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dv4-2160us issue - will not charge, will not run off AC

post #1 of 16
6/7/11 at 10:51pm
Thread Starter 

 

When the laptop is plugged in, it displays "Plugged in, Charging" however, the battery goes down, down, down. The charging LED comes on at the front of the laptop, as well as the light on the DC jack itself. When you take the battery out, the laptop immediately shuts off. The LED charging light ALSO goes off. With the laptop powered off, and the battery replaced, the LED charging light will come back on.

 

Here's what I know: It's not the battery. I charge the battery for this laptop in my HP G60-235DX. I can also use the battery from the G60 in the dv4, and it still does not charge. Also, the battery in the G60 is only a few months old.

 

Here's something curious: The charger for the dv4 does not charge the dv4, but it does display "Plugged in, charging" and lights the charging LEDs. The charger for the G60 has absolutely no effect on the dv4. The charger for the dv4 works with the G60, however. Both chargers are the same. They're replaced by the same HP replacement part, all the same specs and everything. 

 

Here's something futile: I already tried to replace the DC-in jack. It did not change anything.

 

I've tried the BIOS update. I've tried the whole uninstalling the battery thing in the Device Manager. I've tried all combinations of turning off and on. I've tried removing the battery while the laptop was plugged in, only to have it shut off.

 

I'm really crossing my fingers this is something better than a motherboard issue needing repair...in classic technological fashion, my warranty expired TWO WEEKS before this.

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post #2 of 16
6/8/11 at 10:25am
I would give another charger (a 3rd one) a shot first

cheers ...
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post #3 of 16
6/8/11 at 10:31am
Thread Starter 

Yeah, I checked it on two dell chargers this morning with the same results. The charging LED comes on, the LED light by the DC Jack comes on, the laptop reads "Plugged in, Charging." Both failed to charge the laptop.

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post #4 of 16
6/8/11 at 10:35am
Power board is the next thing I would look into, easy to replace.

cheers ...
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post #5 of 16
6/8/11 at 10:38am
Thread Starter 

What exactly do you mean by "power board"? Do you mean the motherboard/system board? It's definitely easy to replace, but I was hoping to make this a little bit more frugal. Didn't want to resort to that unless absolutely necessary (and with the host of issues with dv4 motherboards, I don't know if I would even trust buying a new one).

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post #6 of 16
6/8/11 at 10:52am
Power board is a part of the motherboard that controls the power in - not sure now if you have this for this HP model. Did you try:

1. Removing the battery and the adapter, holding down the power button for about 30-40 secs? or

2. Reset the CMOS battery? or

3. Flash the BIOS again?

cheers ...
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post #7 of 16
6/8/11 at 10:55am
Thread Starter 

I'm not too sure if I've got that either...as far as I know, the DC jack connects right onto the motherboard. This may be something I'll have to look into further.

 

I have done the first step.

I have accomplished the second step during my dissembly by removing the cmos battery.

And I have flashed the bios once with an update from HP.

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post #8 of 16
6/8/11 at 1:42pm
If you use a full charged battery, without the AC adapter - would it work, or would it drain the battery just as quick?

cheers ...
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post #9 of 16
6/8/11 at 1:45pm
Thread Starter 

Running off battery power, the laptop acts perfectly normal. It doesn't make the battery run down any faster than normal. Having the AC adapter plugged in doesn't change it any.

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post #10 of 16
6/8/11 at 2:02pm
That's some good new. I'll check some settings like if the system is blocking the charging if the battery is at certain level, AHCI option in the computer properties (device manager) and would give another battery / ac adapter a shot (yes, I read that you tried many already)

cheers ...
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post #11 of 16
6/28/11 at 5:59pm

hi 

 

 

 

i have had problems like this on many dv4  hp's and found the problem to be an 8 pin soic chip near where the dc connector plugs to mobo.

usually though when this is the problem the led beside the dc adapter plug will not glow. there are other 8 pin soic chips on the mobo that has to do with the charging circuit

also. I found a schematics on my dv4t-1400 which helped me out alot . If you google the mobo number you may find one for yours also.

This is the vendors number on the mobo not hp number. In my case the number is for an intel mobo which was LA-4101P I think the AMD mobo number is LA-4111P.

These 8 pin chips are all over the charging circuit and they are MOSFET N channels (which are basically a field effect transistor in an 8 pin chip package). I'm working off memory here

and at my age thats not good, so don't hold me to all the technical advice . If I remember right pins 1-3 are connected together on the board and chip,5-8 are connected at board and chip.

And pin 4 is seperate from the others. They usually short from the 1-3 group to the 5-8 group.

Hope this helps

 

Dave

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post #12 of 16
6/29/11 at 7:44am

Thanks for the info Dave. Do you know where I can find one of these chips?

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post #13 of 16
6/30/11 at 7:05pm

It has been a while back, but I believe it was a place on line called Digi-key but if you google the part number you

will find lot of suppliers and you may even find it locally. The part number I purchased was 4835D, but they are by other part numbers also like 4800and 4433 but I think

there all the same part. Just be sure you find one that will sell you like one or two or as many as you want because most places have a minumum

order of like 50 or 100. these chip are really cheap like $1.50 each.  hope this helps  if you need more info let me know.

 

Dave

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post #14 of 16
7/1/11 at 10:56am

I tried that part number and couldn't find it, but I did find a similar chip on another motherboard I had laying around and it fixed my problem. I really appreciate your help and hope this helps other people with the same problem.

 

 

**The chip I used was from an HP Dv6000 motherboard, and it was located close to where the power connector plugs into the motherboard.

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post #15 of 16
7/19/11 at 7:50pm

Hello,  I have the same issue and have the schematic and I have been testing the fet's.  I had one that was testing odd so I swapped it out, but still have the same issue. Do you remember what the reference designator was for the one that you changed out?  I can send you the schematic if needed.

 

Thanks,

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post #16 of 16
7/23/11 at 12:54pm

The reference # on mine was PQ101 this is on a amd board La-4111p mobo.

What is your mod. #?

Does the led beside the power adapter plug, light up when it is plugged in?

While the 8 pin chip is the problem most of the time, on some models that seems to have no component problems

sometimes has a bios update that addresses this problem.

Hope this helps you and let me know if I can assist you in any way.

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