Asus Tablet won't charge (despite battery replacement)

[Raswan]

Hey folks,

Got an Asus Tranformer TF701T I bought my wife that has become the bane of my existence. It stopped charging, and despite it being exactly 1 month out of the 1 year warranty period Asus told me to fuck off. I've checked the charger in multiple outlets and put it in the freezer (to reset the heat cutoff switch), neither of which solved the problem. So then I figured the battery went crap, so I bought a new one ($60 on ebay) and put it in last night. Still no charging (new battery came with 38% charge, and it's slowly being drained...).

Do I just keep replacing components here? This is a really nice tablet, hardware-wise (2460x1440 screen, solid internals for a 2014 tablet), and I'm loathe to let it become a paperweight. But it seems my only remaining options are to spend $50 on a new charger, and if that doesn't work another $120 on a new motherboard (which I feel only medium-confident I can replace without breaking anything).

I've search many, many threads about tablets not charging, though there's surprisingly little out there about this 701T. Suggestions? Would really appreciate any help at this point.

Thanks in advance. I am not hopeful.

 

[makkem]

Hi
Well first of all you need to check the charger voltage with a multimeter,this should tell you if the problem lies with the charger or the tablet.

 

[Raswan]

Hi
Well first of all you need to check the charger voltage with a multimeter,this should tell you if the problem lies with the charger or the tablet.

Thanks for the response. I've been looking at this, but it seems you need to sacrifice a cable in order to do so, strip it down, and expose the wires? Plus, the Asus charger is much higher voltage than normal mobile chargers, so how could I be sure any discrepancy isn't caused by that? Or are all mobile USB cables capable of delivering 15V of current?

I've got a multimeter here, but am not experienced in using it. Point me in the right direction, and I shall try, however!

 

[makkem]

You would be able to get a voltage measurement from the plug,one probe of the meter would go down the central hole and the other on the metal barrel of the plug,no need to do anything with the cable.
You would be looking to get 15 Volt DC plus/minus 2 Volt anything outside of that range would suggest a faulty charger.

 

[Raswan]

You would be able to get a voltage measurement from the plug,one probe of the meter would go down the central hole and the other on the metal barrel of the plug,no need to do anything with the cable.
You would be looking to get 15 Volt DC plus/minus 2 Volt anything outside of that range would suggest a faulty charger.

This charger isn't one of those type of adapters. It's a wall wart/brick into which you plug in a USB cable, and the other side of the USB cable is a 36-pin connector or some sort of propriety cable from ASUS.

 

[makkem]

Well that makes it more difficult.
If it is a usb plug then you may be able to measure the voltage from the socket in the wall wart.
The two outer pins of the USB are normally the ones carrying the power and you may be able to contact these with the multimeter probes or if you have an old usb cable you could cut that and measure across the wires.

 

[Raswan]

Well that makes it more difficult.
If it is a usb plug then you may be able to measure the voltage from the socket in the wall wart.
The two outer pins of the USB are normally the ones carrying the power and you may be able to contact these with the multimeter probes or if you have an old usb cable you could cut that and measure across the wires.

Makkem,

Thanks for all the help here--just pulled up the motherboard for the first time (I'd been wary because you have to take the whole shebang apart), only to discover on the underside that the ribbon that runs from the charging port to the mobo was crooked. It looked perfectly fine until you took it apart and only then did it become clear that at some point it had gotten pulled slightly out of position. Can't fathom any reason it would have happened, as everything was screwed down tightly.

Anyway, it's charging beautifully now, and my saga is over. Thanks again.