What have I done this time?

T

twipley

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Nov 3, 2011
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I was in the process of making this laptop of use to my godson.

Linux had installed great on it; however, it had not functional battery, and if the charger plug was touched in any way, chances were the power to the machine would be cut off, as there was something loose in there.

This had, somehow, to be fixed. I began by placing a toothpick between the plug and the socket, so the contact would be made more secure, and then I tried other things, but nothing worked. Then, in a moment of insightful revelation, or folly -- you decide --, I decided to try securing the connection by surrounding the socket with aluminum foil.

When I connected the plug to the socket, indeed, sparks came out, and now the machine is not willing to boot anymore. (Sparks were interesting the time they lasted, although a non-bootable machine provokes less interest in the long run.)

TL;DR: genius short-circuits machine, then wonders what is broke and what is (if any) not, and, if applicable, the manner a part-replacement should be approached.
 
twipley said:
I was in the process of making this laptop of use to my godson.

Linux had installed great on it; however, it had not functional battery, and if the charger plug was touched in any way, chances were the power to the machine would be cut off, as there was something loose in there.

This had, somehow, to be fixed. I began by placing a toothpick between the plug and the socket, so the contact would be made more secure, and then I tried other things, but nothing worked. Then, in a moment of insightful revelation, or folly -- you decide --, I decided to try securing the connection by surrounding the socket with aluminum foil.

When I connected the plug to the socket, indeed, sparks came out, and now the machine is not willing to boot anymore. (Sparks were interesting the time they lasted, although a non-bootable machine provokes less interest in the long run.)

TL;DR: genius short-circuits machine, then wonders what is broke and what is (if any) not, and, if applicable, the manner a part-replacement should be approached.
Click to expand...

rofl. Yeah, aluminum is sorta conductive. :)

I would make sure the power supply brick is still working.
If it is, then you might need to check the plug on the laptop. I had to fix the wifes power plug by soldering it back together as it had come loose and broke.(old core 2 duo)
You will probably have to take it apart a bit, so if you are not comfortable doing it, might need to find somebody who is.
 
You probably blew an internal fuse on the power brick. I don't see how a short at the power connector could affect the laptop if the power regulator inside is designed decently. It should not be able to flow the current in reverse and the power supply shorted would not send any excessive voltage. The proper way to fix this is to take the laptop apart and replace or re-solder the power socket (most of the time they are broken internally, but I have seen a few with the solder joints broken). I've done many of these.. if the motherboard is actually cracked at the point where socket is from dropping it with the power supply plugged in, and you don't want to buy a new motherboard, you can sometimes salvage it by running two wires soldered on the motherboard at the right spots to an external socket that dangles an inch or so outside the case.
 
Thanks for the encouragements!

So, as I now am seeing it, the problem might just lie at the power supply level.

The power brick (AC adapter) seems broken -- my father, which apparently has more knowledge on the subject of electrical technicalities than me, has assessed it --, but does not seem openable, which makes me wonder if there really are fuses inside.

I am going to buy a new AC adapter (10 bucks on ebay).

However, should I buy a power jack, too? (costing about 5 bucks on ebay).

I am tempted to, but it would be great to know if there is a way to assess whether or not that is needed.

EDIT: I think I am buying the jack too, as perhaps it was the cause for the loose connection, and not the power brick per se.

Thanks to all!
 
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