[Jungledave]

Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop:

This laptop is around 2 years old and has been handled well ( never dropped, but not handled like a delicate instrument)
It belongs to my Niece, who just left for boot camp and asked me to fix it for her return.

It will not show any signs of life.
The charger works fine,
The battery holds a charge.
When I plug a charger into the computer, the led ON the charger goes out until I unplug it from the laptop.
I have 2 other Dell Laptops that I have used as test subjects, with their own functional chargers and batteries.
I tried battery and charger from a Dell 1545, with the same dead results.
I also have an Inspiron 4010 with a compatible charger.

This being said, I started doing exhaustive research online and found a few sites saying the power board was going to be
the culprit. I ordered a new one and changed it. The operation was much easier than I was led to believe, and other than a single
screw that I missed, dead center of the keyboard, I had no problems with disassembly or reassembly.
BUT, again, no love. It is still completely unresponsive.
No sounds, no lights.

In my current research, I have notice a few posts saying that Dell has inherent problems with the MOBO and soldier dots becoming dislodged,
but I'm no expert and do not know where to look for something like that.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Dave

[Advertisements]

Hello Jungledave and

Have you made any progress with this issue yet or do you still require assistance with it.

[phillpower2]

Hello Jungledave and

Have you made any progress with this issue yet or do you still require assistance with it.

[Jungledave]

I have made no further progress with this problem.
Assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Dave

[phillpower2]

Ok I can only go on the information in your OP so you may have already tried this;

Disconnect the battery and the AC adapter, hold down the power on button for around 30 seconds, this will dispel any static charge that may have built up in the system, remove the Ram, if you have two stick try replacing only one stick in slot one, reassemble the notebook and see if there is any change, repeat the process with the same stick of Ram in slot two and then the exact same procedure using the second Ram stick only (if there is one).

Let us know the outcome please.

One other thing that can cause this is a system short and a common cause is a damaged power jack port, has this been inspected.

[Jungledave]

RAM is good, I tried both sticks in another lappy.
I also tried THAT computer's RAM in my broken laptop.
At your request, I tried 1 at a time.
I replaced the power board, it is brand new.
I have spare power blocks from other lappys, they are good.

But, the laptop still shows no signs of life.

(Edit)
I also put the HDD in another Dell and it fired right up.

Edited by Jungledave, 11 August 2012 - 06:37 PM.

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update

I was not thinking bad Ram or the power board more along the lines of static charge being built up in the hardware.

I asked had the DC power jack port had been inspected, has it as they have known issues http://howtocleanala...op-dc-jack.html

[Jungledave]

Well, I changed the power board.
Is that not where the DC power jack port is located?
After doing online research, that was the first item I addressed.

This required complete disassembly of the computer, so there was no static charge.

I used a different power adapter and got the same results. The led on the adapter went off soon as it was plugged into the laptop.


(EDIT)

This is the Power board I changed.

Edited by Jungledave, 14 August 2012 - 09:19 AM.

[phillpower2]

From your OP;

The charger works fine,
The battery holds a charge.

Is this when used with another computer.

When you say power board do you mean the one associated with the power on button.
If yes then no it is nothing to do with the DC power jack.

With what you are describing (the LED going out when the charger is plugged in) and the testing you have already done it suggests a problem with the DC jack or the MB and like I stated earlier a short circuit.

From the link that I provided earlier you can see that what you describe is a known symptom and that it does not take much for the DC jack to become damaged;

DELL INSPIRON 1525 PP29L Laptop Computer

If your Dell laptop is having problems or you think that your system board is dead, it you may just have a bad power jack (DS2 LIO BOARD; 48.4W006.011).

The Dell Inspiron 1525 and 1526 laptop models are known to have DC power jack issues;

Problem Symptoms:
1. Laptop randomly shuts down without any warning.
2. Power LED and battery charge LED start flickering when you wiggle the power cord or the AC adapter tip on the back or your laptop.
3. The battery will not charge.
4. When you plug AC adapter, the laptop appears to be dead and there is no LED activity.

How a DC jack breaks:
- The DC power jack on most models of laptops does not have enough reinforcement within the structure of the casing and motherboard to handle the stress caused by movement of the power plug.
- Some DC jacks simply fail under normal operation of your computer. After a year or two of usage, parts just come loose on certain models.
- Sometimes the laptop gets dropped and the plug jerks the DC jack loose.
- People, pets and vacuum cleaners trip over laptop power cords and break the DC power jack.
- The laptop is moved around a lot. After the DC jack is moved back and forth enough times, it comes loose.
- In some cases the DC jack was not soldered onto the motherboard well by the manufacturer.

[Jungledave]

When I say "Power Board" I am talking about the board with the DC jack mounted on it.
That is brand new.

It was the first symptom I was made aware of, so I ordered a new one, disassembled my computer and replaced it.

I am not talking about the ON/OFF button board.


Also, when it didnt work, I took apart my working Dell 1545, which has the same power board, and tried the new one. It worked fine.
So, I have eliminated it from the gremlins in the machine.

Thanks for taking so much time with this, I know my replies are not as timely as you would prefer, but my work schedule is maniacal.

Dave

(EDIT)

Sorry, I edited the wrong post up top, but as you can see, this is the power board I changed.

Edited by Jungledave, 14 August 2012 - 09:21 AM.

[phillpower2]

Thanks for clarifying ( I believe the other type is called a power button board )

I have had a look on the Dell forums and one thing that I found other than replacing the DC jack or MB is detailed below;

There is a delicate wire on the motherboard that connects with the adapter, and allows the adapter to identify itself. From normal wear and tear, this wire gets jiggled loose quite often (this happens on all laptops, but on my dell xps m1530, the adapter hangs QUITE loose in the socket and is probably wreaks havoc on the motherboard).

At that point, if you're skilled, you may be able to solder it back.

No worries about when you are able to reply, we all have other commitments such as family and work so reply when you are able to.

[Jungledave]

:hmmm:

I didnt find anything about that little wire.
THATS interesting.

I'll bet thats the same thing that happened on my Sony VAIO as well. Already sold the Sony for a HUGE loss, but live and learn.

Now, about the little wire connecting the MOBO to the adapter......
are you familliar with what they are calling the "adapter" because I remember quite a lot of little wired components.
I am adept at soldiering, so I'm willing to give it a go.
I have the laptop taken apart again, so I have the MOBO exposed and await further suggestions

[phillpower2]

I may be wrong but possibly around the power board that you have replaced.

I am not familiar with this wire and only found the information while researching possible causes.

As you have the notebook dismantled again using a magnifying glass to inspect the soldering is an idea, as you have done a lot of research yourself I am sure that you are aware that the symptoms suggest it is the motherboard but hopefully it is not.

I will do some further research this evening after work and see if I can find any further suggestions.

[Jungledave]

Phill, I am going to buy a magnifying lamp and study around the general area of the power board till I have :

1. found what I'm looking for and report it here
2. exhausted my eyes and given up with a headache
3. gotten aggravated with the MOBO and gone out drinking

[phillpower2]

Afternoon Dave, how about;

1. found what I'm looking for and report it here then go out drinking

Good luck and please let us know how it goes.

[Jungledave]

The only wire in the general vicinity of the power board is the modem wire.
somehow I doubt thats the culprit.

I've had an exceptionally hard week this week, so I'll give it a thorough looking over tomorrow with fresh set of eyes.