The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Smoke/Solder Smell from Laptop power hole, now won't post or charge battery. Dead.

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by Macleod of the Clan, Sep 30, 2011.

  1. Macleod of the Clan

    Macleod of the Clan Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    89
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    What sort of problem is it?

    Here are my specs.
    M570tu
    9300 qx intel quad clocked to 3 gz
    3700m quadro graphics card

    Here's a description of the problem:
    5 weeks ago I was replacing my power supply and battery because I saw a small wisp that smelt a bit like solder rising slowly just above where the power is on the laptop.

    I thought it dangerous and turned off the thing, deciding to keep it off until I got the replacement parts, and then to try to see if a new batt and cord would fix the problem.

    During the wait for the parts I quickly retried the laptop to see if I'd get the same smoky result, well it wouldn't turn on at all. The battery would't even charge through the power input! No smoke this time... but its gotten worse, the battery power monitor doesn't even come on. Nada.

    Now I've got a new battery (not sure if these should come charged or not, mine didn't and it still doesn't charge through my lappy) and neither that nor replacing the power supply (the Adapter sent to me says 19v as opposed to the 20v I had before, will that be incompatible with my laptop at all?) fixed anything...

    First Question is:

    1) Could the high heat/performance of the 9300m qx quad and 3700m Quadro graphics card account for why I got smoke from my notebook in the first place? They're both upgraded items.

    I just don't know why it happened, (I had damaged my AC cord a bit so the internals were showing. Dunno if that would do it.)

    2) What sort of problem does this look like? It seems something (a fuse?) at the laptop input got burnt out. It smelt like solder, I'm not acquainted with what kinds of smells laptops can emit. What will I need to do to fix it, because I really would like to get this £2000+ bitc* back on the road for some serious life work/gaming.


    Resoldering? Replacing the Motherboard? Professional?
    It won't POST OR ANYTHING.

    PS: if I have to go call a professional, does anyone know any good ones in London that can do this for me, cheap?


    Eternal Thanks in Advance!
     
  2. Anthony@MALIBAL

    Anthony@MALIBAL Company Representative

    Reputations:
    616
    Messages:
    2,771
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    56
    It sounds like the power input on the motherboard burned out. That part could theoretically be replaced by removing the old and soldering in a new one (assuming the whole board was fried). But it's probably easiest to have the whole motherboard replaced. Your upgrades may also be pulling more power than the board was designed for, but I can't say for certain.