[SOLVED] No power?

[Gorgatrounce]

I have a Dell Inspiron 3583. Used the power off button to send it to sleep. It would not turn back on.

For a while, when it was plugged in, the white LED would illuminate next to the power jack, and when the power button was pressed the Caps Lock light would come on for about twenty seconds and then turn off. I did that about three times, trying to figure out what was going on. However, that no longer happens. Now, no LEDs, nothing.

I have opened the case and disconnected the battery, the CMOS battery, and removed all peripherals and RAM, held the power button for thirty seconds. Hooked everything back up, but no joy.

Have I experienced a motherboard failure? It's a 2020 machine, so if that's the case I'm ready to swear off Dells for life.

Any suggestion on other tests I could perform? Should I replace the CMOS battery, or is simply removing it enough to eliminate it as a variable? Anything I can do with a multimeter to narrow down the culprit?

Edit: I should add, the power jack appears to be in good condition, no signs of cracked solder joints on the mountings, etc. The power cord and adapter are new.

 

[Lutfij]

Usually a CapsLock LED flashing and/or partial light up and then shut down would indicate that there's a memory issue. You might want to use an eraser on the gold contacts on the sticks of ram, wipe clean then replace the ram in the slot. Alternate the slots if there's no-go on the first one.

The power cord and adapter are new.
Genuine part(adapter)?

 

[Gorgatrounce]

Usually a CapsLock LED flashing and/or partial light up and then shut down would indicate that there's a memory issue. You might want to use an eraser on the gold contacts on the sticks of ram, wipe clean then replace the ram in the slot. Alternate the slots if there's no-go on the first one.

Thanks, great suggestion. Do you mind if I ask why an eraser rather than isopropyl alcohol (I'll take your advice, but I'm always curious about the why behind the what)? And would it be worth trying a new stick of RAM entirely, in the (second, unused) slot?

Genuine part(adapter)?

Stamped with Dell's logo, so either genuine or counterfeit? I actually replaced the cord/adapter a couple of weeks ago because there was a kink in the old cord that caused it to lose connection.

 

[Lutfij]

The carbon build up is easily removed with an eraser, you can use isopropyl alcohol as a finishing touch, if you want...but the eraser is dry. If you have a stick of ram that's compatible with your platform, why not? You might want to try and dust the slots as well.

 

[Gorgatrounce]

Really appreciate your advice. I shall try that and report back, in case someone else has the same issue. I would never have thought it was a memory issue...I was focused entirely on the power jack and power button.

 

[Gorgatrounce]

So: cleaning the memory terminals and reseating the memory in the vacant slot instead might have helped. I thought I had a spare stick of RAM around that I was going to swap out, but I didn't.

I was getting no LED response at all, a minute ago. Now, when the power cord is about 60% of the way in I am getting a solid white LED at the power spot. Nothing on the CAPS key or anything. For a short while I was also getting a blink pattern indicating a CMOS battery failure but then that went away. When I try to power on the machine, I get fans spinning, and then the white LED goes out and the machine powers down. Right now, I believe the white light indicates the main battery is charging, so I'm going to let that sit and see if I can get enough of a charge to it that I can power it up.

I think the next step is to replace the power adapter again, and replace the CMOS while I'm at it. If I still get nothing, perhaps I should try replacing the internal power jack? Fortunately it is not soldered to the board, it has an internal terminal connector.

 

[Lutfij]

Perhaps see if the power input on your laptop might be the issue seeing how you mentioned the adapter needed to be inserted more...though in their(Dell's) defense, you shouldn't have a connector have way in or out, it should be secured into place.

 

[Gorgatrounce]

Just to close this out: I have confirmed that:
The power jack had failed
The single piece of memory had failed
The CMOS battery had failed.

With these replaced (still waiting on a new CMOS, so the date and time reports badly) computer is back up and running, thank you so much for your help, Lutfij!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome!