Busted Dell laptop - any suggestions for repair?

Hugo_Drax

My Inspiron 5160 died a few months ago, exhibiting symptoms in keeping with a known fault: the DC input coming away from the motherboard.

Here's what happened: I shut the unit down and left it plugged into the mains to charge the battery. When I tried to boot up 30 mins later, all three front lights flashed simultaneously, once. Nothing else happens.

The battery had a little charge left before I shutdown but had completely discharged after. There was power to the PSU but not to the unit. Removing the battery or plugging it into the mains yields no flashes, but no reponse, either.

I took it apart but could find no visible or repeatable confirmation that the DC i/p had come away from the motherboard. Reassemble, no difference - still dead.

It's impossible to prove whether it is the DC jack that's at fault or whether the the PSU has failed or if it's something else entirely.

Can anyone suggest any further potential fixes to try or, if not, a decent repair outlet - I'm in the South West. It's out of warranty (nearly 2 years old) and Dell will simply replace the motherboard for £3-400 plus P&P. Not gonna happen.

Thanks.

albertross_2

so if you plug it into the mains, with the battery removed, and switch it on, there are no signs of live or electricity whatsoever?

Is there a light on the psu tranformer brick?

Hugo_Drax

albertross wrote:

so if you plug it into the mains, with the battery removed, and switch it on, there are no signs of live or electricity whatsoever?

Is there a light on the psu tranformer brick?

As I remember, with it plugged in, with the batt in place, there's the flash, without the batt, there's nothing. I could be wrong, though, I'd need to check.

Yes, the PSU brick light illuminates but that only provesthe LED is working.

You got a plan cooking?

flang

have you tried using another power supply? you can buy these for peanuts nowdays or you could buy one test it and take it back

albertross_2

if the light is on the transformer, it proves the fuse is ok, and suggests that the transformer is working.

Try taking everything you can out of the equation, remove the battery and power it up, if it lights momentarily, it suggests power is getting to the board. Also try removing all pcmcia cards/ram/CD drive (if removeable).

Hugo_Drax

flang wrote:

have you tried using another power supply? you can buy these for peanuts nowdays or you could buy one test it and take it back

Yeah, I thought of this but without calling Dell, asumed they'd be £50+. Perhaps there are 3rd-party variants?

Hugo_Drax

albertross wrote:

if the light is on the transformer, it proves the fuse is ok, and suggests that the transformer is working.

Try taking everything you can out of the equation, remove the battery and power it up, if it lights momentarily, it suggests power is getting to the board. Also try removing all pcmcia cards/ram/CD drive (if removeable).

I'm pretty sure that removing the battery brings nothing to the lights and nothing to the unit. Would that suggest the battery's failed? Surely power doesn't have to be routed throughthe battery for the mains to work?

If I remove thr RAM and DVD burner, won't it screw up the boot sequence?

Thanks for the suggestions.

albertross_2

If it doesn't work without the battery in (but powered with transformer), that probably rules out the battery as the cause, and the problem is further up the chain (motherboard/transformer). A duff battery can cause the symptom you describe, so it is important to rule it out.


If the light is on the brick, It would suggest it is working, which leave the motherboard.

Removing the Ram and CD drive is a stab in the dark, but it's not starting up at all anyway, so can't be any worse. Just don't walk up and down the carpet with the ram in your hand). Sometimes the removeable CD roms (not sure if your model has one), can bend the case a bit and cause connection/boot problems.. so what I'm suggesting is remove everything that you don't need in, to see if you can get anything at all on screen, when only the transformer is plugged in.

The only other thing you can check is that there is no break in the wire between the transformer brick and connection to the laptop.. they sometimes can get trapped in the laptop hinges.

Hugo_Drax

albertross wrote:

If it doesn't work without the battery in (but powered with transformer), that probably rules out the battery as the cause, and the problem is further up the chain (motherboard/transformer). A duff battery can cause the symptom you describe, so it is important to rule it out.


If the light is on the brick, It would suggest it is working, which leave the motherboard.

Removing the Ram and CD drive is a stab in the dark, but it's not starting up at all anyway, so can't be any worse. Just don't walk up and down the carpet with the ram in your hand). Sometimes the removeable CD roms (not sure if your model has one), can bend the case a bit and cause connection/boot problems.. so what I'm suggesting is remove everything that you don't need in, to see if you can get anything at all on screen, when only the transformer is plugged in.

The only other thing you can check is that there is no break in the wire between the transformer brick and connection to the laptop.. they sometimes can get trapped in the laptop hinges.

Thanks. I will double-check exactly what the symptoms are tonight and try your suggestions.

Anyone know where I can get cheap PSU and battery replacements, without paying Dell prices?

Mizz_Pink

What abut claiming on your house insurance ? They replace like for like unless the laptop can be fixed which is usually too expensive for them.

Hugo_Drax

Mizz_Pink wrote:

What abut claiming on your house insurance ? They replace like for like unless the laptop can be fixed which is usually too expensive for them.

I hadn't thought of that. I'll see what the terms are. Cheers.