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Laptop battery will not charge (or turn on?) [DETAILS INSIDE]

2K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  BosonMichael 
#1 · (Edited)
As stated, my problem is that my laptop will not turn on and or charge the battery from the laptop. (useful information is in BOLD for your convenience)
Laptop: Gateway MA7 <- laptop's reference guide from the gateway website for better understanding (if any).

Symptoms/Problem:
-Battery will not charge; thus, laptop will not turn on.
-Laptop battery not receiving power from laptop's DC jack.
-Bad DC Jack (I've plugged in two different kinds of working adapters, but they do not turn on the laptop).
-Power-on malfunction.
-Motherboard fried (really off chance).


This was not my laptop to begin with. This was my sisters a few years back... about 3-6. It's still in good condition other than the problem it has. I was digging around my old "collectibles" of electronic goodies and came across this fella. I could REALLY use this for college and save a TON of money as a basic laptop for school work and internet browsing (I live off the US financial aid). Money is tight for me; therefore, spending my money needs to be precise.

I've considered a few options:
-Have it repaired by a local computer store by supplying a DC jack bought from amazon.com (I figure the cost would be around 100 dollars)
(but there can be a risk of that not being the problem!)

-Fixing this solution myself once I find out the exact problem (although I am not good with soldering). [cheapest solution, but more risk of ruining the motherboard]

-Sell it for scrap and use the money to invest in a slightly newer laptop.
(Personally I believe that's horrible. I remember this laptop being pretty good.)

I honestly believe the problem is the power jack, but this is all the information I can provide at the moment. If you need any other info such as photos, internal specs, etc... I will reply as soon as possible!

Thanks in advance, TSF

~Badgood
 
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#7 ·
I'm not handy at all (just ask my wife!) but I learned to solder specifically so I could repair the DC power jack in my 7-year-old Dell laptop. And it worked like a charm. However, I was certain that the jack was the problem. Wiggling the power cord in the jack would cause the power light to flicker.
 
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