PLease help me with disassembly?

8510W workstation notebook. Service manual here....
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c02496888.pdf

Disassembly notes here....
How to disassemble HP Compaq 8510p notebook PC >> Inside my laptop

I've got a short in my power connection. It's not in the cord. I've checked with multimeter. It disconnects when the plug is wiggled slightly up and down while plugged into the computer. It's most likely a detached solder pad on the PCB mounted receptacle. One of the most common faults on these laptops. And access to it seems maddeningly difficult.

Can anyone advise me on the absolute minimum of disassembly required to get at this part? It's looking like almost the entire machine must be broken down to do this. I'd like to avoid this much risk in breaking tabs, handling static-sensitive subcomponents, losing screws, etc, etc.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

Screw it. This is so frustrating. I took the whole thing apart. Got to the point where I could see the solder pads on the topside of the PCB. They all looked very sound. So I must have overlooked a problem with the cord and plug.

Reassembled the whole thing. Pared the plug down to bare wires and painstakingly soldered the cord back together eliminating the a few inches near the strain relief. Plugged it back in and it's the same thing. The plug checks out fine with the multimeter. Plug it in and wiggle it just at the right angle and the power cuts out. The angle that provides power actually presses the PCB mounted receptacle against the board. Obviously there is a disconnection on the PCB on the other side that I could not get at (without tearing the back off which involved another half dozen screws, unplugging board connections, and maneuvering the chassis away from the fittings. I was lucky enough as it was to get the whole mess together properly without this additional fuss.

So what can I do now?

Anyone able to provide me with the pin-outs of the external battery connection port on the bottom of this thing? I ought to just be able to hardwire the adapter power into this port shouldn't I?

But I certainly am not going to attempt it unless I know exactly which pins to use.

 

$2.80, including shipping, buys you a new power jack on eBay. You've come this far and learned this much, you probably have all the soldering skill you need to remove your power jack and replace it. The last step in removing your motherboard, taking out those few additional screws and separating the palmrest from the bottom, is really not that hard. Just be careful to not yank the little connection & wires in the extreme right corner (notebook up, screen to top) off your board. The connector is attached to the base, the wires to the palmrest/top--you need to hold the palmrest up while you remove this connector. A guitar pick, or other thin flat tool, is useful in separating the palmrest from the base. All of the plastic bits are really quite tough. Also, don't forget to loosen the two screws holding your VGA connector to the chassis. After you have removed the five or so small screws that a hold the motherboard to the base, the vga connector is the last thing keeping the motherboard from popping out. As you are removing bits, just feel your way along, somewhat gently, and you can usually feel where you might have missed removing a screw. Quite straightforward, and not all that hard to do, once you overcome your initial nervousness.

Admirable undertaking, by the way. These 8510w's and 8510p's are great machines (I'm typing this on one.) Worth, even, the effort to entirely replace the motherboard. One ebay seller sells 5 untested boards for a flat $50. I bought five and got one working 8510w, and three working 8510p's. I've got one 8510p left, if you want to shoot me a pm. I don't know for sure, though, how well your "w" video card will work on a "p" motherboard. Previously, on NBR, somebody reported that their Nvidia 570m worked just fine in an 8510p. The ATI card, though, might be hobbled by the 8510p's bios.

 

Boxman,

Thank you very very much for that thorough response. I have not checked back in a few days. I agree about the 'nice machine'. The magnesium subframe in this thing looks like aerospace tech and everything about the machine looks robust. I've really put it through its paces in the last six years as an all around primary PC as well as an HTPC. I'm pretty amazed that a six year old 1000 dollar "workstation" has managed to keep its head up no matter what I throw at it with CAD and home theater. And this power short is the first glitch I've had. Remarkable. Something "to be said" perhaps for business class hardware. No frills performance and dependability.

For the time being I took the lazy man's route and permanently attached the power plug to the back with a tiny screw mounted such that it shims the PCB jack in a way that maintains contact. I'll have to watch this closely since a poor connection can generate heat and problems but so far so good. I'll look into that jack on ebay now and repair it as soon as possible, but for now I'm up and running.

 

In case anyone finds the way here via search. Thank goodness I followed a hunch further before going ahead with the teardown and replacement of the board mounted receptacle (nonwithstanding that it's stiill excellent advice from Boxman).

No matter what I did with the multimeter I could not find a short between the receptacle and the board. Taking a closer look at the plug I discovered that I could break the connection by wiggling the center pin (pos). But I'd just repaired this by cutting the wire at the strain relief and rejoining the lead. This time I went further and stripped the soft rubber away from the plug entirely and discovered a perfectly lazy solder connection at the base of that pin had come loose. There was no physical join here as in bare wire insertion prior to solder. It was just the tip of the dang wire barely touching the end of the pin and a bead of solder applied. Made me a bit angry. Bad design. Anyway.... I drilled the pin base with a micro miniature drill and inserted the wire and resoldered. REconnected the grounds/shields and all is good again with the computer.

It would have been 100X simpler to have replaced the power supply from the start, but all my past experience suggested to me that if wiggling the plug right at the machine (not at the strain relief) caused problems it was generally at the board connection.

Live and learn.