[Trism]

Hi guys, first of all I'd like to say that you a truly excellent site going here, an amazing wealth of information

Now, I have a feeling I already know what the issue is with my laptop but I'd like to see if anyone else has any suggestions.

A little while ago I had to replace my charger (a common activity for most Dell owners I believe) and go a new one off of eBay like I have so many times in the past. I plugged the new one in and it worked fine for about 8 hours (on and off usage, not plugged in constantly). Suddenly there was a loud popping noise and the faint whiff of burnt plastic, I checked the charger and sure enough the green light on it had gone out and it was extremely warm. The laptop didn't seem to be affected, other than it wasn't charging anymore. So I put it down to bad luck, got a refund from eBay an bought another from a different seller. As I didn't think I would be too long without a charger I used the laptop until the battery ran down.
Which brings us to today. I've received my new charger, plugged it in and connected it the laptop.... and nothing happens. The battery icon has not turned green to indicate it's plugged in and the laptop won't start all. I've tried taking the battery out and holding the power button to make sure any residual charge has been used but still nothing.

Does anyone have any suggestions or am I looking at a new laptop purchase?

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Hi Trism

Which brings us to today. I've received my new charger, plugged it in and connected it the laptop.... and nothing happens. The battery icon has not turned green to indicate it's plugged in and the laptop won't start all.

For clarification icons appear on the screen do you mean the green LED on the AC adapter?
Laptops and primarily Dell brand do not go well with non propriety hardware such as batteries and AC adapters but that said if there is no green L ED on the AC adapter/charger then it is this which is bad as it should illuminate even when not plugged into the laptop.
FWIW I for one will not mention cheap and nasty chinese products available on fleabay

[phillpower2]

Hi Trism

Which brings us to today. I've received my new charger, plugged it in and connected it the laptop.... and nothing happens. The battery icon has not turned green to indicate it's plugged in and the laptop won't start all.

For clarification icons appear on the screen do you mean the green LED on the AC adapter?
Laptops and primarily Dell brand do not go well with non propriety hardware such as batteries and AC adapters but that said if there is no green L ED on the AC adapter/charger then it is this which is bad as it should illuminate even when not plugged into the laptop.
FWIW I for one will not mention cheap and nasty chinese products available on fleabay

[Trism]

Thanks for getting back to me!

The green LED on the charger lights up, but the battery icon on the laptop itself does not. Nothing comes up on the screen itself at all.

[phillpower2]

Thanks for getting back to me!

1:The green LED on the charger lights up,2: but the battery icon on the laptop itself does not.3: Nothing comes up on the screen itself at all.

You are welcome, can you please read through this post carefully and then come back to us please.
1: The AC adapter appears to work but is it the correct one for the laptop (same voltage etc) have you checked the power jack at the rear of the laptop, is it loose? These can sometimes become detached from the MB and cause a short circuit.
2: Do you mean the laptops battery charging LED which are sometimes by the power on button? Have you tried removing the battery and powering up with only the AC adapter connected also would it be possible to ask any family or friends if they have a compatible laptop if they could try their battery in yours, not yours in theirs as it may be defective and cause damage to their laptop.
3: Is there any sign of life at all, CPU fan turn, HDD LED flicker etc, this is what is confusing me regarding "but the battery icon on the laptop itself does not" with no power available you will not see anything whatsoever on the screen.

[Trism]

1. The charger is definately the right voltage/wattage. I checked it against the offical charger on the Dell website and everything is the same. The socket itself doesn't seem to be loose but when inserting the jack into the socket it doesn't seem to be as snug as it used to be. To make sure this isn't the new charger being a slighlty different size I've tried my old broken charger and it doesn't seem to be as snug either.

2. I have tried taking the battery out and starting up, still nothing. Unfortunately there's no-one else who has a Dell in my family (that should probably tell me something...)

3. No signs of life at all. The battery icon I refer to is on the laptop case itself. I've attached a pic to show what I mean.

[phillpower2]

Ok this will be slightly more difficult as it could still be either the battery or the AC adapter/charger.
To avoid purchasing a new battery do you have a local computer store that can check the condition of the battery for you, some will do this free of charge but be sure to check first alternatively there are tests that you can do yourself if you have the correct equipment, some options @ http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop11.htm and/or @ http://www.ehow.com/...op-battery.html
The fact that the laptop worked until the battery went flat gives me hope but it is not conclusive and the MB may have suffered damage and need investigating.
FWIW that is a battery LED not an icon, two totally different things, as you have said the power socket appears secure if you plug the charger in and toggle the jack around in the socket does the charge light come on intermittently?
I would not suggest doing this if the socket was loose as it could result in a system short, let us know how you get on or if we can assist you in any way.

[Trism]

Sorry about the icon/LED mix up, bad terminology on my part

I came to pretty much the same conclusion, so thank you very much for validating my theories. I'll take it to a PC World as it's the only place near to me.

Thank you very much for helping with this, much appreciated. Feel free to close this thread now.

[phillpower2]

No worries and thanks for the update, please keep the thread open so that you can let us know the outcome be it good or bad and good luck.