Acer Aspire 5610-4648 Won't charge

I have an Acer Aspire 5610 which was having some problems consistently charging. While the computer was plugged in it might be charging only half the time. The cord was plugged in, but I would come back to the computer to find that the battery had run down to zero charge while I was gone. I realized that the original power cord was starting to fray, so replaced it with a compatible one from RocketFish. Still had the same problem. Thought that it might not be fully compatible and got a new manufacturer cord, same thing.

If I find just the right position, maybe with the cord draped over top of the laptop screen, maybe half in, half out angled to the right with a little downward pressure, or something then it will charge... until I move it.

The amber light indicating the computer is plugged in an charging will sometimes not light up at all when I plug it in. Sometimes it will flash on and off in a regular interval... making me think it is indicating something more than an intermittent connection.

I took it to one store who looked at the pin inside where the power plug goes and they said it did not appear loose. Another store suggested this all indicated a loose solder connection somewhere in the computer.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Let's clarify something about the power cord business.
In most (if not all) laptops the power cord that runs from the PSU to the notebook cannot be replaced- you can only replace the other part- the one that goes from the socket to the PSU. So what have you changed?

There are two possibilities- one that power socket inside the laptop is getting lose the other that the cable hear the plug itself is coming apart.
The most vulnerable is the part marked on the photo but since you can't replace this part of the cable you'd have to replace the PSU.

 

I had replaced the entire power supply, so the cables and the power adapter. Where your arrow is point was indeed the place where the original was starting to fray.

If it is the power socket getting loose, is there anyway to tell just by looking at the inside of the laptop? If it is loose, is there an (easy) way to repair it? Beyond that, my guess is that loose comes (shortly?) before a BROKEN connection at which point it will be impossible (unless repaired) to charge the computer. Is that right?

Thanks for the help!

 

It's rather easy to repair or replace the connector and yes you should be able to tell if it sits properly or not by looking at the dismantled laptop.

 

That is better news than I was expecting. Do you know of anywhere where I can find a diy step-by-step on this? Even just a someone describing what they did to fix a similar problem... preferably with pictures!

 

Acer service manual for this model would certainly be helpful. It is available on the net however we can't share it here due to copyright issues- just search for it.