Dreaded Inspiron 1545 "Plugged In - Not Charging"
Rich
In July 2009 I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop as an 8th grade
graduation gift for my daughter. About six months ago she informs me that
the battery won't charge. A quick internet search revealed pages of issues
with about a half dozen "solutions" to the problem that may or may not work,
ranging from software (Flash BIOS to latest, uninstall/reinstall power
management software) to hardware (Charger cord, power board, motherboard,
battery). Dell's modus operandi seemed to randomly perform one of the four
hardware solutions which would work for a few months after which the problem
would return. Then the 1 year warranties would run out. Since the laptop
dual-boots with Vista/Windows 7, reproducing the problem in both OS's ruled
out software. I jiggled the cord & it seemed OK for a few months. Now, it
will only charge with a wad of foam wedged under the cable connection to the
laptop while sitting on a hard surface. Based on this, I can understand
whereby a new cord or power board may fix the problem for a few months until
whatever faulty pin/contact fails again. Unless Dell embraced the issue &
beefed up the faulty part, I can see where this may be a losing proposition
unless I can repair it myself & the required part is relatively inexpensive.
I know there are several computer repair experts on this group. Before I
waste time trying a new charging cord, power board or motherboard, do any of
you have experience with or repairing this problem? If so, can you confirm
what hardware need replacing? I read one post on the web which pretty
definitively claims that the power board behind the plug receptacle need
replacing. Is this the case? I have extensive experience repairing my own
desktops & some experience upgrading an old 1997 EPS laptop about 10 years
ago. If the power board needs replacing, is soldering required? If not, is
it a repair that an amateur enthusiast could perform.
Finally, if the cost of fixing this is several hundred dollars, what is the
consensus of this group as to the best laptop in the $600 to $700 range that
can reasonably sustain some wear & tear without "breaking" somehow?
Thanks for looking.
Rich
Justin
Sounds like your DC plug is damaged and not making good contact.
Macbooks have the Magsafe which eliminates this problem.
If you know somebody who can solder he can resolder or replace just the
DC port on the board.
Ben Myers
Yes, failed power jack. A chronic problem in the industry, not just
with Dells. Power jack usually held in place only by cheap, flimsy,
soft solder. Planned obsolesence? ... Ben Myers
Christopher Muto
the symptoms suggest that the power jack inside of the laptop has come
loose from the power jack board and/or the jack has internal damage.
the part is under $5 from many sellers on ebay but requires that you do
a nearly complete disassembly of the system and solder on the new part.
alternatively you can buy a complete power jack board for about $30 on
ebay and avoid the soldering. still, installing even the power jack
board represents a bit work and probably beyond what most people want to
do themselves. i suspect it would be about a $250 job from a repair
shop to do for you. have a look on youtube to see what is involved for
the repair:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC0B7emR51I
They show the jack, but the do not show soldering in a replacement.
You may notice the person going back and forth to disconnect or unscrew
missed items. this would not happen if you or that person followed the
instructions in the service manual available on support.dell.com.
Rich
> the symptoms suggest that the power jack inside of the laptop has come
> loose from the power jack board and/or the jack has internal damage. the
> part is under $5 from many sellers on ebay but requires that you do a
> nearly complete disassembly of the system and solder on the new part.
> alternatively you can buy a complete power jack board for about $30 on
> ebay and avoid the soldering. still, installing even the power jack board
> represents a bit work and probably beyond what most people want to do
> themselves. i suspect it would be about a $250 job from a repair shop to
> do for you. have a look on youtube to see what is involved for the repair:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC0B7emR51I
> They show the jack, but the do not show soldering in a replacement.
> You may notice the person going back and forth to disconnect or unscrew
> missed items. this would not happen if you or that person followed the
> instructions in the service manual available on support.dell.com.
Unbelievable......thanks for the link to that video. However, when I watched
several of the other videos showing uninstalling the power management
software, removing the battery & then replacing the battery, it made me
pause. I just checked her laptop & it is now charging without any help. Now
I am not totally convinced it is a bad power board. I will watch the
situation for a while. If it reappears, I will try the other methods. With
my luck, if I tear down the laptop it will not boot or the video will not
work,etc. upon reassembly. By the time you pay a professional you're
practically half way to a new laptop. If it is broken hardware, it
definitely seems like planned obsolescence as mentioned by Ben in a previous
post.
Thanks for all the inputs.
Rich
Christopher Muto
you can easily determine if the jack on the power board is bad... just
jiggle the plug with the power on and see if it looses/regains ac power
(switched on and off of battery as indicated but the leds and/or
brightness of the display if power management is set to defaults and the
display is dimmed when on battery). but i just reloaded a friends kids
inspiron 1545 the other day and did so because i went to use it and
found it just be a mess... it had vista on it and they also said it was
a mess, sometimes showing the wireless connected and sometimes not
(regardless of it working or not), and similar nonsense. so i reloaded
it from scratch with windows 7 and it is only needed the driver for the
ricoh sd card reader to compliment what windows 7 already had built in
and/or obtained from windows updates. it is worth reloading this
machine if yours also came with vista and the problem is not obviously
the jack on the power board being loose or otherwise defective.
Christopher Muto
ps. batteries do not last forever. if that is the original battery that
came with your system it is probably reached the end of its useable
life. just check if the jack is bad as previously described, and if it
seems ok then buy a new battery.
Rich
>> you can easily determine if the jack on the power board is bad... just
>> jiggle the plug with the power on and see if it looses/regains ac power
>> (switched on and off of battery as indicated but the leds and/or
>> brightness of the display if power management is set to defaults and the
>> display is dimmed when on battery). but i just reloaded a friends kids
>> inspiron 1545 the other day and did so because i went to use it and
>> found it just be a mess... it had vista on it and they also said it was
>> a mess, sometimes showing the wireless connected and sometimes not
>> (regardless of it working or not), and similar nonsense. so i reloaded
>> it from scratch with windows 7 and it is only needed the driver for the
>> ricoh sd card reader to compliment what windows 7 already had built in
>> and/or obtained from windows updates. it is worth reloading this machine
>> if yours also came with vista and the problem is not obviously the jack
>> on the power board being loose or otherwise defective.
>
> ps. batteries do not last forever. if that is the original battery that
> came with your system it is probably reached the end of its useable life.
> just check if the jack is bad as previously described, and if it seems ok
> then buy a new battery.
Jiggling the cord changes nothing whether the batteries are not charging or
charging. One of the videos recommended giving the plug a slight twist
before inserting to give it tension. I could see where this could work due
to the octagonal shape of the charger. It would help assure contact on all
services of the plug having a similar effect of wedging something under the
plug. I will try that when the problem decides to return.
Regarding the health of the batteries, that's a good point that I did not
consider. However, I assumed that the batteries were still viable since they
provide ~3 hours when fully charged but I realize now that at almost two
years old they may be near their end of life.
Thanks!
Ben Myers
If the battery still gives 3 hours of use when fully charged, it does
not need to be replaced.
You can download and install BatteryBar 3.5 to look at more detailed
information about the battery, including its manufacturer, serial
number, original battery life in wH, current battery life in wH when
fully charged, percentage currently charged (100% is fully charged),
etc. Very handy. And free, Remember "Free is good." Usually.
Some Linux distros (Ubuntu, Fedora) also provide similar battery info,
so you can run a live Linux distro from CD or USB stick to check
battery lives... Ben Myers
Rich
> You can download and install BatteryBar 3.5 to look at more detailed
> information about the battery, including its manufacturer, serial
> number, original battery life in wH, current battery life in wH when
> fully charged, percentage currently charged (100% is fully charged),
> etc. Very handy. And free, Remember "Free is good." Usually.
>
> Some Linux distros (Ubuntu, Fedora) also provide similar battery info,
> so you can run a live Linux distro from CD or USB stick to check
> battery lives... Ben Myers
Great utility at the right price...thanks Ben. I'll have to wait until
tomorrow to install it. My daughter won't let me use the laptop tonight
because she's doing homework. Where are kids' priorities nowadays?!? Go
figure!
mm
Yeah, she sounds confused. Though maybe they are practicing using
paragraphs. That's worth knowing. (see your OP.) :)
Rich
>>tomorrow to install it. My daughter won't let me use the laptop tonight
>>because she's doing homework. Where are kids' priorities nowadays?!? Go
>>figure!
>
> Yeah, she sounds confused. Though maybe they are practicing using
> paragraphs. That's worth knowing. (see your OP.) :)
LOL...yeah I guess that was a little long & rambling!
rb
Rich;1285752 Wrote:
> In July 2009 I purchased a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop as an 8th grade
> graduation gift for my daughter. About six months ago she informs me
> that the battery won't charge.
> charge with a wad of foam wedged under the cable connection to the
> laptop while sitting on a hard surface. Based on this, I can understand
>
> whereby a new cord or power board may fix the problem for a few months
> until whatever faulty pin/contact fails again.
> motherboard, do any of you have experience with or repairing this
> problem? If so, can you confirm what hardware need replacing? I read one
> post on the web which pretty definitively claims that the power board
> behind the plug receptacle need replacing. Is this the case?
> it a repair that an amateur enthusiast could perform.
>
> Finally, if the cost of fixing this is several hundred dollars, what is
> the
> consensus of this group as to the best laptop in the $600 to $700 range
> that
> can reasonably sustain some wear & tear without "breaking" somehow?
> Thanks for looking.
>
> Rich
may have 'fatigue' damage....tugging on the adapter cord. :(
That said, the power board costs approx $50, is approx 1x7 and attached
with 2 screws...relatively easy to remove but requires removal of the
motherboard and other components. :eek:
Please verify the exact part number you need first, but this should be
the one--> Inspiron 1545 Charger Board Power USB 48.4AQ03.021
As for a new unit, imho Gateway, and HP are among the best, (HP
business models are fairly rugged and a few are in your price range). :)
Rich
> may have 'fatigue' damage....tugging on the adapter cord. :(
> That said, the power board costs approx $50, is approx 1x7 and attached
> with 2 screws...relatively easy to remove but requires removal of the
> motherboard and other components. :eek:
> Please verify the exact part number you need first, but this should be
> the one--> Inspiron 1545 Charger Board Power USB 48.4AQ03.021
>
> As for a new unit, imho Gateway, and HP are among the best, (HP
> business models are fairly rugged and a few are in your price range). :)
>
>
Thanks for the providing that exact part number. I will save it hoping I
will never need to have one installed. Thanks also for the opinions on
laptop recommendations regarding ruggedness. Interestingly many of the
videos of this problem on Ebay were for HP laptops. All were fixed at least
temporarily with removing the power management software from the control
panel, taking out the battery & replacing it after running the laptop
without it for a while. Then the power management device is reinstalled by
Windows 7 or Vista. One person routinely performs a system restore when the
problem returns every few months. This seems to point to some driver getting
corrupted in Windows 7/Vista & doing a system restore from the last time the
computer had no problem or reinstalling the driver corrects it.
I believe that it probably is an unrelated combination of a software &
hardware problem.
Thanks again for the input.
Rich
mm
wrote:
Does the plug on the cord ever break? Or is it always the jack?
The people who gave me the 4700 also gave me a C800, but they don't
have the power supply. It takes a PA-6 but I guess there are other
PA-n's, depending on the model of laptop. The PA-6 is only 10 or 12
dollars on Amazon with no shipping if you can find 15 other
no-shipping dollars to spend. Somewhere there was also the power
supply cord without the cord from the wall to the brick, or something
like that, for 10 dollars.
Someone sells the plub alone, for about 4 dollars, but then chargea
mimimum of $6.25 for shipping, "Cheapest shipping with tracking", so
their insistence on giving me tracking makes the item cost 2.5 times
as much as it did. Bettter to buy the whole cord.
BillW50
Justin wrote:
> Sounds like your DC plug is damaged and not making good contact.
> Macbooks have the Magsafe which eliminates this problem.
My first laptop was back in '84 and I had about 20 laptops since then.
And I never had a DC jack problem, but I have worked on many that have.
And that Magsafe thing can pop off very easy. So I don't see that as a
very good solution. Although probably better than nothing. ;-)
Although what gets overlooked a lot are laptops with a docking station
option. As I never heard of a docking station connector ever going bad
yet. And I have been using them for years and connect, remove, and
reconnect a lot with them. Plus there are no cables to remove to go
portable either. ;-)
--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - OE-QuoteFix v1.19.2
Centrino Core Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3
Ben Myers
> Innews:ip8rm7$m2k$3...@dont-email.me,
So a docking station is a condom for your power jack? ;.) Bet you
never thought of it that way. But I watch South Park... Ben
Justin
What about the BIOS? Isn't there a place in there that allows one to do
a diagnostic on the battery?
Rich
"Justin" <Jus...@nobecauseihatespam.edu> wrote in message
news:ipkvnr$jm4$1...@dont-email.me...
Follow up:
For a couple of days after wedging some foam under the plug & flashing the
BIOS (I don't think it was relevant) the battery was charging without
intervention. Yesterday, I plugged the laptop back in & it was "plugged-in,
not charging" again. Then I tried one simple solution demonstrated on
YouTube. Grasping the charging cable behind the laptop jack, I twist the
jack about 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn & insert into laptop. Voila..."plugged in,
charging". The plug is loose in the laptop & has a octagonal shape. With the
twist, the plug is under slight rotational tension thereby making good
contact with all charging surfaces in the plug, This could explain why
replacing of various hardware components fixed the problem temporarily due
to providing a tighter plug with the new hardware & why it probably will
return in a few months when the connection loosens again.
The bottom line is anyone with this problem may as well try just twisting
the plug slightly instead of replacing expensive hardware over & over until
the simple twist solution no longer fixes it.
Ironically, I purchased an Inspiron 1011 net book in the same order in 2009.
The charging jack is a simple round plug that remains snug & charges with
out incident the two years since.
I never got around to running battery diagnostics as the fully charged
laptop delivers ~3 hours of use. One expert in this group (Ben Myers) & a
web search confirms that while 2-year old batteries may be approaching end
of life, three hours of use indicates relatively healthy batteries not in
need of immediate replacement.
Thanks for everyone who contributed information & advice for this
irritation. I hope it lasts.
Rich
BillW50
> On Apr 30, 9:01 am, "BillW50"<Bill...@aol.kom> wrote:
>> Innews:ip8rm7$m2k$3...@dont-email.me,
>>
>> Justin wrote:
>>> Sounds like your DC plug is damaged and not making good contact.
>>> Macbooks have the Magsafe which eliminates this problem.
>>
>> My first laptop was back in '84 and I had about 20 laptops since then.
>> And I never had a DC jack problem, but I have worked on many that have.
>> And that Magsafe thing can pop off very easy. So I don't see that as a
>> very good solution. Although probably better than nothing. ;-)
>>
>> Although what gets overlooked a lot are laptops with a docking station
>> option. As I never heard of a docking station connector ever going bad
>> yet. And I have been using them for years and connect, remove, and
>> reconnect a lot with them. Plus there are no cables to remove to go
>> portable either. ;-)
>
> never thought of it that way. But I watch South Park... Ben
Yeah, I suppose you can think of it that way. lol
--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7
Hachiroku ハチロク
You didn't get the 3 year warranty for a 14 year old girl?!?!?!
Or a Complete Care warranty...for a 14 year old girl?!?!?!?!?!?!
Complete care=run it over with a car, we'll come fix it!
At any rate, try a different DELL!!!! charger of the same type (PA-12 or
whatever listed on the original charger). Plug it in, leave it for a
minute or two, boot and press F2. Go into the BIOS and look at SYSTEM or
POWER / BATTERY and see if the charger is recognized. If it is the
charging circuit is probably OK and a new charger/adapter is needed.
There is a "feedback' circuit in the charger and if the wire breaks...and
it does...often...then a new charger is in order. Try to get a REAL
Dell...some of the cheap knock-offs, esp the Chinese ones for $50 actually
damamge the computer.
If the charger is not seen in the BIOS or the battery does not say
"Charging" you need a new board.
Hope you luck out. 8 out of ten times, it's the charger itself. And if you
do get a new charger, wrap the end near the computer connection with
electrical tape to keep it from flexing and breaking the wire.
Good Luck
Dell Certified Field Engineer.
Ben Myers
The 14-year old girl already has complete care from mom and dad, but
no warranty. They can't take her back to get a refund... Ben Myers
Hachiroku ハチロク
True that.
Rich
"Hachiroku ハチロク" <Tru...@e86.GTS> wrote in message
news:YLUBp.19895$oz2....@unlimited.newshosting.com...
First of all: I saved your response because it contains a lot of excellent
information about this issue
Second: Your statement about a 14 year old & gadgets is oh so true but is
moot because.....
Third: I learned in medical rounds as a pharmacy student that in medical
diagnosis there is a saying..."if you hear hoof beats in Central Park, it
probably is not a Zebra". You might have missed my follow-up on 5-1-2011:
" For a couple of days after wedging some foam under the plug & flashing the
BIOS (I don't think it was relevant) the battery was charging without
intervention. Yesterday, I plugged the laptop back in & it was "plugged-in,
not charging" again. Then I tried one simple solution demonstrated on
YouTube. Grasping the charging cable behind the laptop jack, I twist the
jack about 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn & insert into laptop. Voila..."plugged in,
charging". The plug is loose in the laptop & has an octagonal shape. With
the
twist, the plug is under slight rotational tension thereby making good
contact with all charging surfaces in the plug, This could explain why
replacing of various hardware components fixed the problem temporarily due
to providing a tighter plug with the new hardware & why it probably will
return in a few months when the connection loosens again.
The bottom line is anyone with this problem may as well try just twisting
the plug slightly instead of replacing expensive hardware over & over until
the simple twist solution no longer fixes it.
Ironically, I purchased an Inspiron 1011 net book in the same order in 2009.
The charging jack is a simple round plug that remains snug & charges with
out incident the two years since."
Three weeks later & I have not received a tech support request from my
daughter.
Thanks again for your expertise
Rich
Hachiroku ハチロク
LOL! Gotta keep the kids happy!
Yeah, that's the other thing that happens...the jack gets loose. This
particular model I am not sure of, but on some the jack is directly
soldered onto the mobo, and therefore a BEAR to deal with, and on others
it's on a cable isolated from the Mobo. Not a hard repair.
The other thing it the ethernet jacks. They are miserable! They are SO
tight people siggle the cables to get them out...and crack the solder
joints!
Hope all goes well!
Rich
>> Three weeks later & I have not received a tech support request from my
>> daughter.
>>
>> Thanks again for your expertise
>>
>> Rich
>
> LOL! Gotta keep the kids happy!
>
> Yeah, that's the other thing that happens...the jack gets loose. This
> particular model I am not sure of, but on some the jack is directly
> soldered onto the mobo, and therefore a BEAR to deal with, and on others
> it's on a cable isolated from the Mobo. Not a hard repair.
>
> The other thing it the ethernet jacks. They are miserable! They are SO
> tight people siggle the cables to get them out...and crack the solder
> joints!
>
> Hope all goes well!
>
Yes, the jack is soldered to the power daughterboard. When I watched the
YouTube video demonstrating the process to replace the power board it gave
me chills, requiring a near complete disassembly of the laptop.
It's nice to add an actual Dell technician to the excellent pros already
contributing on this group. I hope you stick around.
Thanks again.
Rich
Hachiroku ハチロク
The only problem is, I get to see the WORST!
I figure, for every one unit I see, there are probably 1-200 more I don't.
I hope! ;)