[SOLVED] Acer Aspire VX5 Charging issues

[yahtzeeg]

Hello everyone,

I'm facing an issue with my 5 year old Acer Aspire VX5-591G-766V , where it seems to be killing any chargers I use with it after a couple of months. First charger died after about ~4 years of service, I used a universal charger in the meantime which died in April, I've replaced it with charger meant for the model from acer which is just started to show issues.
The usual cycle how these chargers die for me is that they start to drop power, but if a fidget the connector (different angles/plug-in depth) it will work again, this over weeks starts become more impossible to fix with the fidgeting, until I cannot find a spot where it would work and I'm forced to replace the charger (which then works without a problem). Additionally when lets say I have a spot where the charger seems to work, it's more likely to drop power in that spot if I'm running something power demanding, like a game. Also with new chargers the male jack plug seems to be getting untouchably hot after a couple of hours of gameplay, which might be normal or an indication of the problem I'm not 100% sure.
I'm suspecting that maybe the inner side power cable is what's causing the problem or maybe the battery, but not sure how to troubleshoot it.
I'd appreciate if any of you had some advice, as at this point I'm thinking about replacing the power cable in the laptop but I'll only know if it was actually the issue after about 5-6 months when the charger would be usually failing.
Thank you in advance!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I used a universal charger in the meantime which died in April, I've replaced it with charger meant for the model from acer which is just started to show issues.
You shouldn't be using universal chargers, only power bricks meant for your laptop(specific to your model).

but if a fidget the connector (different angles/plug-in depth) it will work again,
Seems to me like your input jack on the laptop might be the culprit of your predicament. Might be worth looking into and perhaps replacing.

Also with new chargers the male jack plug seems to be getting untouchably hot after a couple of hours of gameplay, which might be normal or an indication of the problem I'm not 100% sure.
Have you tried your hand at using ThrottleStop to undervolt your platform's CPU and iGPU?

Does your laptop have any BIOS updates pending?

 

[yahtzeeg]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I used a universal charger in the meantime which died in April, I've replaced it with charger meant for the model from acer which is just started to show issues.
You shouldn't be using universal chargers, only power bricks meant for your laptop(specific to your model).

but if a fidget the connector (different angles/plug-in depth) it will work again,
Seems to me like your input jack on the laptop might be the culprit of your predicament. Might be worth looking into and perhaps replacing.

Also with new chargers the male jack plug seems to be getting untouchably hot after a couple of hours of gameplay, which might be normal or an indication of the problem I'm not 100% sure.
Have you tried your hand at using ThrottleStop to undervolt your platform's CPU and iGPU?

Does your laptop have any BIOS updates pending?

I'll probably go ahead with the change of the input jack/cable. The BIOS I've updated about two years ago, it should still be the latest one.
ThrottleStop I haven't used before, if I replace the cable and it was really the culprit shouldn't it also solve that heat issue rr should I really look into undervolting?

 

[Lutfij]

ThrottleStop is to reduce the amount of power draw by your components. The input connector might be worth an investigation in case that's the issue to your electrical issue(on the adapter and the input connector).