Tips For Fixing Laptop Power Problems

AC power adapter

How the AC adapter works

The most common type of AC power adapter involves a small box, with one wire to go to the computer and another wire to go to the wall. There is usually an LED light on it, to tell you that it is on. By the way, Apple notebook power adapters often have an LED that is actually built into the side of the computer, not into the adapter box, so obviously it won't light up when it's not connected to the computer.

The power adapter box does several things. It lowers the voltage from the wall's 120 volts AC to typically 19 volts DC. It includes some power noise filtering. It often includes or overloads detection. If this gets tripped, you can generally reset it if you unplug it from everything for a few minutes.

You can measure the voltages on your AC adapter with a multimeter either digital or analog. When it is unplugged from the computer but still plugged in to the wall, it is usual to find that the voltage may be 1 to 3 volts higher than the labeled out put.

Troubleshooting:

AC Power adapter LED is off when you plug the adapter into the wall but not into the computer

Is the power strip turned on / is the socket out let functioning proper, Is the cord from the adapter to the wall fully plugged in on both ends. Your adapter may be burnt, try using an adapter of the same type of laptop and see if that one will work.(but do not plug it in to your computer).

Troubleshooting:

Check output voltages with a multimeter

Measure the voltage between the inside and the outside. A diagram on the adapter's label will direct you on the positive and negative terminal

trouble shooting laptop power

• Try to power on with the AC adapter connected.
• Disconnect the AC adapter and try to power on with the battery.
• Charge the battery
• Try a different battery and/or AC adapter
• If your laptop still will not power on:
1. Remove the power cord and battery.
2. Push and hold the power button for at least 15 seconds.
3. Plug the power cord in and turn your computer on. Note: leave the battery out.
4. If successful, shut the computer down, install the battery and reboot.
5. If not successful, try these steps using the battery and not the power cord
in step 3, or try it using both the power cord as well as the battery.

laptop motherboard repair tips

All we can say about laptop motherboard repair is that unless you have some of the latest diagnostic equipment, a test jig, ESD setup workshop, an array of tools, digital multi meters and an oscilloscope then don’t think you can narrow down your fault diagnosis to the exact component that is causing your laptop to misbehave... nobody has that much time.

What I can also say is that even your local authorised repair centre for all the brand name laptops don’t go to this much trouble either. I have personally been present for a number of different manufacturers service calls and witnessed how they operate.

For example -

If you log a call for your Acer laptop which is in warranty, the technician will turn up (for onsite warranty ) with a fist full of spare parts. He will take a quick look at the machine, keeping in mind they already have a fault description and have narrowed it down prior to turning up. After looking at the machine and verifying it has a fault they will basically gut the machine and rebuild it with new internal parts.

I have seen this same technique carried out by IBM, HP/Compaq, Acer and I assume most others would do the same. This excludes Toshiba who have a different system.

Here are some things you can do to isolate what sort of problem you have, you may think you'll have to undertake some sort of laptop motherboard repair but quite often the motherboard gets blamed for a fault that may be somewhere else in your machine.