hey all, my laptop has decided not to charge from the mains, i think i knocked the adaptor out the back and it hasn't ran off the mains since (yesterday) the battery is fine but is running low, any ideas? i know very little about laptops, Alex. thanks!

(compaq presario)

tried a different lead too

Resolder the connector back to the power board.

you mean inside the laptop? how would i locate it? thanks

Very common on Compaqs. Hope your wrist is feeling strong - lots of screws to undo!

Very common on ALL laptops. You will need to gain access to the PSU socket and see whether it is possible, done it on two laptops before, it's impossible for me to advise further unfortunately.

ah right thanks for that you too, ill have a go tommorow so i can see properly

Normally it's obvious what's up when you get to the socket, typically just two connections and one or two will have come lose, careful soldering and it will be fixed, indefinitely. One I did lasted for years, the other needed re-doing a week later but was fine then.

often with that type of repair you dont even need to add solder.just heat the existing solder pads.
its a silly design as the 'wiggle' and poor support breaks the connections

the connector secure themselves with the pads on the PCB, and solder, If you are lucky the solder has gone "dry" and you can just reflow it with an iron as custard says.

If the pads have ripped off the pcb though, they have prob broken the track as well, in this case, you will need to skin the existing track that led from the pad using a scalpel to expose bare track, bridge the connection, and then affix the connector using an adhesive.


hopefully its just a dry joint though

Any probs, shout, 3 years electronic mobile phone repair, so I have some idea of small scale electronics

Kristian

thanks for that! i'll let you all know how i get on tommorow, it does seema bit loose so i'm hoping its that

Errmm.. i finally got round to it lol, thanks all for suggesting the power connector, you were right, didn't solder it because i couldn't get the bottom of the laptop off enough (connected in a few awkward places) i'm on it now and i've stuck some carbboard on the connector which is working but i need it sorted

just getting used to the keyboard on it again lol

my dell did this, i paid several hundred for a new mother board, fitted it my self lol was well impressed then it happened again, and used to spark and shut down randomly, then i dropped it, it still worked, then few weeks later... my new computer turned up, and about 15 mins later, my laptop went bang :slayer: perfect timing, thank you laptop :worship:

sadly gone to heaven now , RIP my laptop

Repaired this at the weekend on my current laptop, required COMPLETE stripping of the laptop, was pretty scary but it's not the first laptop I have worked on.

The Negotiator said:

Repaired this at the weekend on my current laptop, required COMPLETE stripping of the laptop, was pretty scary but it's not the first laptop I have worked on.

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i have worked on computers but laptops seem scarier lol, then again it was only £90, i'll have a go when i get the time.

lol beau, should have sold that on ebay

Look for an assembly guide on the net? It may well help, i was ok without one, but you need to be careful! People on ebay charge about £80 for the service.

A very useful thing if your laptop supports it - would be a docking station. You plug it in and sit it on a desk and 'dock' the laptop to charge and plug in all sorts of external devices. The connections are specifically designed to be plugged in and out all day without damage. Reduces the number of times you have to plug the power socket into the much more vunerable laptop power socket.

I also agree about laptops being a bit scary. I can strip and re-assemble PC's all day - but laptops are so much more fragile. With hidden screws and clips that are just waiting to snap Also if something goes wrong you just know the part will either cost a fortune or not be available!

Hellcat said:

I also agree about laptops being a bit scary. I can strip and re-assemble PC's all day - but laptops are so much more fragile. With hidden screws and clips that are just waiting to snap Also if something goes wrong you just know the part will either cost a fortune or not be available!

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Ditto :bang:

Liam

well its still going strong, too scared to take it apart, while its working fine i dont think i'll bother, the battery is annoying me thought, it never holds any charge at all, next to the clock the icon says its charging but is always at 0% tried the battery test which says the battery is fine, tried the optimizer which gets to 33% and goes no further, even after 12 hrs. any ideas? id buy a new 1 but not sure what to do because the test says its fine,

argh this is wierd, the battery test says its working fine, and it says its charging but is always at 0% charge and has a X over the batter is it possible someone has turned charging the battery off?