Fixing a Viewer's BROKEN Gaming PC? - Fix or Flop S5:E14

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[GregSalazar]

So yeah, this clearly isn't a "gaming PC, " but YouTube's algorithm is unforgiving and I didn't wanna risk changing anything! And, for the record, my dad DOES count as a viewer! 😅

[RenatoG]

Greg's dad, the original customer

[nezpierce_]

next video " Bulding my Dad a gaming Pc"!!

[windowsalternative]

Most dell laptops I've ever used if it's plugged in, even if the battery is defective or even removed completely it will still run just off the power adaptor alone, so I knew it wasn't that battery from the jump.

[jusplainscott]

Dad's oldschool $500 multimeter. I can see where you get the tech enthusiasm from.

[coolbusterreal]

I love the fact that the laptop has 32+ gb of ram “for work” 😅

[milescarter]

Just a word of caution. Make sure if Bitlocker was enabled you have the recovery password. Dell/Microsoft have a policy of enabling Bitlocker automatically. If it was a good IT department Dell provides them with a tool to generate the decryption key based on the machine serial (only for machines registered to the corporation). Hoping for the best.

[bongodoug]

Diagnosing the real cause is not a Flop. Not having a diagnosis for failure is a Flop! It was definitely the mobo.

[denisprint]

The guns mousepads tell a lot about your dad hahaah.

[mibs]

I was suprised you landed on the Battery as the issue, my bet would have been an mainboard issue tbh xD Because the issue you are getting are something i would suspect with an issue on the mainboard, but not with an battery issue. the laptop should still be able to boot ALWAYS when plugged in even if battery is dead, if it cant it aint the battery.

[rokero]

Have you tried testing the sensor wire on the charger? Dell Chargers actually have 3 conductors, one for positive, one for negative and one to trigger the charging of the baterry. If you only get positive and negative signal the battery won't charge and it will completely drain the battery. I fixed one with the same symptoms, and the issue was on the charger connector, that wasn't giving proper contact with the adapter, it worked fine, but wouldn't charge the battery.

[johnfritz]

For laptops that don’t power up I have three steps. 1 Remove the power adapter and the battery. 2 Press the power button several times to drain the power capacitors. 3 Plug-in the power adapter and start the laptop with no battery. If that works replace the battery and go from there. This has worked on many systems. Thinkpads, HPs, Dells, and Toshibas.

[stevenandrews]

I do love the fact that he's using a gun cleaning mat as a mouse/desk pad.

Glad to see I'm not the only one

[ottf]

I’ve done 100s of these kinda repairs. First time I’ve seen the board short out the battery.

[patrickjrusaw]

I'm surprised you did not test the laptop without the battery in it. Just the power adapter first to see if was the power port or main board. Great video as usual

[danarepouille]

Most of the "dead" laptops I work on either have a dead CR2032 battery, or a frozen BIOS. Disconnecting the batteries and reconnecting them (or replacing the CR2032) usually resets the BIOS, and all is well. Unfortunately for Greg, it seems to me that the PS_ID circuit is faulty in this laptop, so the EC chip refuses to charge the battery from the charger, since the EC chip doesn't know the wattage of the charger.

[RVail]

The NVMe Windows laptop boot drive should be able to be transferred to a regular desktop computer, while you're waiting on a possible replacement laptop. The central issue is probably the loose/damaged plug-in power adapter port. May still be fixable by soldering in a replacement port. Might consider obtaining an external USB 3.0 NVMe adapter housing, in case of the need to copy data off.

[sergiobisonte]

never seen battery replacement fix a black screen laptop in 29 years...

[danarepouille]

I suggest that the culprit is the PS_ID circuit. The charger exchanges a data stream with the EC chip on the motherboard through the center pin of the charger tip, the power jack, and the PS_ID circuit on the motherboard. Most likely, the center pin of the power jack is broken or shorted to the 19.5V line. Second suspect is the TVS diode in the PS_ID circuit, which protects the MOSFETs and the EC from transient spikes.

[Lemurion]

As with others, I'm surprised you jumped to the battery as the problem. I don't disagree that the computer needed a new one for other reasons, but if a laptop won't boot when plugged into the wall the problem's occurring before it even gets to the battery.