dv6000 Tech question

dv6000 (bought: Jan 08, send back for mobo
replacement, power failure, May08, ok til now)

last week, smoke came out from the power connector
side. I turned it off quick. disconnected the power cable. It
was so hot, almost burned my fingers.
had another new cable. tried that, started the lp, held my
fingers on it but I felt it getting hot and turned it off again.
my conclusion: bad power supply.
something bad on the mobo? I don't think so because
everything else stillworks normal, graphics, harddrive, etc...,
no problem.

I checked the Maintenance and Service Guide.
It seems the power supply (USB/Power Connector
Board) is a seperate board.
I'm thinking, a new power board would solve the problem.

my question to a technician here is: Is my conclusion
correct or could there be more to it?
I haven't checked on the hp website yet and have not talked to
a hp tech if I can buy a power board replacement from them.
that'll be my next step.

I would like some opinions from some techies here if possible before I do anything else.

thank you.

 

Just buy extended warranty. It's 135$ here in Canada, it'll fix your problem + give you another year of warranty!

It's not worth the hassle to buy a part, probably cost you an arm + shipping + risk installing it yourself + it might not be the solution. HP's warranty and customer service in Canada is the industry leader, no one has better warranty!

 

thank you for the advice.
I don't know if I can get a ext. warranty in canada. I live in Houston, TX.
would they accept that ?
what you said about my problem, it might not be what I think it is, yes,
you're right on that. darn thing is, I repaired/built pc's since 1992 for my customers, but I never did a laptop. but the experience I do have, tell's me, I "might" be right, 98% with ?
the part, powerboard, is $65, not so bad. shipping $12.
I'll try it, see what happens. I got the laptop apart already, I've seen the burned component, so, maybe it'll work.

anyway, can you let me know about the warranty if you think I could get it from canada. it would be much cheaper then here.

thank you

 

Yes, they also offer that in the US, but first, the notebook must be in a good condition, with no problems found on the notebook, and they can extend the warranty, all you need to do is to purchase a 1-yr phone support to HP, and check if you can upgrade it to a full extension of the warranty that also covers repair on the service centers. I am not quite sure if there is no need to purchase the phone support, but I am really sure, this is the correct process to this one. Call 1800-4746836 for more concerns.

 

Well, I've heard of people who have purchased the extended warranty when the laptop was broken, and even told the rep that it was broken.

Also, if you live in TX, then you have to buy the US extended warranty, because the coverage is determined by geographical location.

$65 + 12$ shipping = $79 <------- which is .

$79 for a maybe-works repair and maybe-breaks tomorrow, or approx $135 for a guaranteed laptop for 1 year?

 

Than you for all the help.
so here is the story:
I had two of the same, I mean laptop's. I had the one in pieces already. yes, the powerboard was bad. seen the black
on the backside of one capacitor and the connector was badly burned. the powerboard is very small, $65 is way too much, I say but ...
anyway, when I had seen the dust(klumps) all around the fan and inside the fanhousing and on the air outlets I decided to
open the second one also. that one started to get a bit hot already too so it is time to clean it before something happens.
I took it apart, checked the powerboard numbers. it was the identical twin to the other one.
you guess what I did?
I put that into the other one, assembled the whole 'cramury' and booted up.
I sang: tarra tarra. cord and plug didn't get hot, no smoke, everything worked fine.
I play the flight simulator sometimes which uses the cpu almost constantly. but I use the Rightmark Cpu Utility so the temp never
goes higher then 120 F even with a game.
anyway, I played half hour and everything stayed normal.
so, all is ok. but! I still question, why did this happened at all? what went wrong. bad component?
most likely. (china).

and to quickinferno:
I fully understand what you saying about spending money for parts and it might still not work.
you're right. this time I was just lucky I had the 'spare part', I could try it out but I could have also destroyed that board too if my
thinking wasn't right. it was a gamble but luck was with me.

anyway, still have to order another power board, hope I'll get the correct one with the first shipping.
one never knows what comes from shanghai.

thank you all and I am looking into the canadian ext. warranty.
(besides all that, you guys are lucky living in canada, sooo beautiful. you might say now, yeah, but what about the cold.
I grew up in Austria, Innsbruck, I love the cold, snow, skying and all that. none of it here in houston, just 10 months of heat.)
henry.

 

You can replace that powerboard your self for around $15 from ebay. Just make sure you get the correct one. If you have a dedicated graphics card you need a 90 watt board. If you have integrated graphics then you need a 65 watt board.

 

for: Tippey764
thank you for the ebay tip. found the correct board for $23.00

one word about the hp laptops getting so hot:
when I took the first one apart, I looked at the air outlets.
they were completely full with dust. no air could go out.
I also have a dv9800 and I use that very little because the temp goes up to 160F and stays there. Now I know why.
In the maintenance guide it say's the lp should be cleaned out about every 6 months.
well, if you don't know how to do that you'll pay some bucks to have it done.
then you're not sure if the tech assembles it correctly again.
it isn't hard to do if you're somewhat technically inclined. it took me 45 minutes the first time. now it might take me 20 minutes, maybe less.
assembling is a bit more tidious but still not so bad. one has to remember where the different screw sizes go. I just make quick drawings to show that in case I forget and lay each screw on the drawn holes. but after the first time, no need for that.
anyway, I bought two Toshibas for my daughters. put them on a stress test ,
the hottest they got was 112F. the air outlets are big and don't have those fine fins like the hp, where dust can collect easily.
well, live and learn.

thanks
henry

 

I'm glad it worked out for you, and yes you are very lucky lol.

Personally, I just feel that once a laptop is taken apart, it doesnt matter how carefully or safely it was done, I just feel that it's doomed to break very soon again.

I always think some tiniest electrical shock, that you can't even feel, will zap something, and cause it to degrade/corrode and eventually die, which may take weeks or months.

And as for the toshibas, my brother has one, very cool, big vent yes, but the HP's look nicer and aren't as thick. .