Laptop not charging.

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.

Ok and thanks for the reply ..

Ok.

Ah. ;-(

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Something broke inside around the power socket. Some strong light an a

Thanks for that. ;-)

"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

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

Understood ...

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. ;-)

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

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?

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

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

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?

T i m wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

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.

We only have access to an aging ex BT trained Electronics Service Tech here 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.

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.

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

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).

Yup and done.

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

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

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').

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

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?

Ah, ok.

Good lad. ;-)

It is indeed. I owe you one.

Cheers, T i m

Check your mail :)

T i m Inscribed thus:

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

Ah.

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

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

Great (not). ;-(

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

T i m wrote in news:3jv7k654r4j25nunqb0dgnfsurhqkev45i@

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.

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

OK.

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

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

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). ;-)

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

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

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

;-)

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).

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

T i m wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

....

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

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

Likewise and best regards.

-bz-