Compaq Presario R3000 power cord issue

Page 16 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
Hey my laptop battery will not charge, its been this way for a while now and i have been using the docking station to keep my laptop working because if i take it off the docking station the laptop last for only about 5 minutes. Is the docking station supposed to charge the laptop? the power cord of my laptop broke as well, it doesnt work or charge the computer because of some pin thats broken or something but should i buy a new battery?
 


Your DC jack is broken on the laptop

Plugging and unplugging the laptop frequently damages the pin in the laptop..

Soldering rarely fixes it, its normally a new jack plug...


http://www.laptopjacks.com/index.php?source=google&spcid=526&gclid=CM2lmMqQnZUCFQpYQgoddBMLfw

is a good place to go if your US based

search on ebay too for cheap parts....

if you do not know anything about how to solder do not attempt to do it and get professional help - YOU WILL DAMAGE YOUR LAPTOP....

secondly your battery is proberly duff although the charging circuit on laptops is also known to have problems..

again - ebay for those too its cheaper and do not buy second hand batteries either..

Also its worth mentioning remove the battery for prolonged mains usage as it will shorten the life of the battery

now and again charge the battery and let it go flat

you will get better life then as it renews the battery

when you first get the battery - charge it over night then let it run flat and charge again and this gives its full potential

any other way loses life on the battery.
 
I have been having this problem (among others) and have scanned the entire thread to find the answer to my problem. I've re soldered the power supply's 4 pins and that didn't seem to fix the problem with me not being able to charge or work off of AC power. Working off the battery (while it was charged) is fine. I wrapped paper around the ac adapter's tip and that seemed to solve the problem. However, I took the AC power out and now cannot replicate my success with the paper trick.

I currently have a new DC power jack on order and am going to get that soldered onto the board to replace the original one. Do you guys think that will solve my problem? or does the paper trick suggest that my adapter may be the problem?
 


Do not bodge repair your laptop..


1. paper is a fire risk
2. you will cause more damage

buy the connector and get someone to fit it for you as even to suggest trying to fix your laptop with a piece of paper suggests that your shooting at a target in the dark which is five miles away
 
Ok I think I may have a slightly different problem but it appears to be along the same lines as other post in this thread.

I have a Compaq R3000Z CTO (DP533AV). It seems to kill batteries about every year. My current runtime is only about 40 minutes to an hour out of a 6000 mah battery. So I think it may be the battery but I want to hear what you guys think. BTW this problem just started.

If my battery is below approximately 60% charge and I plug the charger (Kensington 120W universal N3 tip) in it charges for about 2 seconds and then switches back to the battery. In order to charge the battery I have to turn the laptop off and let it charge. If I take the battery out the Laptop runs fine on the A/C alone. Also if the battery is above about 60% I can plug the charger in and continue to use the Laptop and charge the battery. What gives? Is this a battery problem or Laptop Problem?

I also tried to reset the battery life per Compaq's instructions by leaving the Laptop on in the BIOS screen and letting the battery run down. This only took 2 hours. I then recharged it with laptop off and it only recharged to 5% and quit charging. I unplugged the charger and plugged it back in with the OS up and it charged back to 100% and ran for about an hour and 40 mintues.

I am totally baffled here.

 


The real problem is your powersupply....

You should never use a "universal" power supply on a laptop as long term use blows the power circuit in the laptop...

I know as i have repaired loads of laptops with this problem...

Universals do not work, your machine will pack up prematurely because of this... Go buy and origional or compatible...
 
Hellboy,

Call me stupid here but Kensington says this is an exact replacement to what I had. Also prior to switching to the Kensington PS the OEM one would get insanely hot when running the latop on A/C along. If it was charging the battery it would be too hot to pickup. Which is why I switch to the slimline replacement which doesn't heatup.

Do you think my laptop is toast already?

Why do you believe the Kensigntion PS fry laptops?

Thanks for the info...

 


If its got multiple plugs then its not and exact replacement... Its a hybrid powerpack..

I havent used Kensingtons, but all the ones that pc world sell and staples blow laptops...

Thats why its always worth getting the origional, on ebay they are pretty cheap...
 
[strike]I finally got around to taking it apart and resoldering the connections. They were in fact cold soldered, but it wasn't the problem. I believe it may actually be in the cord itself. Near the plug, some of the insulation is coming off, and around that area the cord is severely bent in many places. Is there a way to test the plug to make sure?[/strike]
[strike]EDIT: I just tested the output voltage and it's perfectly fine. something else is the problem. could it be that I improperly resoldered it?[/strike]
disregard that. there was a fourth connection to resolder, which I overlooked. It's working perfectly now.
 
AHH YES.... 09-20-08
I too bought the r3000 POS unit.
Plagued for the last few months by the power issue, and found the info on this site. I looked at the xc1000 cable and the power dock, but thought that I should try resoldering the ac contacts before spending the money...
So here are my thought on the procedure, which worked, and I am using the computer to write this with..
On a scale of 1 to 10 I would call resoldering the pins a 6.5
Only because you have to completly dissasemble the computer, and I have never had this experience with a laptop. I printed off the HP manual and looked at it, but did not need it. You will need to disconnect several electrical connections thought the layers of parts, and keeping separate cups to keep the screws in will help. You can take a digital pic as you go to referance as well. Dont be in a hurry taking it apart, as it can seem strange when all the parts are not behaving as expected when dissasembling. I used nail polish and tape to label several parts that were unique. It looked like a pile of trash by the time I had it dissasembed to resolder the the 4 small connections.
Speaking of the connections- use a small tipped soldering iron. heat the connection, then flow new solder onto it. At first, I wondered if it was enough. Take your time and reassemble. DO NOT RUSH REASSEMBLY. Plastic parts do not reassembe as easy as they come apart. I am a failry stupid person, so I think that the average person can do this repair if they are not in a hurry, and can use common sense when taking things apart. I was a little scared to do it at first, but now I am glad I didnt spend any more money on this POS computer. Keep in mind that many laptops have the same problem with the AC solder coming loose. Really stupid repair for the amount of work to fix, but this computer is working now, so what the heck!
 
I am finding it difficult to believe that I have to take the whole thing apart. Is it possible to solder just the tops of the pins after taking off the top plate above the keyboard?
 
OK. Everything worked fine for a while. Two days ago it started screwing up again. I resoldered it again, but it's not fixing it. It's still a problem with those connections, but I don't know what. I suppose I somehow broke the solder connections. Is there a way to keep the jack from moving around so it won't keep breaking?
 
I have one of these R3000's too. The first thing that struck me about it was how many sub-models with hardware variations they made. But anyway I disassembled the thing and resoldered the internal AC/DC connector with no success so I ordered a new connector off ebay and am going to do it all over again but replace it this time. If that doesn't work you'll likely see the whole damn computer listed there soon. Why I didn't think to just check the pins and joints with a continuity meter before I closed it up is still a mystery to me.
 
I have a version of the power cord issue that is not addressed here.

1) initially I had the same problem of the computer switching to battery power even though the power cable was plugged in. I would unplug it, replug it, wiggle it and get it to work, and eventually that stopped.

2) so I soldered a new dc jack to the EXPANSION port to bypass the back input. And for 36 hours it worked perfectly!

3) but now, the NEW connection does the same thing! Whether I plug into the back of the machine OR the new input via the media/expansion port, the charge lasts only 1 second before switching to battery. This is not a wiggling issue. (fyi, the lighting bolt on the front of the machine lights up, despite some reports that it would not light when on A/C with this mod).

4) BUT, when the computer is on hibernate or off, the computer battery WILL charge. It's only once windows is up and running that it loses the ability to charge up. Does this make sense to anyone?

I don't understand how my fix worked for two days and then suddenly stopped working.

Any ideas?

Oh, and for what it's worth, the laptop works fine when I remove the battery (it's a new battery).

Thanks!
 
I went through this with a Presario 2100, which appears to use an identical DC jack, so I'll offer what I consider a vast improvement over the HP design. The problem stems from the fact that, with the power plug in place, any contact with the plug transfers force directly to the relatively weak solder joints on the motherboard foil traces.

Rather than just replace the jack, I carefully established which board connection was + and -, then soldered a 4" long piece of 18 ga hookup wire to each, red for +, black for -. Leave the other end for now.

Then, run a 3/8-24 tap through the DC jack hole in the plastic case. Buy a female DC cord jack,(I believe it was 4.75mm barrel, 2.1mm pin), discard the cover, and thread the jack into the hole. It will be tight, as it's a metric size. I added a dab of adhesive for permanence.

With the other parts reassembled , bring the case close to the exposed wires, solder the red to pin, black to barrel, then put the case together.

Now any pressure or impacts on the power plug transfers to the case, not solder joints.
 
my e-mail address is patrat38 @comcast.net my question is does anyone know of a good repair shop in/or around annapolis md. i have the same problem with the power pin needing resoldering. i've had the back of the laptop disassembled all but the motherboard. i got scared and put it back together. can you help...
 
My son and I have just used the snowy Sunday afternoon to resolve our power issue. We have followed the instructions we have read in this forum.
Indeed, you need to make free a couple of hours and organize the repair job, but it is not difficult to do. If you have doubts about your own capability, you could at least, take a picture of every operational step. We found it important to have about 6 little cups for the little screws, which you free at every operational step. Pay attention to loosen the various connectors. Some are tiny and vulnerable. We could not see if the pin (1) of the plug contact was loose, we just have made a “re-solder” and with success.
Also be aware of the tooling you need, as described earlier in this forum. Not many tools, but the right screw drivers though. And yes, the solder iron should not be too hot; we have used one of 25 watt with the appropriate solder.
I would advise Patrat to look for a smart E-guy to assist him, instead of searching for a repair shop.
 
I have just bought a second-hand R3000 off UK eBay for my Grandson's Christmas present!!

It was sold as "requires new battery" but I have found that SOMETIMES the battery behaves OK and shows as being 100% (this is, of course, without the power cord being connected). But MOST of the time the R3000 will only operate with the power cord plugged in and if I remove the cord I get the message that the battery is critically low and that I should replace the power cord immediately.

This situation indicates to me that the battery must be OK but there is probably an intermittent fault caused be a poor connection or 'dry' solder joint.

Can anyone here advice me what is the likely cause and remedy and I think it must be something to do with the problem being discussed on this forum.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - Dave UK
 
A (near) dead battery can show a 100% charge indeed, without being able to run the laptop for a minute. If your computer runs fine on ac only, the ac-in jack and connections are ok.
Put that battery in a freezer for an hour (airtight bag, or tightly wrapped in a plastic bag), rub it dry after taking it out, and check if the laptop will charge it, if only for a minute or so, indicating a working charging circuitry on the laptop.
My best guess is that the battery is dead indeed.
 
Thanks Que - But I have run the R3000 on the battery alone for more than an hour and it still shows a good charge! On another occasion I get the message immediately that the battery is critically low.

Is there any way I can test the battery with a meter as I don't want to incurr the expense of buying another battery unless it is absolutely necessary.
 
I have computershop here in london on.
We change the parts runs around $120 plus shipping.
Thanks
George
 
I finally decided to pull my R3000 out of the closet and try to fix it -- Had problems with it charging right after i bought it.. got frustrated and tossed it in the closet

Now i need a laptop for some software in my car.. so time to fix it

I replaced the connector on the laptop, but that didn't solve the problem...

I'm thinking about just attaching the cable directly to the mobo and calling it a day or something along those lines

Anywho, which pin is the positive, and which 3 are the negative ones?

I assume the center one is the positive... and the others are negative
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom