Resistor question with Dell Inspiron 1200

Ok, please no flaming on this discussion. I bought an Inspiron 1200 a few years ago for my girlfriend and here recently the power jack has been acting up, so I bought a new one on ebay for like 8 bucks shipped and decided to try to fix it myself. I downloaded the service manual from dell onto my laptop (i5100 oldy but runs great!) so I could tear it down, which wasn't too bad at all really. Well I got the old power jack out and while soldering the new power jack in, some of the solder on the very last pin I had to do spilled over onto this very very small resistor, bad deal, I tried to heat it back up and suck it off with a de-soldering tool and it didn't work, then the resistor got so hot it came unsoldered from the main board! Well I tried to solder it back and when I put it back together the computer wouldn't take a charge. So I tore it back down and removed the resistor and just soldered over the connection. Now the computer works fine and is charging but how safe is it?? I had it plugged for about an hour and notice no excessive heat or any melting smells. This resistor was very very small too, like 1/32" wide by 1/32" by 1/8" long, how important would this be? Just wondering, I told my girlfriend to not leave the laptop plugged in while she was not using it, even if she left the room! Any info or help is appreciated, I've been trying to catch a good deal on a scrap 1200 on ebay and got sniped earlier on one!

Nathan

 

ANY integrated resistor (or other component) is important. That might have even been a capacitor, inductor, transistor, etc, etc...you're lucky its even working now!

 

Nates, you did the right thing fixing the system by removing the resistor. I know its sounds weird, but a resistor simply resists a charge. Unfortunately you had to remove that small resistance to get it to work. The system will work, since now there is no load on that circuit.
It seems like you understand electronics, since you know how to use a soldering iron and a solder sucker.
Anyways, usually on the circuit, there will be backup resistors in case one fails. The circuits in laptops are usually in series, so that the system still runs.
This is why some computer power supplies can still work even though a capacitor or something inside it has blown.

You should not have to worry to much about it, but as you recommended, I wouldnt leave it on overnight, or for extended periods when youre not there.
Just have her put the system into standby and everything will be fine.

Good luck finding a replacement,

If you have the resistor, their should be some indication numbers on it. You should be able to use those numbers and find the exact resistor in electronics distributors such as mouser/digikey.

+1 rep for understanding how to solder

K-TRON

 

Thanks for the reply, I know a little bit about soldering and electronics, but I'm still very much a novice. I actually do not have the resistor anymore because when I was removing it, it snapped out of my tweezers and went god know where!! When I did have it off before I don't think I saw any identification numbers on it, I may try to look for it on the kitchen floor again later. It just worries me that it may catch on fire, that's why I want to find another board for it. Hehe but the good thing is I can tear that 1200 down to the board in about 5 mins now, lol.