Dell 5720 HELP

[br4dc]

Hey guys, so i've had this forsake laptop for almost two years (Dell 5720, i7, 750gb HDD, Nvidia 620m.. err 630m, i don't remember).. October 9 2014 will make 2 year to be exact. I've had so many problems, that i've been able to correct myself.. But i need help with this one.

A few nights back, i was watching netflix and i got a notification for 10% battery remaining. So my girlfriend plugged in the charger and the laptop instantly powered off. No sparks or popping noise.. No burnt smell. I did all the basic trouble shooting i could think of, with no luck.

Today, i open the laptop and checked around with a multimeter. The DC jack is fine, the charger is fine.. I never found a fuse to check, but i never got readings from the motherboard... I dont see anything causing a short.. To the best of my limited knowledge anyways. Any more idea's or help would be greatly appreciated.. My last resort will be to replace the motherboard, but i may buy a new one instead of spending $300 to fix this one for a little while.

GPU went bad in september 2013, dell tech came to replace motherboard under warranty.. Warranty expired October 2013... And apparently dell offers no manufacture warranty on replacement parts... So no warranty to help.

 

[napster100]

Has it not been able to power on since?

 

[br4dc]

No sir.. i've not had as much as an LED light up. I'm assuming i have a short somewhere.. Not sure if i mentioned it, but the LED on the charger brick turns off when i plug in to my laptop...

I thought, maybe i had a short is in the DC jack.. Since it was running fine until it was plugged in, but the jack tests perfectly with a multimeter. After looking over the board with a magnifier and flashlight, i'm not seeing any burnt, or broken solder. It actually looks like a new board.. No sticky yellow or dust/hair globs. But i know how easy it could be to overlook the issue.

Im pretty clueless past this point.. I may try aqstech.com, to see if they could repair the motherboard if all else fails.. I dont feel comfortable trying to repair individual components of a motherboard, if that is the case.

 

[jarotech]

Hi, you've checked the voltage of the adapter.

 

[br4dc]

Yes.. 19.5v

 

[jarotech]

So, if you connect the adapter to the DC jack, the voltage of the adapter drops.

 

[br4dc]

Sorry, been very busy with work. But no..Voltage never drops when testing the adapter or DC jack.. Example, I remove the DC jack from the laptop and connect the power adapter.. Then I test the DC jack and it shows 19.5 volts. Same as checking the adapter by itself.

I'm not using a digital multimeter, so i can't see the exact number.. But its right below 20 volts. The adapter brick says output should be 19.5 volts.

 

[jeff-j]

I would say try removing the battery and see if the laptop powers on, also try removing and reseating the ram. I had a Dell E5430 that was doing the same thing with the power supply LED turning off the second I plugged it into the laptop. It turned out it was the motherboard in that case.

 

[jarotech]

You said "I remove the DC jack from the laptop and connect the power adapter.." the DC jack has a connector and you have tested the voltage at the jack, not connected to the motherboard? If you did that, you should connect the jack to the motherboard and verify again the voltage at the jack. What I think, your adapter is defective.