Acer AMD Laptop not holding charge or charging intermittently

hewhodoesnothing

Estimable
Jun 24, 2014
2
0
4,510
Issue as described above. Here is some more detailed information: My brother bought a Acer Laptop about a 1 1/2 ago from tiger direct retail store. After about 6-7 months the laptop would not hold a charge or charge at all/power on (sporadically it would charge and work fine for a few hours then go back to not charging). I believe this may be due to the fact that he would use it heavily (probably between 6-12 hours at a time) with the bottom of the laptop laying on a pillow or flat surface with little to no adequate ventilation. I tested the power supply with a multimeter and it appears to be working. My question is: what is the most likely part/component of the laptop that needs to be replaced given the way he used or abused it, and can I test it with a multimeter to confirm faulty component? Thanks in advance to anyone with a constructive answer and I would be more than happy to provide more information for anyone that is willing to help me solve the issue. Thank you tom'sHardware community members.
 
Solution
First, has the battery been replaced with a new one?
A common area that gets damaged on laptops is the power jack itself (where the adapter plugs in), you can try moving it a little while plugged it to see if it is loose - that is a relatively easy repair on most laptops, there are even shops that specialize in that repair (it's that common)
In this case, I would be concerned with the voltage controller IC's, commonly at least one MOSFET (4407 or similar), I've seen up to three of them on a laptop mobo. They are susceptible to damage from heat. If you want to get into the laptop, you can look at those for visual damage/discoloration - they are usually found near the power jack on the top, bottom, or both, of the motherboard. While (if)...
First, has the battery been replaced with a new one?
A common area that gets damaged on laptops is the power jack itself (where the adapter plugs in), you can try moving it a little while plugged it to see if it is loose - that is a relatively easy repair on most laptops, there are even shops that specialize in that repair (it's that common)
In this case, I would be concerned with the voltage controller IC's, commonly at least one MOSFET (4407 or similar), I've seen up to three of them on a laptop mobo. They are susceptible to damage from heat. If you want to get into the laptop, you can look at those for visual damage/discoloration - they are usually found near the power jack on the top, bottom, or both, of the motherboard. While (if) in there, look over that area real good with a magnifier, you may find brittle (dull looking and with high enough magnification, cracks show) or faulty solder joints. If that is the case, some flux and a heat gun may get you back to normality.
There is a lot going on in that area and without testing, there's no way to say what is exactly wrong but those would be my starting points
 
Solution

hewhodoesnothing

Estimable
Jun 24, 2014
2
0
4,510


Hi C12Friedman,
Thank you for the suggestions. The battery has not been replaced with a new one as I figured it only had 6 months of use albeit very heavy use. I will take a look at the MOSFET transistors if I get a chance tonight and report back. Thanks again for the help.