dying laptop?

RichD

Hi people,

I am concerned that my toshiba laptop is on its way out. A month or so ago I was having problems with the power cable as the jack plug had a faulty connection. you could get it to connect if you wiggle the cord but the power lead light would then switch of. I started using a charger from a fujitsu siemens laptop i had at he time and although it was a slightly lower power rating it seemed to work fine.

when i got paid i shelled out the £70 for a new charger and now my battery wont hold a charge to the point where I have to charge while it is off boot it up and i can get a bit of use it while plugged in. after a while it just dies. wierd thing is most laptops will shut down or hibernate when the battery runs out. this is just just boom and its gone. it seems as though the system drains the battery faster than i can charge it.

does this mean that the charge circuitry is ko'd or do you think it is the battery? it is abbout two - two and a half years old.

cheers

Rich

DogDragon

RichD wrote:

Hi people,

I started using a charger from a fujitsu siemens laptop i had at he time and although it was a slightly lower power rating it seemed to work fine.
when i got paid i shelled out the £70 for a new charger and now my battery wont hold a charge to the point where I have to charge while it is off boot it up and i can get a bit of use it while plugged in. after a while it just dies.

does this mean that the charge circuitry is ko'd or do you think it is the battery? it is abbout two - two and a half years old.

cheers

Rich

I have a laptop that the battery that is shot, But with it plugged in it
works fine, on the battery it last about 10 minutes.
You said it worked with the other charger, try the other charger again
it can't hurt. But with it plugged in the battery don't have a play in it,
I can run mine without the battery even in it.

mirage

It seems to me that your power connector came loose on the motherboard; it is a common problem with many laptops. This is not something many people can do but you could re-solder the power connector if you are able to disassemble the notebook. Your battery might be dead as well. But you need to make sure the power connector is fixed/checked before that.

RichD

thanks for the replies. I am happy that the charger is fine as it is brand new and worked when i bought it. I am also happy that power connecter is ok as the charging led is constantly on when attached to the mains. i think it is either the charging circuitry or the battery it self.

i will however try removing the battery when on mains as i dont know is the lap,top powers direct of the mains or if it needs charge in the battery

Snarkasm

If the charging circuit is fried and your power goes in series through the battery to the laptop, then you'll need to probably replace the entire mobo, at which point you need to seriously examine whether a new laptop is in order instead. I had a similar problem with an old HP laptop - charging coil just crapped out.

RichD

cheers. I had a feeling that would be the case.
thanks for your replies everyone.

QCH

I've soldered many a Laptop charging ports... Just need to be comfortable with taking the laptop apart, have a stead hand, and a magnifying light. If you see any change on charging by messing with the port, it's probably needs to be resoldered and maybe hot glued.

RichD

thanks qch but i dont think it is the socket. the charge light stays on when the power cord is connected. if the socket connection was dodgey i would expect the charging led to keep flickering on and off?

RichD

i stand corrected. having removed the batter the laptop boots just fine until you move the cable then it dies. sounds like either the new charge cable is not connecting properly or the socket needs re soldering. Im confident enough with a soldering iron so im goona give it a go later. Im not so sure about opening up a laptop though. Desktops are fine but i have never opened i laptop! gulp! ill let you know how it goes.

RichD

having opened up the laptop and got inside i have found that the power sockett is not attached directly to the mb. it is attached via cables. dont think the problem is with the socket anymore. has anyone else got any ideas?