the system board etc.

As I said above, your problem might be totally unrelated, but you might
look for any damaged components in the vicinity of the power connector.
Quite a coincidence that the symptoms are identical.

Indeed.

I would like to think this led flashing sequence actually indicated
'the fault' or at least if it wasn't a formal message that someone
might recognise what it may indicated and give us an idea if it a
feasible repair or something he just lives with (not sure how often it
needs battery power as such bit it would be nice to have (back) in any
case.

All the best,

T i m

 

[Adrian C]

On 29/01/2011 12:24, T i m wrote:

So, is there anything else we could do to try to work out what's going
on here please? I still have some test gear from my 'daze' as a
support tech (DMMs, scope, fc, bench PSU etc).

There is a vietnamese web forum that has full schematics for many laptops.

Paste the following into google

site:kythuatvitinh.com inspiron 1545

You'll have to join the forum to download taking care to practice 'safe
hex' with documents you may get.

--
Adrian C

 

[Ken]

T i m wrote:

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:16:35 -0600, Ken<Ken@invalid.com> wrote:


I encountered the same symptoms with a Toshiba Satellite laptop my son
had. Your problem might be totally unrelated, but here is what I found:

Ok and thanks for the reply ..

Toshiba had a problem with the connector they used for the external PS
coming loose on the mother board. Soldering or repairing that connector
did NOT solve all the problems, as like your computer, it would run from
the PS but not charge the battery.

Ok.

It seems my son (knowing nothing
about electronic repair) thought it would be useful to push something
into the case in the area of the power connector, and unknowingly
damaged a surface mounted transistor.

Ah. ;-(

I measured the voltages at the
damaged SMD and determined that it needed to be an NPN and what it
needed to withstand voltage and current wise.

Nice to be old enough to remember and know how to deal with
transistors, SM or otherwise eh. ;-)

When I replaced the
transistor it worked fine.

Hmm, I don't think there has been any 'tampering' in this case however
these is a (20 pin) ship on the same daughter board that carries the
power socket (and Ethernet and a couple of USBs). I did inspect the
board for any sign of damage but there was none. However, because it
/is/ on a daughter board it would be possible to swap it to at least
see if it were that rather than the system board etc.

As I said above, your problem might be totally unrelated, but you might
look for any damaged components in the vicinity of the power connector.
Quite a coincidence that the symptoms are identical.

Indeed.

I would like to think this led flashing sequence actually indicated
'the fault' or at least if it wasn't a formal message that someone
might recognise what it may indicated and give us an idea if it a
feasible repair or something he just lives with (not sure how often it
needs battery power as such bit it would be nice to have (back) in any
case.

All the best,

T i m

I see you have a reply that directs you to a website for a schematic.
That might be useful. But not having worked on your computer or one
like it before, here is what I would do:

If the trouble began when the PS lead was pulled, it is possible that
too high a voltage might have been applied if there is a feedback lead
for the PS and it was broken. That might have applied too great a
voltage to the laptop. This is just theory you understand.

I would plug in a known good PS and with a DVM measure both ends of
components near the connector. Look especially close for low value
resistors or anything that might be a SM fuse. If too great a voltage
were applied you might have opened a component and that is why a good PS
still does not work. Also look at the daughter board if it is attached
with a connector to the mother board. A tug on the power connector
might have caused a poor connection where the daughter board meets the MB.

 

[Meat Plow]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 12:24:18 +0000, T i m wrote:

Hi all,

I have asked elsewhere but I think this may be more an electronics than
computer question as such so:

A couple of years ago daughter b/f bought a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop
and it has been running ok till just recently when his Mum caught the
power lead somehow.

From then on it still runs ok from the power adaptor / PSU but it
doesn't seem to want to charge the battery. What could be part of the
same issue is it now flashes the front power indicator with what looks
like 4 fast amber flashes and one longer white.

Going into the BIOS tells us that it thinks the battery is there and
'healthy' but is not charging and at 0%.

We tried another battery and psu from a different 1545 (that had a
broken DC socket) but that didn't change anything.

Yesterday, thinking it /could/ be a socket and where the tiny inner /
3rd pin connects (thinking it might be a 'sense' wire and a socket was
cheap etc) I changed it for him but again, no improvement.

I think it still runs from the battery but of course it's now flat
(coincidentally a mate is considering getting a Dell 1545 so we might be
able to do some tests <g&gt.

So, is there anything else we could do to try to work out what's going
on here please? I still have some test gear from my 'daze' as a support
tech (DMMs, scope, fc, bench PSU etc).

Cheers, T i m

Something broke inside around the power socket. Some strong light an a
20x magnifying visor might help you find the break.



--
Live Fast, Die Young and Leave a Pretty Corpse

 

[T i m]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:50:38 +0000, Adrian C <email@here.invalid>
wrote:

On 29/01/2011 12:24, T i m wrote:
So, is there anything else we could do to try to work out what's going
on here please? I still have some test gear from my 'daze' as a
support tech (DMMs, scope, fc, bench PSU etc).

There is a vietnamese web forum that has full schematics for many laptops.

Paste the following into google

site:kythuatvitinh.com inspiron 1545

Thanks for that. ;-)

You'll have to join the forum to download taking care to practice 'safe
hex' with documents you may get.

"Sorry, You should have 10 Points to download: ..."?

I'm not sure how I glean points there and whatever it is I'm not sure
I could do so in Vietnamese (even with Google translate).

Frustratingly close though ...

Cheers, T i m

 

[T i m]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:04:05 -0600, Ken <Ken@invalid.com> wrote:

I see you have a reply that directs you to a website for a schematic.
That might be useful.

If I could get to that it could be handy because ..

But not having worked on your computer or one
like it before, here is what I would do:

If the trouble began when the PS lead was pulled, it is possible that
too high a voltage might have been applied if there is a feedback lead
for the PS and it was broken. That might have applied too great a
voltage to the laptop. This is just theory you understand.

Understood ...

I would plug in a known good PS and with a DVM measure both ends of
components near the connector. Look especially close for low value
resistors or anything that might be a SM fuse.

Thinking about that and what has been said later that makes a lot of
sense and there /is/ a sm device of some sort right behind that socket
(sm stuff was only just being used as I was leaving the trade) so that
could well be it. I guess it's either a sm fuse or diode and it
shouldn't be difficult to test for either.

The lad has just found this site / pictures. ;-)

http://www.deliran.net/refrence/Inspiron_1545/images/tear/SystemboardFirst.jpg

This last pictures here show the charging board pretty clearly (top
left corner is the DC socket).

http://www.deliran.net/refrence/Inspiron_1545/Inspiron_1545_eng/td_fan.htm

You can just see the charger board under the system board top left.
Luckily it looks like you can get to the back of the socket and
'device' with the thing mostly in one piece. Soo, if I measure a
voltage on one side of said device and not the other (with battery in
and charger in an on) /and/ it looks like it's wired in series with
the power socket it would most likely be a fuse?

If too great a voltage
were applied you might have opened a component and that is why a good PS
still does not work.

Yup, nor charge what could be a good (second) battery.

Also look at the daughter board if it is attached
with a connector to the mother board. A tug on the power connector
might have caused a poor connection where the daughter board meets the MB.

It is connected by hard mounted plug / socket pair and I checked for
any possible movement damage on there but the board sits on shouldered
mounting pillars and is still a very rigid connection.

We didn't try to power it up with just the chassis as you have to take
the cpu heatsink off to get the system board off the top of said
charging board but looking back at it with a voltage measurement in
mind it might nearly be doable with just the rear top cover removed
(two screws). I'll have a look in the morning. ;-)

Assuming it is a fuse, are they normally marked with their rating and
if so and if there is space, could I tack a suitably rated / type wire
ended fuse / fusewire in place as an experiment at least?

Looking at eBay if it is the board then 30 quid isn't too terrible
(compared with a new laptop especially).

A fuse would be cheaper of course. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

 

[Ken]

T i m wrote:

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:04:05 -0600, Ken<Ken@invalid.com> wrote:

I see you have a reply that directs you to a website for a schematic.
That might be useful.

If I could get to that it could be handy because ..

But not having worked on your computer or one
like it before, here is what I would do:

If the trouble began when the PS lead was pulled, it is possible that
too high a voltage might have been applied if there is a feedback lead
for the PS and it was broken. That might have applied too great a
voltage to the laptop. This is just theory you understand.

Understood ...

I would plug in a known good PS and with a DVM measure both ends of
components near the connector. Look especially close for low value
resistors or anything that might be a SM fuse.

Thinking about that and what has been said later that makes a lot of
sense and there /is/ a sm device of some sort right behind that socket
(sm stuff was only just being used as I was leaving the trade) so that
could well be it. I guess it's either a sm fuse or diode and it
shouldn't be difficult to test for either.

The lad has just found this site / pictures. ;-)

http://www.deliran.net/refrence/Inspiron_1545/images/tear/SystemboardFirst.jpg

This last pictures here show the charging board pretty clearly (top
left corner is the DC socket).

http://www.deliran.net/refrence/Inspiron_1545/Inspiron_1545_eng/td_fan.htm

You can just see the charger board under the system board top left.
Luckily it looks like you can get to the back of the socket and
'device' with the thing mostly in one piece. Soo, if I measure a
voltage on one side of said device and not the other (with battery in
and charger in an on) /and/ it looks like it's wired in series with
the power socket it would most likely be a fuse?

Is there any component designation?? Such as "F1" stamped on the
board? Sometimes such a designation can tell you what the component is.
Is there any marking on the component? That also could tell you what
it is. Are there any similar components elsewhere on the board? What
is the resistance across other components of the same type compared to
this one?

If too great a voltage
were applied you might have opened a component and that is why a good PS
still does not work.

Yup, nor charge what could be a good (second) battery.

Also look at the daughter board if it is attached
with a connector to the mother board. A tug on the power connector
might have caused a poor connection where the daughter board meets the MB.

It is connected by hard mounted plug / socket pair and I checked for
any possible movement damage on there but the board sits on shouldered
mounting pillars and is still a very rigid connection.

We didn't try to power it up with just the chassis as you have to take
the cpu heatsink off to get the system board off the top of said
charging board but looking back at it with a voltage measurement in
mind it might nearly be doable with just the rear top cover removed
(two screws). I'll have a look in the morning. ;-)

Assuming it is a fuse, are they normally marked with their rating and
if so and if there is space, could I tack a suitably rated / type wire
ended fuse / fusewire in place as an experiment at least?

Looking at eBay if it is the board then 30 quid isn't too terrible
(compared with a new laptop especially).

A fuse would be cheaper of course. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

 

[Fred]

T i m <news@spaced.me.uk> wrote in
news:3jv7k654r4j25nunqb0dgnfsurhqkev45i@4ax.com:

Cheers, T i m

Get a competent technician to take the laptop apart and resolder all the
connections between the power jack and the circuit board it is SUPPOSED
to be soldered to. They get a hairline crack in the solder because
that's the only thing holding the connector to the board. These cracks
can be so thin you need a jeweler's loupe to see them, if you find them
at all.

Resoldering the connector to the board fixes the problem.

The competent technician will, of course, load test her AC power supply
before tearing into the computer, bending and pulling hard on the plug at
the computer end to make sure the wires inside the plug and cable have
not been broken, another common source of intermittent power, but you did
say it was powering the computer so that's probably not the problem.
There is a switch telling the computer the power supply is plugged in on
many models moved by the power supply plug and that switch's connections
may be intermittent.

 

[T i m]

On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 06:22:59 +0000, Fred <nobody@home.com> wrote:

T i m <news@spaced.me.uk> wrote in
news:3jv7k654r4j25nunqb0dgnfsurhqkev45i@4ax.com:

Cheers, T i m


Get a competent technician to take the laptop apart and resolder all the
connections between the power jack and the circuit board it is SUPPOSED
to be soldered to.

We only have access to an aging ex BT trained Electronics Service Tech
here <g> and he carefully removed the old and replaced with new the
power socket. FWIW the original socket was showing no signs of damage
whatsoever and all 8 of it's pins were still nicely soldered to the
board.

They get a hairline crack in the solder because
that's the only thing holding the connector to the board.

Understood and board cracks were seen many a time on Plessy made
modules that made up the std 300 Baud BT PSTN modem sub modules back
in the day (Modulator unit, demodulator unit, filter unit, control
unit and PSU unit etc). GEC, STC and Marconi generally used fibreglass
boards so were much stronger so less prone to cracking.

These cracks
can be so thin you need a jeweler's loupe to see them, if you find them
at all.

Understood and that's exactly what I was viewing them through (I used
am illuminated magnifier when I was de soldering and cleaning).

Resoldering the connector to the board fixes the problem.

Not in this case though I'm afraid but also has for me on many
occasion (there were 5 different sockets in the last batch I ordered).

The competent technician will, of course, load test her AC power supply
before tearing into the computer, bending and pulling hard on the plug at
the computer end to make sure the wires inside the plug and cable have
not been broken, another common source of intermittent power,

Yup and done.

say it was powering the computer so that's probably not the problem.

Not in this case I don't think and another (supposedly working) PUS
was substituted with no change in the symptoms).

There is a switch telling the computer the power supply is plugged in on
many models moved by the power supply plug and that switch's connections
may be intermittent.

Again, looked for but none found (and if it were within the DC socket,
would have been replaced with the socket).

FWIW it is understood that there were two laptops on a sideboard and
laddos Mum picked up hers and thinking the were free of each other,
'pulled his laptop along a bit'. If that were true (and I have no
reason to think otherwise) I am inclined to thing the most likely
thing that could have happened would be the unusual temporary
disconnection of one of the connections causing a spike or some such
because the plug / socket combo were slightly loose (after two years
or very regular use and daily movement). But they were only slightly
loose (I use and have seen much worse myself) so I'm not sure.

We will see (hopefully).

Cheers, T i m

 

[T i m]

On Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:44:32 -0600, Ken <Ken@invalid.com> wrote:

http://www.deliran.net/refrence/Inspiron_1545/Inspiron_1545_eng/td_fan.htm

You can just see the charger board under the system board top left.
Luckily it looks like you can get to the back of the socket and
'device' with the thing mostly in one piece. Soo, if I measure a
voltage on one side of said device and not the other (with battery in
and charger in an on) /and/ it looks like it's wired in series with
the power socket it would most likely be a fuse?

Is there any component designation?? Such as "F1" stamped on the
board? Sometimes such a designation can tell you what the component is.

Understood but to be honest, whilst I was generally (subconsciously
even) looking out for anything untoward I wasn't looking for that
level of issue at the time (I was in 'let's change this socket and
hope the laptop still works afterwards').

Is there any marking on the component? That also could tell you what
it is. Are there any similar components elsewhere on the board? What
is the resistance across other components of the same type compared to
this one?

All good questions and when he's available next we will look at it
closer and with the DMM. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

 

[Adrian C]

On 30/01/2011 00:59, T i m wrote:

I'm not sure how I glean points there and whatever it is I'm not sure
I could do so in Vietnamese (even with Google translate).

Frustratingly close though ...

Cheers, T i m

The first link from the google search is hidden until you register - no
points required though it takes you through to a 4shared server to
download it.

Anyway sod that, I've got it now - it's a 1MB file called 'Roberts-dr1.pdf'.

Is your email addy valid Tim?

--
Adrian C

 

[T i m]

On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:35:03 +0000, Adrian C <email@here.invalid>
wrote:

On 30/01/2011 00:59, T i m wrote:

I'm not sure how I glean points there and whatever it is I'm not sure
I could do so in Vietnamese (even with Google translate).

Frustratingly close though ...

Cheers, T i m


The first link from the google search is hidden until you register - no
points required though it takes you through to a 4shared server to
download it.

Ah, ok.

Anyway sod that, I've got it now - it's a 1MB file called 'Roberts-dr1.pdf'.

Good lad. ;-)

Is your email addy valid Tim?

It is indeed. I owe you one.

Cheers, T i m

 

[Adrian C]

On 30/01/2011 14:07, T i m wrote:

Is your email addy valid Tim?

It is indeed. I owe you one.

Cheers, T i m

Check your mail

--
Adrian C

 

[Baron]

T i m Inscribed thus:

Yesterday, thinking it /could/ be a socket and where the tiny inner /
3rd pin connects (thinking it might be a 'sense' wire and a socket was
cheap etc) I changed it for him but again, no improvement.

That third wire the centre pin, is a one wire data interface ! The idea
is to prevent you from using a charger that is/was not supplied by the
manufacturer. Its quite possible that since the laptop works happily
from the charger, that the communications inside the laptop charging
circuits has been damaged. The charger board and the mainboard come as
a pair. A salvaged charger board will not work with a different
mainboard.

HTH

Cheers, T i m

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[T i m]

On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:30:28 +0000, Baron
<baron.nospam@linuxmaniac.nospam.net> wrote:

T i m Inscribed thus:

Yesterday, thinking it /could/ be a socket and where the tiny inner /
3rd pin connects (thinking it might be a 'sense' wire and a socket was
cheap etc) I changed it for him but again, no improvement.

That third wire the centre pin, is a one wire data interface !

Ah.

The idea
is to prevent you from using a charger that is/was not supplied by the
manufacturer.

So this is how it 'knows' it's a 65W or 90W charger and that a genuine
one is present etc?

Its quite possible that since the laptop works happily
from the charger, that the communications inside the laptop charging
circuits has been damaged.

I guess anything is possible with that level of 'intelligence. ;-(

The charger board and the mainboard come as
a pair. A salvaged charger board will not work with a different
mainboard.

Great (not). ;-(

HTH

It has (thanks), in so far as we needn't waste any money on just a
charger board.

So, unless we can pick up a working system / charger board pair we
have a mains only laptop. ;-(

Cheers, T i m

 

[bz]

T i m <news@spaced.me.uk> wrote in news:3jv7k654r4j25nunqb0dgnfsurhqkev45i@
4ax.com:

Hi all,

I have asked elsewhere but I think this may be more an electronics
than computer question as such so:

A couple of years ago daughter b/f bought a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop
and it has been running ok till just recently when his Mum caught the
power lead somehow.

From then on it still runs ok from the power adaptor / PSU but it
doesn't seem to want to charge the battery. What could be part of the
same issue is it now flashes the front power indicator with what looks
like 4 fast amber flashes and one longer white.

Going into the BIOS tells us that it thinks the battery is there and
'healthy' but is not charging and at 0%.

We tried another battery and psu from a different 1545 (that had a
broken DC socket) but that didn't change anything.

Yesterday, thinking it /could/ be a socket and where the tiny inner /
3rd pin connects (thinking it might be a 'sense' wire and a socket was
cheap etc) I changed it for him but again, no improvement.

I think it still runs from the battery but of course it's now flat
(coincidentally a mate is considering getting a Dell 1545 so we might
be able to do some tests <g&gt.

So, is there anything else we could do to try to work out what's going
on here please? I still have some test gear from my 'daze' as a
support tech (DMMs, scope, fc, bench PSU etc).

Cheers, T i m

The laptop 'talks' to the power supply over the central lead (there is a
small computer IN the supply or a resistor that tells the computer the
wattage of the supply).
If that center lead is broken, the computer can run from the supply but
will not allow the battery to charge.

The flashing power indicator usually indicates a failing or failed battery
pack.

I have fixed many 'bad' supplies by cutting the 'broken' spot out of the
cord.
It is usually where the cord gets the most flexing.

finding it, cutting and splicing the cord to fix it can be challenging.

I usually cut a few inches from the power plug and check with an ohm meter.
If I was lucky, that is the end and some work with a razor knife, soldering
iron and hot glue and you are back working.
If it is at the power brick end, you will probably have to crack the brick
open with a screwdriver and solder the cord into the brick.

Sometimes, I end up with repairs at both ends and a cord that is much
shorter, in between.

Hint for all laptop supply users:
NEVER NEVER NEVER wrap the cord tightly around the supply, bending it
sharply near where it exits the supply.
Coil it loosely and let it look messy.

NEVER NEVE NEVER put a aharp bend in the cord near the plug nor near the
brick.

 

[T i m]

On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:54:53 +0000 (UTC), bz
<bz+nanae@ch100-5.chem.lsu.edu> wrote:

We tried another battery and psu from a different 1545 (that had a
broken DC socket) but that didn't change anything.


The laptop 'talks' to the power supply over the central lead (there is a
small computer IN the supply or a resistor that tells the computer the
wattage of the supply).

OK, I guessed it did something clever like that (or I'm not sure how
else it could 'know').

If that center lead is broken, the computer can run from the supply but
will not allow the battery to charge.

OK.

The flashing power indicator usually indicates a failing or failed battery
pack.

Well I'd say it's not yer typical 'flashing' (I have seen that too)
but what looks like more of a fault code.

I have fixed many 'bad' supplies by cutting the 'broken' spot out of the
cord.

Same here, even if only ass an experiment or a kludge for myself.

It is usually where the cord gets the most flexing.

Same with most flexy cables. I've salvaged a good few Dyson cleaners
for no more that lopping 3" off the lead at the cleaner end. One was
at the plug end though so that DC05 cost me 50p for a plug (cleaner
was off Freecycle). ;-)

finding it, cutting and splicing the cord to fix it can be challenging.

Bread and butter to me luckily (I built / ran a mobile disco for 8
years).

I usually cut a few inches from the power plug and check with an ohm meter.
If I was lucky, that is the end and some work with a razor knife, soldering
iron and hot glue and you are back working.

Yup. A bit of a push-n-a-wiggle will highlight a lot of problems. ;-)

If it is at the power brick end, you will probably have to crack the brick
open with a screwdriver and solder the cord into the brick.

Done that as well. Neat hacksaw cut along the seam normally gets you
pretty close.

Sometimes, I end up with repairs at both ends and a cord that is much
shorter, in between.

;-)

Hint for all laptop supply users:
NEVER NEVER NEVER wrap the cord tightly around the supply, bending it
sharply near where it exits the supply.
Coil it loosely and let it look messy.

Seconded. The number of times I see that being done. Apart from
knowing what it can do to the conductors it's not 'seamanlike (same
with those who coil rope round their hand and elbow).

NEVER NEVE NEVER put a aharp bend in the cord near the plug nor near the
brick.

Yup, loose coil leaving it as straight as possible then coil (although
I should imagine / hope that was egg sucking training to many here).
;-)

Cheers, T i m

 

[bz]

T i m <news@spaced.me.uk> wrote in
news:5a4dk6h97crhabdbn0mmf9d850j9tqhb0h@4ax.com:

.....

Yup, loose coil leaving it as straight as possible then coil (although
I should imagine / hope that was egg sucking training to many here).
;-)

Yep, but newbies sometimes find the threads via google while researching
their problems.

"Pointing out the obvious" is often done 'for their benefit'.

Cheers, T i m

Likewise and best regards.
-bz-