Dell D610 laptop woes - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Stretch · #1 03-09-2013, 09:58 AM

G'day All,

Perhaps there's someone here who can give me a bit of advice?

I recently had to buy a new laptop because my trusty 8 year old Dell (D610) had the following trouble =>

Plug in external power supply - light goes on on unit and appears to work

Plug D/C side of external power supply into laptop - light on power supply goes out - battery does not charge - computer does not run from external power supply.

At the time this happened I did not have the time to even attempt to fix it so I bought a new Acer.

However, children are now pestering me to fix the old laptop so that they can use it (new laptop is a child free item!).

QUESTION =>

Is it likely that the connection / plug where you plug in the external power adapter has gone south?

It is this bit =>

DL111500 | New Dell Series Laptop Power DL111500 DC Jack

Aquaticedge · #2 03-09-2013, 10:07 AM

It sounds like your power supply is shot...

that being said, I've never had luck with Jack replacement. by the time you put a new jack on the board the inverter section of the mainboard is already gone, if replacing the inverter dosnt work, look around for a new mainboard. Dell makes it wildly easy to replace them. they are my favorite computer to work on, everything is pretty much modular. at 8 years old parts should be readily available and pretty cheap. I have a D6XX series here that has the opposite problem. It tries to melt down despite a new processor fan. still working on it

Stretch · #3 03-09-2013, 01:45 PM

If this power supply is dead it is dead in a different way from the other 6 power supplies that I've gone through - usually they buzz and the lights on them don't work.

I haven't reached a critical mass on multimeters just yet => meaning I can't find any of the buggers I bought so far - I'll empty the garage tomorrow and test the power supply just in case.

As for the inverter on the Motherboard - why would there be an inverter there? The whole lap top runs on DC doesn't it? By inverter do you mean some sort of polarity switching device?

Aquaticedge · #4 03-09-2013, 04:29 PM

going by what I recall by what a few dell Techs, the inverter section handles the charging of the battery, also provides power to run the computer. when that part goes, nothing works. but it sounds like your supply died. though an odd way, like you said they usually buzz or melt down. Try a new supply before delving unto the computer

Stoney · #5 03-09-2013, 06:33 PM

Dell Laptop Parts | Dell Parts | Dell Laptop Repair | Dell Repair

All they do is Dell laptops, I used them for all my Dell woes before I switched to Lenovo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stretch

G'day All,

Perhaps there's someone here who can give me a bit of advice?

I recently had to buy a new laptop because my trusty 8 year old Dell (D610) had the following trouble =>

Plug in external power supply - light goes on on unit and appears to work

Plug D/C side of external power supply into laptop - light on power supply goes out - battery does not charge - computer does not run from external power supply.

At the time this happened I did not have the time to even attempt to fix it so I bought a new Acer.

However, children are now pestering me to fix the old laptop so that they can use it (new laptop is a child free item!).

QUESTION =>

Is it likely that the connection / plug where you plug in the external power adapter has gone south?

It is this bit =>

DL111500 | New Dell Series Laptop Power DL111500 DC Jack

The Clk Man · #6 03-09-2013, 09:57 PM

Buy a MAC!!!

Stretch · #7 03-10-2013, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Clk Man

Buy a MAC!!!

Thank you!

Stretch · #8 03-10-2013, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoney

Dell Laptop Parts | Dell Parts | Dell Laptop Repair | Dell Repair

All they do is Dell laptops, I used them for all my Dell woes before I switched to Lenovo.

Thank you!

Stretch · #9 03-10-2013, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquaticedge

going by what I recall by what a few dell Techs, the inverter section handles the charging of the battery, also provides power to run the computer. when that part goes, nothing works. but it sounds like your supply died. though an odd way, like you said they usually buzz or melt down. Try a new supply before delving unto the computer

Thanks - I guess that that is the part included in the adapter hole - there seems to be a lot of stuff on that little box for a straight forward connection block.

First step is to check the adapter. Now where are all my multimeters hiding?

anghrist · #10 03-10-2013, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stretch

Thanks - I guess that that is the part included in the adapter hole - there seems to be a lot of stuff on that little box for a straight forward connection block.

First step is to check the adapter. Now where are all my multimeters hiding?

Sounds like you are on the right course by checking the power supply.

Here's another check if you've not already done it:

1) Pull the battery.
2) Then try to plug in the AC adapter.

This should tell you if there is a short circuit within the battery.

I'm not sure how the power supply and power board are designed, but I would have built a safety "breaker" circuit into the power supply in case it "sees" a short circuit condition.

If the power supply still reacts the same way with the battery out, then I would say that either the 1) power jack, 2) power board or 3) motherboard are shorting somewhere.

Another test would be to have the battery charged (somehow) and see if the machine runs off battery power.

cmbdiesel · #11 03-10-2013, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Clk Man

Buy a MAC!!!

Sure.... because apple never has issues with supplying power to their laptops...

The old powerbook was likely the worst designed power ever seen on any computer anywhere.

Because of that epic fail, they have gone to the magnetic BS, so when your supply fails it can cost you over a c-note....

But, at least their computers are slow, so they have that going for them....

spdrun · #12 03-10-2013, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmbdiesel

Sure.... because apple never has issues with supplying power to their laptops...

The old powerbook was likely the worst designed power ever seen on any computer anywhere.

Because of that epic fail, they have gone to the magnetic BS, so when your supply fails it can cost you over a c-note....

But, at least their computers are slow, so they have that going for them....

I think the post about Macs was in jest. This being said, I've had multiple MagSafe adapters epically fail. Including one where the end pretty much caught fire on my carpet.

cmbdiesel · #13 03-10-2013, 12:50 PM

I would bet that it is the wart.
If you cannot find a multimeter, just plug the brick into some other device which takes similar voltage. Unless it's some sort of proprietary plug...

Although a quick search has shown that the DC jack failing is a known issue with this model.
Should be a quick and fairly easy repair, as long as you are OK with digging into a laptop....

This guy fixes for you -
I have several Dell DC Power Jack Repair options for you

here's a video of the repair -
Dell Latitude D610 DC Power Jack Repair - YouTube

and here is a source for the part -
Amazon.com: DC Power Jack Dell Latitude D600 D610 D620 D630 D630N: Electronics

Good luck!!!

Stretch · #14 03-10-2013, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anghrist

Sounds like you are on the right course by checking the power supply.

Here's another check if you've not already done it:

1) Pull the battery.
2) Then try to plug in the AC adapter.

This should tell you if there is a short circuit within the battery.

I'm not sure how the power supply and power board are designed, but I would have built a safety "breaker" circuit into the power supply in case it "sees" a short circuit condition.

If the power supply still reacts the same way with the battery out, then I would say that either the 1) power jack, 2) power board or 3) motherboard are shorting somewhere.

Another test would be to have the battery charged (somehow) and see if the machine runs off battery power.

Thanks for the tips I'll give them a go - just to be thorough.

I forgot to mention that the machine runs off battery power - well it did until it needed to be charged...

Stretch · #15 03-10-2013, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmbdiesel

I would bet that it is the wart.
If you cannot find a multimeter, just plug the brick into some other device which takes similar voltage. Unless it's some sort of proprietary plug...

Although a quick search has shown that the DC jack failing is a known issue with this model.
Should be a quick and fairly easy repair, as long as you are OK with digging into a laptop....

This guy fixes for you -
I have several Dell DC Power Jack Repair options for you

here's a video of the repair -
Dell Latitude D610 DC Power Jack Repair - YouTube

and here is a source for the part -
Amazon.com: DC Power Jack Dell Latitude D600 D610 D620 D630 D630N: Electronics

Good luck!!!

Thank you very much for the links - it looks like the children might be getting their own lap top after all.