posted
I've been having problems with my laptop's power supply, which probably are not related to each other but which combine to become quite a nuisance to me.
The first problem is that the battery is winding down. Now, when it is completely charged, it's only got about 30 minutes of life in it, and when it says it has about 12 minutes left, my computer shuts itself down. I know this happens with older laptops, so I'm not all that surprised about it.
The second, though, is that my laptop often doesn't recognize the power cord when it's plugged in. There are one or two sweet spots where it doesn't actually engage the battery, but these sweet spots often change, or the cord will move slightly, and I'll have to stop what I'm doing to fiddle with it to get it to recognize the power supply again. If the spot changes while I'm away from my computer for ten minutes or so, it sometimes causes my computer to shut down due to a dead battery.
Is there anything I can do to fix the second problem (or, for that matter, the first)? Should I take it in to be repaired or just deal with the annoyance? Please help. It's driving me crazy.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
What kind of laptop is it? I had that problem with my Powerbook, and it was because of the design of the power cord. After a while the power cord had been bent enough times that it would broke right below where it plugged into the computer and would only work when it was held at certain angles. If something like that is your problem, then the only solution would be to buy a new power cord, I think. If the computer is still under warranty you could try calling the company and seeing if they would pay for it.
And for the first problem, I think you'll just have to buy a new battery. I'm having that problem as well after 3 years of owning my computer. I just went to Apple Store today, in fact, to buy a new battery but they didn't have the one I needed in stock. *grumble*
Posts: 1658 | Registered: Sep 2003
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The second, a new power cord. Through years of use, the soldered connections between the plug and cord can be wriggled loose. It's annoying, and nearly impossible to prevent.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
*sigh* I am now facing my second dead battery that I've had with my powerbook. And it might be the fault of the charger, as it seems that I've been using someone's 45W iBook charger for the last year and a half. Oops.
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
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posted
The contact points for the power jack in the laptop have come loose. It happens very very often. If you can find a competant computer shop they can often re-solder the jack in or replace it (preferably the latter, since just re-soldering it doesn't work too well).
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
What Boris and kwsni said. My symptoms were almost identical to yours, and I, too thought it was the power cord. I'm glad I took it to someone I know before I spent the money to repalce the cord (I couldn't believe how expensive they are!). I had my power jack replaced over a year ago and it's been fine since. I also have a lousy battery but I just keep it plugged in all the time and haven't bothered to replace it.
Oh, by the way, fiddling with the cord makes the problem worse--the little pin inside the power jack that is already loose will just get looser. Sorry.
ETA: Disqualifier to say that any names I give any doohickies are highly suspect. This is my highly non-technical understanding of the problem.
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I had the same symptoms happening a few years ago with an HP laptop. It turned out to be the jack that the powercord plugs into, which happened on that model to go directly into the <insert name of central guts of computer> and not be fixable without shipping the whole thing back to the company. Plus the year before they'd standardized the battery size for their laptops and I could not buy a new one. So when the battery died (and I didn't notice that even though I was plugged in I was running off of battery because the stupid cord jack had finally broken) I couldn't get to anything that I'd been working on.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
Depending on the age & amenities of this laptop, you may not really want to spend the money to repair it. Batteries are expensive and so is competent labor. Unless you can find someone to work on it for you for the pure joy of helping a friend, of course.
I suggest at least pricing a comparable new laptop before spending money on this one. You may decide it's a better bet to just get something new.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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