M17x R2 power Issues

I have a m17xr2 and periodically under load the blue ring on the power brick goes out.

I have it connected to a UPS so I know its not a power at the wall issue
I have 2 power bricks from Dell so I pretty sure its not a issue with the brick as it happens to both of them
I do run into an issue I saw around here where I have to wiggle the cord connected to the dc input to get it charging sometimes

Could the 3rd be the issue? From what I've read this is from bad soldering.

in searching the forums I saw someone mention the blue light cutting out but I didn't see that this was a common issue or what the resolution to that is.

Thanks for any help, this is making me crazy.

 

Hi Herb,

Welcome to the forums. I can't say that I've seen this occur on my system, but since you are seeing it on two seperate power bricks I'd say it's probably not related to the bricks themselves. That being said, I highly doubt the problem is with the UPS either (although I suppose you could try plugging it directly into the wall
and seeing if it re-occurs.).

If the system is still under warranty it might be worth giving Dell a call, could be that the connector on the system itself is the cause of the problem and as you said has a soldering issue.

Maybe some other folks will have some additional ideas.

Good luck to you!

 

My guess:
If the light disappears i cant see this is due to anything other than loss of output voltage.

3 possible reasons:
power drain on the output due to a sort of short circuit when you wiggle the plug in the socket. (its a LED and driver circuit and could easily find voltages to low to illuminate)
error on both bricks since they have a reputation of having output cable errors
error on power into the brick

Try removing the UPS first, easy to do and low risk. Could be UPS switch frequences interfere with your bricks in certain situations or just a faulty UPS.

I had problems charging and bought a new brick with no solution. Opened the computer and removed mainboard and it was bad soldering on the + pins on the socket against the mainboard that had eventually "burnt" loose.

If you wiggle and error disappears and or charging starts/stops, perhaps this is the next thing to try.


My blue light never disappeared.

 

Short on the motherboard, especially if you have 2 chargers and both exhibit the same issues (not a charger issue).

 

Thank you for the responses, I tried multiple wall outlets with both bricks and all did the same thing.

I am going to re solder the dc jack and see if that helps and if it doesn't I will replace the motherboard.

Oh and my warranty was up a long time ago

Thank you for the suggestions!

 

Mhm seems like sort of same error as i had only i had only bad contact, not short circuit.

Check the pins through the board and check board in area dc socket for debree or blackspots indicating area of a short or metal/solderings sticking out that can hit chassis ground.

On my board the solderings of the + pins had burnmarks around them and could be wiggled. (both was loose) In addition to resoldering the pins I actually added a wire from one of the pins to closest spot in same mainboard area. (i found some empty diode slots to use for this)

Perhaps you have to get a new powersocket.