Compaq Presario R3000 power cord issue

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NanoDuke, if the computer runs ok off the adapter, the joints are good, no need to re-solder. One contact of the battery bay should read more, about 15 volts if I remember right. The other ones give a lower read, that's normal.
If another set of contacts gives the 15 volts, your battery might be at the end of it's life. Could also be something crapping out in the power circuitry regulating the charging of the battery.
If you have a 120watts adapter, you might get better results using a 135 watt one, but no guarantee that you will. First check if you can see a higher voltage on the other contacts.
 
Crap. I'll have to check tomorrow. This system was sold to me as having a new battery, and I believe them, cause the battery is in immaculate condition.
Or could I have fried the battery in the process. Just before soldering I was having a lot of trouble getting the system to boot.

Well I have a 120W adapter, but do I need to get a HP specific brick, or do generic ones exist?

Thanks again for your help.
 
Generic ones, not to fond of those myself. Often specs are overrated, and for the price, you can get a HP one off ebay.
Before you get another one, check for those voltages @ the battery bay contacts. If you can't get 15V there, another adapter won't help I'm afraid.
 
Hmmm... well I still could only manage a couple of volts in the compartment.
But then I tried jiggling the cable, and when I pulled it almost out (so that only about 1-2mm of the plug was in the socket) I suddenly got 14V.

But it's too unstable to run off AC that way, so my laptop is off now, charging while halfway out. I'll wait a few hours and see if the battery charges anymore. If so, then I need to pay more attention to the socket.
 
Hello,

I'm new here and I'm dutch; so excuse is my english is not correct.
I am very happy with this forum, because my Compaq R3039EA had the same powerconection problems.
It costs me about 3 hours to do the repair (resoldering); so in this way I don't have to spend money for a new mobo.
Thanks a lot to everybody.

Han
 
help ,,,,,,is there another cable that will work on the r3000 other than the xc1000 cable that is hard to find. the xc2000 they say will not work in the r3000 laptop. thanks
 

No, only that xc1000 or a docking station.
 

I can't get any further with this problem.
Could I have fried my battery?

Is there a way of trying to fix the battery?

It's wierd that the charging light comes on, Windows says it's charging but nothing else happens. It just stays dead.

And all that I did was resolder the jack into place.
 
Hey,,,i fixed it myself,,,only took off the bottom corner panel where the power jack is ,,taped off a small square in the silver area above the jack and cut it out with a dremel,,this allowed me to put a drop of solder on the worn pin,,,easy and quick
 

Windows will say it charges, forever, even if it doesn't charge at all. Did you get the other jack yet, or still the old one? If you have a pentium, check the other side of the board too for a good fix. And yes, that battery may be dead or damaged.
I tried repairing one by putting in new cells, but if 2 cells out of 8 in this case, differ 0,2 volts, the battery electronics crap out, and it won't charge at all. But windows reported it did.
 
OK, here is why the power cord doesnt work.

On the jack on the mother board, they have three prongs, Positive negative, and an anchor. because of the constant plugging and unplugging of the adaptor, it shakes loose the jack, and occaisionally breaks the positive and negative feet on the jack. to fix this, you will need to take the motherboard out of the computer, and resolder the jack. THIS MAY DAMAGE YOUR MOTHERBOARD, SO DO NOT ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU HATE THE COMPUTER AND DONT CARE IF IT IS BROKEN, OR UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS TYPE OF REPAIR. I took mine to a local repair shop, and has been working great ever since.

 
I've also had the power jack problem on a zv5000, purchased from eBay from someone I suspect knew about the problem (sold as having a speaker fault only). I got the xc1000 cable this morning and at first it seemed to give the same, well documented unsustained charging problems as the original AC adapter through the power jack. I removed the battery to test if it worked on just AC power (it did), replaced the battery without bothering to power down and its been charging for the past hour via the xc1000 cable.

Anyway, what I wanted to ask is does anyone know what the little pin-headed screws either side of the expansion port are called, and where to get them from. They definitely help hold the xc1000 cable in place but I also wondered if they carry the AC current from the cable into the laptop. The @$*! who sold me this laptop has replaced one of these screws with an ordinary cross-head screw! The cable seems to work but if these 'pin-head' screws carry charge I'd prefer to get a replacement to ensure good electrical contact.
zv5000.jpg
 
They don't hold a charge. Can you take the one present out and ask at a hardware store, or ask someone who sells r3000 parts (ebay).
 
I am editing this message in hopes that SOMEONE might try to read the voltages present at the pins on the battery connector, maybe by running with no battery, and using a digital voltmeter to read the voltage present on the pins. I am trying to find which pin the charging voltage should appear on; I would expect it to be in the +15 volt range.....and also what pin is ground. As I have indicated below, my problem was the same as everyone else's (basically in this whole thread), but after resoldering the power connector, my laptop works flawlessly on AC power, but I have no "lightning bolt" on, and the battery shows no charge.

I would be very grateful if someone could post their findings from a WORKING Compaq R3000.

Thanks to all!






Could someone please tell me the pin layout for the battery connector in the Presario R3000?
Like so many other people, I have had to repair the power connector problem on my machine. I would certainly like to thank everyone who posted their experiences on this problem on this forum for the benefit of others. I am an ex telecom worker, so I do computer repair as a hobby/sideline while semi-retired.
The dismantling, soldering of the loose power cord connector went very well ( I did it about a year ago), but I do not get a charge light on the front of the machine; and it won't run at ALL on the battery. ( I have NO idea of the condition of the battery), so I'd like to first of all determine if charging voltage is where is should be on the connector. I do have 19.89 Volts present on the expansion bay contacts.

I have also had a very intermittent problem of losing the wireless feature on the R3000. The cause is the contact strip that connects the motherboard to the small circuit board containing the sound and wireless buttons. I think I have solved that one by removing the motherboard, and also the small "audio and wireless button board"...and then placing about a .005 thickness washer on each of the 2 standoffs and reinstalling the small card. The purpose of the washers is to slightly elevate the card to make the contact much firmer with the motherboard when it is screwed down. Doing this does not interfere with the operation of the various buttons. ( examine the soldering on the small card while you can: I touched up several bad (cold) joints on it as well, but the wireless ones were ok). So far, so good; I have not lost the wireless since that operation.

As an ex Telecom tech here in Alberta, HP test gear used to really GOOD equipment. That was back then; this is NOW. I am having to deal with all manner of HP screw-ups, especially in their all in one printer BLOATED software. I used to recommend HP hardware, but now I am not so sure. GEE, I wonder if letting "off-shore" companies produce almost EVERYTHING we NEED is such a smart idea??? Better not get into the politics of THAT one.... :fou:
Thanks agin....GREAT forum!!!
 
Have no more info on the battery bay contacts, than you have, and can't get my voltage meter leads into those small spaces, but they hold several different voltages, 3.3V, 19V (could also been 15V, so long ago). Almost sure he most left one is ground, when watching the bay with the open contacts toward you.
If you put your battery in a freezer for a couple of hours, then in the laptop, it could charge for a minute or so due to the cold, and give you your answer about the charging capability of the laptop.
 
I need some troubleshooting. I have the same problem.
When I plug it in, it sometimes works, but I have to cram it in and shove it to one side and hold it there to make it work. Merely plugging it in and then moving it when I discover it didn't work won't work. The direction I have to shove it varies in any direction, and seems to change while I have it plugged in and working. I've tried pushing the surrounding pins in so it's a tighter fit, hoping this would fix it, but alas, to no avail. I really do not want to have to completely disassemble the laptop to find that wasn't the solution to my problem.
 

If you check the most left and right copper contacts of the docking port connector for voltage, and see the reading fluctuating while wiggling with your dc-in jack, you definitely have to take it apart because it indicates a loose or broken connection.
 

No, not compatible with a R3000.
You want a HP xb1000 Notebook Expansion Base (Expansion Port 1), with built-in speakers, hard to find. Another station is the XB2000, which can fit with an adapter, ask if the adapter comes with the station before buying one.
http://www.techexcess.net/docking-stations_170.aspx
An even better solution is the all-in-one media cable (XC1000), that does the same (without the speakers of course), but is it easier to find oil in your backyard I guess. The last time I saw one on Ebay it was sold in 3.2 seconds.
 

yes. I tried taking it apart a few times. I've noticed some kind of blue stuff on the screws. I guess they.. GLUED THEM IN?!!!! Seriously, who glues the screws in?
 

okay, so I *just* did that, and it read over 18 volts and moved around on its own within a range of + .5V fluctuation. when I wiggled the cord I got about a 1 to 2 volt drop. Of course this may have been due to the fact that the leads were too big to fit in the copper contacts, and I was holding both leads in the docking port in one hand, the laptop with the thumb of the other hand, and was jiggling the cord with the remaining fingers of the latter hand.
 
Put it against a wall or something so you save a thumb, serious, you really want to know if moving the plug will cut off power. ps get the battery out while testing.
If you take out the keyboard, and cut away the metal part most right where the plug is, you might be able to re-solder the pins. Someone here did, not a job to do if you are not experienced in soldering. You only have to touch the wrong part (smd's) and they stick right to your iron.
 
Hello guys. Since i have also problems with my R3000 connector, I just want to know how to locate the positive and the negative pins of my AMD R3000 connector (I mean pins wich are soldered to the motherboard) and why are there 4 pins.
Thanks.
 
3 of the 4 are ground pins, which also secure the jack to the board. See "Laptops Restored"'s pics higher on this page.
 
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