Gateway Solo 5300 power problems

[msvman]

Hello,

I recently purchased a used Solo 5300 and I am having a power related issue. The laptop will sometimes power off randomly either with or without the battery. I have noticed that if I look in the device manager, it has an exclamation point next to the AC adapter. The only way I have been able to overcome this problem so far is by plugging it into a port replicator. The problem goes away, but then I have the bulky port replicator all the time.

Does anybody know what might be causing this problem? Could it be the AC cable, even though it works with the port replicator, or could it be the power board or something else?

Any help is much appretiated. Thanks in advance!!

Gateway Solo 5300
700 mhz
256 mb ram
Win XP Pro
20 gb hard drive

 

[boshuter]

This is just a guess based on what you said... it sounds like the power connector on the laptop is loose, they are just soldered on the motherboard and have a tendency to break the solder joints after being pulled on. It's pretty common on older laptops. It's not a hard fix if you are familiar with working on laptops and can solder. Usually they work intermittently, if you can wiggle the power connector and make the connection come and go, then this is your problem.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: boshuter
This is just a guess based on what you said... it sounds like the power connector on the laptop is loose, they are just soldered on the motherboard and have a tendency to break the solder joints after being pulled on.

Very true. And many times that is caused by someone tripping over the plugged in power cord which in turn puts a helluva yank on that connector.

To isolate that - with a fully charged battery - does it still happen? OK - I see that it does. So, that coule prevent the battery from getting a full charge. But - the same random off/on can also be caused by heat. Does the cooling fan work OK? Can you try it outside in the cold air and see if it is better?

 

[msvman]

I'm thinking it may be a loose connection, not sure yet. The battery is too old to depend on. It only last about 5 minutes or so. I do not think it is a heat issue as it does not do it when docked.

If I hold the power cord in with a rubberband it seems to work a little better, but it will still turn off eventually.