Gateway MX6440 battery won't charge unless "rigged"

So I have a a gateway that's about 2 years old. I just had to replace the hard drive and of course not long after I fixed one thing something else needed repair~ I was having trouble getting the battery to charge unless it was positioned just right. At first when plugged in the screen would dim/flicker occasionally like there was a loose connection when it was plugged in. If I pulled on the cable and taped it just right it would run completely off the A/C. Eventually that stopped working and I started having to prop it up and play with the position in order to get it to charge. I figured since the cable was pretty worn looking if I just replaced it that would solve the problem.

Of course $80 later and I have a new A/C adapter but I'm still having the problem. As time goes on I have more and more trouble finding a position where I can get a solid light to indicate that it's charging. I can't plug it in at all when I'm using it- it will only run off the battery & then when it dies I have to prop it up and toy with the cable input until I can get it to charge. It's getting extremely frustrating only being able to use it in one hour incriments every couple of hours.

I suspect the port may need to be replaced although the guys at Best Buy said it may be the motherboard. Is there ANY WAY to figure out if it's the port or the motherboard? If it is the port is it fairly easy to replace (If so where can I find one?) or is it something I need to send off to have replaced? I can't afford a new notebook right now and I hate that I just put in the new hard drive and bought a new A/C adapter for it if it's going to cost me as much to fix it as getting a new notebook... If you have ANY advice or suggestions they would be MUCH appreciated!

 

I am having the same problem with a Gateway MX6426. Did you ever find out what the solution was?

 

it's the charging circuit either attacked to the motherboard or it's replaceable. but chances are... it belongs to the mother board and the whole board would have to be replaced. (speculation of course) the early macbooks had the same problem, but they we're smart..they made the piece replaceable.

now you can try messing with the contacts on the motherboard side...but i would not advise it.... but the tech side of me says...you can always try... meaning: get a voltage tester and check the voltage of each one of those pins and see that they are indeed giving out the right voltage.

 

I had same issue. I replaced the power cord, but it didn't correct it. It ended up being the AC power adapter plug. It was not a crack in the motherboard, and you really couldn't see a break in the solder on the plug. I re-soldered the center connection and fixed it myself, however, you can have places do this for you for $99-$150. Before you go that route, you can buy a hard drive enclosure to get all your data off the hard drive if you don't have it backed up. You take the hard drive off, put it in the enclosure, then use it as a USB external drive on another computer.
Good luck..