Modded my laptop. Now it turned into a brick! HELP!!!

ephyouckay · 01-28-2007, 05:16 AM

So i modded my laptop for hooking up the ACPI wires to the power button on laptop from the Carnetix p1900.

i was using the laptop (setting programs up for my setup etc and doing test runs) for about a week to two weeks and all was fine. no problems what so ever. for some reason, now the laptop wont recognize the charger cable plugged in and wont charge the damn laptop nor supply any power to eat. The laptop turns on if the battery still holds a charge but once it dies out (with the charger plugged in) the entire system shuts off. I was able to get the laptop to recognize the charger but without even moving the laptop it lost it and began draining the battery. Any ideas what can be causing this? i know the power button works and all both wires were hooked up correctly. i checked for continunity on both the power button and acpi wires as well and they both checked out to be fine. the charger is putting out the correct voltage.

any help will be appreciated.

BTW, this is a dell insipiron 4150. The laptop was working fine before for an entire 2 weeks or so after i modded the power button.

Wiredwrx · 01-28-2007, 12:26 PM

I think it is most likely a coincidence that it is not working correctly.

Check the output of the charger with a voltmeter, to make sure it is putting the proper power out. Also take the laptop apart and check the wiring from the connector to where ever the wire goes/should go.

Michael

ephyouckay · 01-28-2007, 02:19 PM

i already checked the output of the charger and it shows the correct voltage. so u think its loose wires from the charger port to the mobo or wherever it leads to?

Wiredwrx · 01-28-2007, 09:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by ephyouckay

i already checked the output of the charger and it shows the correct voltage. so u think its loose wires from the charger port to the mobo or wherever it leads to?

I assume when you connecte the wires to the switch you did not unwittingly DE SOLDER anything, only added wires. If that is the case, the only logical thought, once the charger checks out o.k., is that a connection came loose, especially if you were somehow able to "get it to work for a moment" and then not.

I would hold off on using the charger till you track down the problem. I say this, because if a wire get loose, and you feed it power or ground, and it touches something inside the computer case or the MB, good by laptop, helo bonfire.

Michael

ephyouckay · 01-29-2007, 02:51 AM

hmmm... well i dont think i desoldered anything... i mean it worked fine for the past week or 2 weeks.

gospeed.racer · 01-29-2007, 02:56 AM

well, if it doesnt light up the battery light when plugged in I wouldnt expect it to be the switch...I would inspect the jack and see if it is broken. The weakest link in most all laptops is the jack, and by the description of whats going on it sounds likely.

Take the thing apart and remove the processor. Plug in the adapter and CAREFULLY probe the contact checking for power. I would be willing to bet it isnt getting through. Buy a new jack on eBay, buy some desoldering braid or a solder sucker, and replace the jack. Shops get about $100 for the service, plus parts so if you arent great at soldering DONT TRY IT!

ephyouckay · 01-30-2007, 03:06 AM

thanks, ill try that.

i took apart the laptop again today so tommorow ill check the contacts.

ephyouckay · 01-30-2007, 07:38 PM

ok... i took another look at it today... it seems as the power connector thing is soldered into the board. i used my multimeter to check the voltage on the back of the power connector. The front has three prongs that go into the charger cable and the back has the prongs leads coming out of that back and going into the board.

the voltage that came out was correct. so there is power coming through the prongs and into the board. so i dont think it is the power connector on that takes in the power plug.

any other ideas what it can be? i might just give up on this unit and sell it as is if i cant figure it out. funny thing is it stopped working out of nowhere and then after messing with it (like turning it upside down or something of that nature) it turned on. but now no matter what i do it doesnt turn on. The light for that goes on when the power plug is connected to the laptop does not turn on either. i believe the system works with charged batteries because i had the system all of the sudden stop taking in the charge from the ac adapter when i had it working last and it was run on battery for a few minutes before it died.

Any help would be appreciated.