Laptop not charging

fuzzgun19

My sons laptop is about 3 years old its a Dell Inspiron 1545.
Yesterday it started not charging when plugged in, and when you turn it on (plugged in) comes up with this on the screen.



I tried removing the battery, and turning on (plugged in), and it does come on, but goes to the above screen first.

Does anyone know if this may be just a failing battery, or charger, or something more serious?

Figment

Does the power adapter have a LED indicating it is switched on, and if so, is it on?

Does the charging LED on the laptop light up?

Check the power plug in the back of laptop is properly inserted and tight. If you can wiggle it about, it's possible the pin in the centre of the socket has worked loose. You will need it replacing.

Mista_C

Look into the power socket on the laptop. It should look like this...

http://www.dcpowerjacks.net/catalog/images/jacks/pj66gal.jpg

Can you see the round plastic piece in the centre, with the central pinhole and the 4 outer lines? Does your son's look the same or does it look like a metal pin/spring?

The Inspiron 1545 is notorious for the centre plastic dropping out (and poor keyboards but that's another issue). There's a small sensor contact in there which knows if you're using the correct Dell charger. When the plastic drops out the sensor is affected.

I'm forever repairing these things. Thankfully, if you're not proficient with a soldering iron, you can replace the small DC board with a new genuine one for less than £30.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brand-Genuine-INSPIRON-48-4AQ03-011-48-4AQ20-011/dp/B0092LB5QG

Just make sure you have the correct one because these laptops came with both round or hexagonal versions throughout their lifespan.

fuzzgun19

Figment wrote: »

Does the power adapter have a LED indicating it is switched on, and if so, is it on?

Does the charging LED on the laptop light up?

Check the power plug in the back of laptop is properly inserted and tight. If you can wiggle it about, it's possible the pin in the centre of the socket has worked loose. You will need it replacing.

The LED light on the charger is on when charging.
The LED on the laptop does not come on when the charger is plugged in.

Mista_C wrote: »

Look into the power socket on the laptop. It should look like this...

http://www.dcpowerjacks.net/catalog/images/jacks/pj66gal.jpg

Can you see the round plastic piece in the centre, with the central pinhole and the 4 outer lines? Does your son's look the same or does it look like a metal pin/spring?

The Inspiron 1545 is notorious for the centre plastic dropping out (and poor keyboards but that's another issue). There's a small sensor contact in there which knows if you're using the correct Dell charger. When the plastic drops out the sensor is affected.

I'm forever repairing these things. Thankfully, if you're not proficient with a soldering iron, you can replace the small DC board with a new genuine one for less than £30.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brand-Genuine-INSPIRON-48-4AQ03-011-48-4AQ20-011/dp/B0092LB5QG

Just make sure you have the correct one because these laptops came with both round or hexagonal versions throughout their lifespan.

The power socket looks like this. I cannot see anything inside the 4 metal 'prongs'. Does this mean the plastic bit has snapped off?

Mista_C

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

The power socket looks like this. I cannot see anything inside the 4 metal 'prongs'. Does this mean the plastic bit has snapped off?

Indeed it does. If you look inside the prongs you should see a metal springy bit.

Basically you need a new DC board.

fuzzgun19

Ok thankyou for your help.

I am not teccy at all, and would need to take this to someone for repair.

Do you have any idea how much it may cost.. is it a big job?

Figment

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43G_4dkWkEI

fuzzgun19

Figment wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43G_4dkWkEI

Thanks, but that looks highly complicated and I'd never be able to do that myself.