Dell L502X re-assembly...wont power on

[Nate_007]

Anyway I followed this guide to replace thermal paste, and followed the guide back the other way. Now my laptop wont turn on at all, whether its plugged in with battery or with AC adapter.

Any ideas that I could try out or steps that I could have missed? All screws are back in as no other screws are left. This just boggles my mind, it should just turn on. The procedure is pretty straight forward.

http://www.laptoptin.com/news/2013/...le-the-dell-xps-15-l502x-laptop/#.Uqd6J_RDuSo

 

[paul878]

You didn't reassemble it right, take it apart and look carefully.

 

[Nate_007]

Ok I will try again, this will be the 3rd time. Right now, I'm checking the 7 screws of the cpu cooler. I will start from reverse now.

 

[Ketchup]

If it does nothing when you hit the button, make sure the DC power connections are secure.

 

[Nate_007]

Just put it back together again, following the guide very closely. Still no power, it seems like the motherboard is not receiving any juice at all. The fan won't even turn on. I have experience in disassembling laptops, but this particular one is giving me a hard time.

Btw I'm an IT support, this laptop is for our user experiencing over heating.

 

[Puppies04]

First thing I would be checking would be the power button connector. I have had my L702X apart twice and never had a problem. The thing is if you missed a connection/got a ribbon in backwards the first 2 or 3 times you took it apart you are going to be more likely to keep repeating the same thing.

Go slow and try again is the only advice I can give.

 

[Nate_007]

Yeah, I will be checking it again tomorrow. This just boggles my mind, the only cables that I had to unhook to get to the cooler itself are:
1) wifi
2) display cable/ground
3) keyboard
4) power button
5) mouse pad
6) subwoofer speaker
7) cpu fan

The only cable that has to do with power is the cable strip for the power button. I should have powered on the laptop first before dismantling it, maybe I was set up lol haha. Any other thoughts?

 

[Ketchup]

Were you able to power it on when you first received it?

 

[paul878]

Try to power it on without FULLY assemble it.

Plug in AC power, confirm power light in on and unit receiving power, connect power button.

Another possibility is that you might have not install something correctly, so just try to power it on with out all the extras. (just MB, CPU, 1 RAM)

 

[Nate_007]

Hey back working on the laptop today. Yeah I will check with one ram only, just the bare configuration. I did that yesterday to confirm if the board is receiving juice but I remember there no light whatsoever. But I will try again with just one ram.

The only thing is I never bothered turning it on before dismantling for the first time to confirm whether it was already DOA. But the user confirmed to me that it was working, and it was just over heating shutting down on its own.

 

[Gunbuster]

The only thing is I never bothered turning it on before dismantling for the first time to confirm whether it was already DOA. But the user confirmed to me that it was working, and it was just over heating shutting down on its own.

Rule number 1: Never trust the user. Often they do not clearly or correctly describe the issue they are experiencing.

Put the laptop back together. Call dell for warranty support and troubleshooting. DO NOT mention tearing the laptop apart if you are not certified to work on it.

 

[Nate_007]

Rule number 1: Never trust the user. Often they do not clearly or correctly describe the issue they are experiencing.

Put the laptop back together. Call dell for warranty support and troubleshooting. DO NOT mention tearing the laptop apart if you are not certified to work on it.

Still working on the laptop, will reseat heat sink today and see anything out of the ordinary. I plan to test power circuitry with multi meter but battery is dead on the meter and no spare batt to replace.

Yeah the laptop is out of warranty unfortunately, though I may not be certified Dell tech, but I have few titles under my belt, A+, CCNA, MCSE server to name a few.

It may be some stupid thing that needs to be grounded that only Dell knows for it to power on lol I dont know.

 

[paul878]

All those title won't help you fix laptops, you need to know a few thing about electronic and a whole lot of experiences. It requires a different set of thinking.

 

[Nate_007]

All those title won't help you fix laptops, you need to know a few thing about electronic and a whole lot of experiences. It requires a different set of thinking.

Yeah I know that, I'm just trying to say I'm not just a 7 yr old trying to fix broken toy. I am quite inclined to learn anything within my field, so if someone wants to suggest a more advance approach they can do so. Every techs have their own approach.

But of course I can only fix field-replaceable parts such as HDD, CPU, motherboard as I'm an internal IT support, I do more than just fixing laptops and computers. So I'm not a hardcore technician I-can-fix-all-computer-guy.

Back on topic laptop is still busted, did not want to spend too much time on this laptop so I just ordered a new one for the user. I had another IT guy double check the laptop but he could not get it work either. Only if we have spare parts for this model then we could try few more things out.

 

[Gunbuster]

Do users at the company have to wait until their old laptop breaks to get a new one? Maybe they sabotaged it.

 

[Nate_007]

Do users at the company have to wait until their old laptop breaks to get a new one? Maybe they sabotaged it.

lol. That's what I told them as a joke, because I never bothered to turn it on prior to dismantling it. Well they have to wait awhile for the new laptop to arrive, but of course I always have a loaner for them to prevent any downtime.

Well I don't judge so whatever they tell me then that's the story lol. But I have a reputation here where I don't just upgrade users that easily. I maintain computers here as best as I can, as long it does not affect their productivity they are not getting a shiny new laptop from me lol.

 

[Matt1970]

Check that ribbon cable that goes to the power button. That line on the cables faces up and should be right against the plastic when latched.

 

[Nate_007]

Check that ribbon cable that goes to the power button. That line on the cables faces up and should be right against the plastic when latched.

Yeah that's one of the things we tried out. I was even thinking maybe its the power button itself, but we dont have another model to swap out the parts with so we could at least narrow it down.

Though I was wondering, I took the motherboard out itself and plugged in the power adapter and battery, but the battery indicator on the laptop is not lighting up, is that normal? Maybe there something that needs to be grounded to complete the circuit? Usually the indicator should be lit up to indicate its charging.

 

[Matt1970]

Yeah that's one of the things we tried out. I was even thinking maybe its the power button itself, but we dont have another model to swap out the parts with so we could at least narrow it down.

Though I was wondering, I took the motherboard out itself and plugged in the power adapter and battery, but the battery indicator on the laptop is not lighting up, is that normal? Maybe there something that needs to be grounded to complete the circuit? Usually the indicator should be lit up to indicate its charging.

The motherboard doesn't really ground to anything.

I should have powered on the laptop first before dismantling it, maybe I was set up lol haha. Any other thoughts?

Rule number 1: Never trust the user. Often they do not clearly or correctly describe the issue they are experiencing.

That is rule #1. People are notorious at downplaying or inaccurately describing their actual problems and also at leaving out crucial pieces of info like lines in the screen or a noisy fan and then trying to blame you for it later. "It wasn't like that when I brought it in"

 

[stinger608]

Also check to see if the power plug port from the charger is okay. A lot of these laptops are notorious for that breaking internally. If that is the case then the "charge" light would not come on. It could also be the power brick itself. take a multi-meter and put the + line inside the charge port and the - line on the outside of the charge port. This is on the brick itself. If there is no reading then the brick is bad. Now plug it into the motherboard and test where the two touch the motherboard.
Sounds to me like you are not getting power to the motherboard somewhere.

 

[Virgorising]

lol. That's what I told them as a joke, because I never bothered to turn it on prior to dismantling it. Well they have to wait awhile for the new laptop to arrive, but of course I always have a loaner for them to prevent any downtime.

Well I don't judge so whatever they tell me then that's the story lol. But I have a reputation here where I don't just upgrade users that easily. I maintain computers here as best as I can, as long it does not affect their productivity they are not getting a shiny new laptop from me lol.

The sabotaging of the lappys by workers to get upgrades is the heart of a TV spot that runs all the time these days.

 

[Nate_007]

The motherboard doesn't really ground to anything.

That is rule #1. People are notorious at downplaying or inaccurately describing their actual problems and also at leaving out crucial pieces of info like lines in the screen or a noisy fan and then trying to blame you for it later. "It wasn't like that when I brought it in"

lol yeah. It was my fault for not testing it first.

Also check to see if the power plug port from the charger is okay. A lot of these laptops are notorious for that breaking internally. If that is the case then the "charge" light would not come on. It could also be the power brick itself. take a multi-meter and put the + line inside the charge port and the - line on the outside of the charge port. This is on the brick itself. If there is no reading then the brick is bad. Now plug it into the motherboard and test where the two touch the motherboard.
Sounds to me like you are not getting power to the motherboard somewhere.

I will try this out, I'm just waiting for the 9V battery for the multimeter. I used different power adapters though still no light, now I was also thinking maybe its the adapter port too. It looks fine to me as far as I can tell but I still need to test if its delivering juice to the board.

 

[stinger608]

Yea, not sure on the Dell's but I know there is a ton of the HP's that have that issue.

I have had to repair one Dell and a boat load of HP's LOLOL

I currently have a dang Lenovo that has this issue. The adapter port is completely broke loose.

I think a lot of it is the user yanking the power plug out and not being careful.

 

[styrafoam]

Hit the female end of all of the various ribbon cable connections with some canned air.

 

[Ketchup]

.... I think a lot of it is the user yanking the power plug out and not being careful.

I have a Lenovo sitting with this issue. My 5-year-old tripped over the power cord. I have ordered and received the part (not expensive at all), just putting off replacing it. Looked at the tech guide, it is not a project I am looking forward to.