Acer Travelmate won't charge or run from power

Eccentric05 · 12-07-2006, 08:56 AM

Hi, I bought myself an acer travelmate 4100WLMi around about 12 months ago. A few months ago I started to notice that I had to wiggle my power cable to get it to run from AC power, or charge the battery, over the next few months this problem got more severe, eventualy it just gave up now it won't charge or run off of AC/DC power.

Is there any possible fix to this, or will I have to send it off to acer at my own cost. Given that this was a £500 laptop and it has only lasted 12 months I am slightly annoyed with acer.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

**Joefireline** · 12-07-2006, 11:17 AM

Hello and welcome to TSF,

Would it run off battery, when you had battery left?

Sounds like a wire has come loose within the power adapter. Try pushing in where the cable goes to the power unit/block, and to the socket.
I think a new power cable would be needed, or it will be something to do with the mainboard. What it might be a good idea to do, is take it to a computer shop, and ask them to find out what the problem is.

Eccentric05 · 12-07-2006, 03:31 PM

Yes, whilst there was power in the battery it would run off of that.

**hwm54112** · 12-08-2006, 10:24 PM

A common problem with laptops is for the DC power jack solder connection to break. The initial symptoms are what you describe- having to manipulate the cord to make a an electrical connection. If you look closely, you may be able to see the jack move- it is not a part of the case- it is either soldered to the mobo or a seperate power board, possibly by wires soldered to the mobo.

Another possibility is the cord itself- I've had four cords break internally with very little damage to the exterior- the breaks have always been right at the plug that goes into the laptop. A new plug can be bought for $ 2.00 US. DC power jacks seem to run around $ 6.00-$15.00. If you can remove the mobo youself, you can probably have the jack soldered on by a TV repair shop

wackydeejay · 10-07-2007, 11:47 AM

The Acer models use a very small DC jack, and these jacks break very easily. In many cases the jack looks like it is in good shape, but when you desolder the jack you can see that it is broken. Sometimes it will come off the motherboard in 3 or 4 pieces after the solder is removed from the joints. It is worth noting because I've seen this happen more often than not with the Acer jacks.

12-07-2006, 08:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
Eccentric05 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Odcombe, yeovil, somerset. Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP pro	Acer Travelmate won't charge or run from power Hi, I bought myself an acer travelmate 4100WLMi around about 12 months ago. A few months ago I started to notice that I had to wiggle my power cable to get it to run from AC power, or charge the battery, over the next few months this problem got more severe, eventualy it just gave up now it won't charge or run off of AC/DC power. Is there any possible fix to this, or will I have to send it off to acer at my own cost. Given that this was a £500 laptop and it has only lasted 12 months I am slightly annoyed with acer. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

10-07-2007, 11:47 AM	#5 (permalink)
wackydeejay Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2 OS: XP PRO SP2	Re: Acer Travelmate won't charge or run from power The Acer models use a very small DC jack, and these jacks break very easily. In many cases the jack looks like it is in good shape, but when you desolder the jack you can see that it is broken. Sometimes it will come off the motherboard in 3 or 4 pieces after the solder is removed from the joints. It is worth noting because I've seen this happen more often than not with the Acer jacks.

12-07-2006, 11:17 AM	#2 (permalink)
Joefireline Enthusiastic TSFer~Joseph Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Portishead (Bristol) England Posts: 5,319 OS: Windows 7 64bit(Desktop) / XP Home SP2(laptop) My System	Hello and welcome to TSF, Would it run off battery, when you had battery left? Sounds like a wire has come loose within the power adapter. Try pushing in where the cable goes to the power unit/block, and to the socket. I think a new power cable would be needed, or it will be something to do with the mainboard. What it might be a good idea to do, is take it to a computer shop, and ask them to find out what the problem is.

12-07-2006, 03:31 PM	#3 (permalink)
Eccentric05 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Odcombe, yeovil, somerset. Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP pro	Yes, whilst there was power in the battery it would run off of that.

12-08-2006, 10:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
hwm54112 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2,233 OS: WINXP	A common problem with laptops is for the DC power jack solder connection to break. The initial symptoms are what you describe- having to manipulate the cord to make a an electrical connection. If you look closely, you may be able to see the jack move- it is not a part of the case- it is either soldered to the mobo or a seperate power board, possibly by wires soldered to the mobo. Another possibility is the cord itself- I've had four cords break internally with very little damage to the exterior- the breaks have always been right at the plug that goes into the laptop. A new plug can be bought for $ 2.00 US. DC power jacks seem to run around $ 6.00-$15.00. If you can remove the mobo youself, you can probably have the jack soldered on by a TV repair shop