Disaster Dell 500m: no AC power, but battery works ok

Hi everyone,

My friend had intermittant power loss on her laptop, and eventually permanent power loss. I dug my way down to a broken terminal on the mobo DC jack, replaced it, and still no AC power.

I swapped out the AC adapter with a working one, no dice. I inserted a like-charged battery and the laptop boots up normally.

This girl can't afford a new computer at the moment and I thought I might entertain the idea of hardwiring the AC adapter to the battery terminals, in place of the battery.

Has anyone tried this, or heard of anyone doing it? Since these dell laptops work without the battery installed, it seems I could pull this off.

Any suggestions, pinouts, or words of encouragement would be warmly appreciated.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

dell 500m

i also have the same problem have you found a solution yet?

 

my buddy has one of these with the same problem. give it a try, let us know how it goes. maybe i can buy his and turn it into a mediapc or something.

 

"I inserted a like-charged battery and the laptop boots up normally."
might you need a new battery? it seems like it, since it leans towards the old battery not charging at all.

 

I think the problem is the power not getting to the board somehow. not necessarily the battery or the supply. Ive replaced the DC jack on the board but still no power. And my inspiron will at least power up with just the ac connected without a battery. Any input would be appreciated.


Thanks,
Darkclear

 

my lattitude 400 has the same problem, it's a common problem with a lot of old-ish dell laptops, the solution, replace the motherboard, cost effective, not in the slightest, new laptop, yes...