Laptop Hardware Repairs

[nasib]

Looking for some suggestions, from someone in the know, as to where to take this broken Laptop....

Advent laptop bought August 2007 from PC World, which now has a power problem. When the charger is plugged into the computer the green power light (on the charger itself starts flickering and goes dim). Plugged into another similar laptop the charger works fine. Another charger plugged into the ailing laptop behaves the same way. ie the problem is definitely with the laptop.

I should say that there is no sign of any activity on the laptop at all when power is supplied to it.

My local Computer shop charges a minimum of £85.00 to look at it. Looking on-line, although there are lots of "no fix no fee" outfits, I understand that the no fee bit does not apply if they offer to fix it for an amount that is not worthwhile, and I refuse. Clearly if the repairs are going to be in the hundreds, I would consider scrapping it and getting a new one.

Many thanks

Nasib

[el #]

What if power is applied with the battery removed ? Do the battery charges normally, which temperature it reaches ?

[Saab Dastard]

Have you checked what happens if you swap the battery with the other similar laptop?

Might be worth checking just in case it's the battery.

SD

[nasib]

Thanks SD and El#

Tried both suggestions with no joy. Battery works fine in another machine and same symptoms with battery removed and laptop plugged in.

Nasib

[cargosales]

Whereabouts are you in the UK?

There's a London based company I use who aren't too bad. Plus they usually only charge £20 to work out what's wrong with your machine.

[Loose rivets]

Are you able to open the case up? It's frustrating to think that it may be something very simple.

Battery first - as said above and take out any plug-ins that you can confidently remove.

Something is probably 'crow-baring' the input. It just could be a physical object near the supply input.

I'm assuming your battery is flat. Did you cover a change of batteries? Does the unit go when powered up from a spare one? Take care not to knacker another psu or battery!

[nasib]

I'm in Somerset. If I cannot find someone who can look at it at a reasonable cost locally, I'll open it up myself. I don't hold out much hope that I would know if it was "something very simple", or to be able to put it back together again!

Thanks guys

Nasib

[Loose rivets]

Look to see if a wire from the power plug has got trapped and cut. usually under metal shielding plates.

See if the BIOS battery is in place and not loose across any conductors. Any other conductive debris like nuts and bolts. They could be deep under a board, but a mirror and torch might just enable you to see in a bit.

After that you're looking at power unit capacitors and diodes. A $3 meter is all you need for a lot of jobs. Here, they're selling Chinese multi-meters for $2.99cents. The measurements are the same as my Fluke 100 X the price. However, you can only get a rough idea without removing the components. But, a large diode-solid in both directions-would be a good possible.


Good luck.

[nasib]

Many thanks LS, I'll give it a go.

Nasib