Laptop Won't Charge/Turn On (Lenovo Y50)

[dumplingandrice]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to grab some advice regarding my laptop. Out of the blue, my Lenovo Y50 (purchased about 3 years ago) stopped charging. I took several approaches including reseating the battery, reseating the charging port, uninstalling ACPI, and eventually replacing the battery with a new one.

1. AC adapter only - Computer turns on, but abruptly shuts off after 10-30 mins of use (gaming, Facebook, homework)
2. AC adapter only, uninstall Microsoft ACPI- Complaint Control.. - As soon as uninstall happens, abruptly shuts-off
3. AC adapter and battery - No charge, runs off battery
4. AC adapter and fresh installed battery - charges up to 40-60% - no longer charges. Charges again when reseated

I guarantee you this will be my last Lenovo, customer support asked me to pay 70$ for inspection, followed by $350+ for replacement (I am a broke college student please help).

I can't determine whether it can be a BIO issue, driver issue, charging port issue (does anyone know if Y50s allow ports to be replaced?), or a motherboard issue (I replaced the motherboard about a year ago, so I highly doubt it).

Best,

 

[atljsf]

they replace the motherboard that seems to be having problems and some parts stop responding after heat and load are applied as you see

this is not a bios issue

it is the motherboard failing, the charge system specificaly

i wouldn't put much time and effort and would replace it with a second hand laptop, a t450 or something like that, small, light and big battery

 

[dumplingandrice]

Is there anyway to tell between the charging port or motherboard issue? Would I have to replace the motherboard again (in which I'll just get a new laptop) or can I simply replace the charging port?

Thank you so much for your response. Quite bummed 🙁

 

[atljsf]

on some models the port is just a port, a piece of plastic applying pressure to the motherboard, can be easily changed

on most mainboards the port is soldered so you need to deslder and still, if the charging circuitry doing the rest of the job or the mainboard has a problem, this change does nothing

your laptop uses the flat port correct? that port is less likely to fail than the rounded one

or you find another charger and discard the charger as a source of the problem or you find another mainboard, as you see it is expensive, lenovo surely charges 350 for a new part or a refurbished part that includes the charging port and circuitry related to the process

if this is what you see when you remove the back cover

the charging port seems to be a doughter board, so change the mainboard could be viable, but that depends on the specific layout of the mainboard you have, that y50 seems to be 3 or 5 models, not all of them share the same parts, this picture is for y50-70

http://www.myfixguide.com/manual/lenovo-y50-disassembly/

but this approach of change the daugter board is only doable if you confirm that the charger is not doing something funny here, and also if you already discarded the battery as the problem(which you report you did) and you find the part and that part has in it the charging port and the charging circuitry, on this model i am not sure, if that picture corresponds to your exact model

this is a high end model, so expect to find lots of troubles finding parts and the price will not be cheap

 

[dumplingandrice]

Really appreciate your guidance so far atljsf, Thank you so much.

I can discard the charger as the problem - I tested the charger with my pal's lenovo as well
I can also discard the battery as the problem - I bought a new one from a reputable seller

My laptop does use a flat port just to clarify and your images look exactly like my model

I replaced my motherboard about a year ago (water damage), my question now would be: is the port soldered into the motherboard? Can I replace it by myself? If I have to replace the motherboard I'm conflicted on whether to buy a new motherboard (to retain my upgraded screen) or start fresh with a new laptop ($$ is an issue). It also worries me regarding the durability of lenovo products. What are your thoughts/opinions/advice on this?

Thanks again!

 

[atljsf]

if the port only is the problem if the picture i posted corresponds, it seems viable if you find the right part, it seems to use only a couple screws and is separated from the mainboard

now that you mention that you changed the mainboard i think that the problem is not the port, is the mainboard itself

as i told you sometimes the replacement part is a refurbished mainboard, so it is not weird to see it fail after some timeyour only oportunity is find the parts manual, find the right code of the part and find it online and pray it is not the mainboard, if it is

you need a second had laptop for your studies and a gaming desktop in your house, to alleviate costs of the new machines, is just a suggestion

 

[dumplingandrice]

Hey, thanks for all the advice.

So I got out of work and opened my case again and I noticed some burn marks on the AC Power Jack wire. I attached pictures to this as well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1xyWWIkT7JXVzhqVGtNaFU5dEdnYjBkTy0zYUFoemtYRU1Z/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1xyWWIkT7JXSGpOQVZ2UjRLcVBYUVozYWtVVjNqMFVXcUZr/view?usp=sharing

Do you think this is beyond fixing? Thanks for being honest, maybe it was a mistake to have replaced the motherboard a year ago and upgrade the screens :/. I'd be happy to replace the port, but if i have to replace the mobo again, it is just way too many times

if the port only is the problem if the picture i posted corresponds, it seems viable if you find the right part, it seems to use only a couple screws and is separated from the mainboard

now that you mention that you changed the mainboard i think that the problem is not the port, is the mainboard itself

as i told you sometimes the replacement part is a refurbished mainboard, so it is not weird to see it fail after some timeyour only oportunity is find the parts manual, find the right code of the part and find it online and pray it is not the mainboard, if it is

you need a second had laptop for your studies and a gaming desktop in your house, to alleviate costs of the new machines, is just a suggestion

 

[atljsf]

not sure those where those cables go

yes, those are burnt cables, overheated for some reason and now will not work really, at least reliably

to where they go, to the motherboard? from the daughter board to the motherboard?

if the more or less burnt connector is on the motherboard, i would try to find why it is this burned, the charger is giving too much watts, amps to the system?

bad battery or bad charger?

if you see more burnt marks on the mainboard apart the connector, this is a bad sign

if it is only th connector, try to clean it and finsd the cable replacement and the daughter board that the cable comes from and see if that helps

keep in mind that this kind of damage is not common, be prepared for the paln b i mentioned earlier

 

[dumplingandrice]

The cables go to from the charging port to the motherboard. The burnt connector is from the ac charging port cable and the second image (see burnt middle pin) is what the connector connects to on the mobo.
Weird, I use a surge protector to avoid these situations. I'd assume a bad battery.

Thank you so much, thoughts on further action? Is this repairable? I really just want this laptop to last me one more year.

not sure those where those cables go

yes, those are burnt cables, overheated for some reason and now will not work really, at least reliably

to where they go, to the motherboard? from the daughter board to the motherboard?

if the more or less burnt connector is on the motherboard, i would try to find why it is this burned, the charger is giving too much watts, amps to the system?

bad battery or bad charger?

if you see more burnt marks on the mainboard apart the connector, this is a bad sign

if it is only th connector, try to clean it and finsd the cable replacement and the daughter board that the cable comes from and see if that helps

keep in mind that this kind of damage is not common, be prepared for the paln b i mentioned earlier

 

[atljsf]

i don't think this is caused by the charger or the battery, this looks more like a motherboard or daughterboard issue

try to find the new cable and daughterboard, if not possible, well, the plan b looks more viable, because the burn cable no idea what caused it, so not sure if changing the part and cleaning the mainboard connectors will fix the issue

still worth to try, to avoid buying another laptop

 

[dumplingandrice]

Thanks man! I'm gonna order a new port to replace it with. Really appreciate your help.

I'll let you know what happens.

 

[atljsf]

good luck