Notebook/Laptop Help

[PloKoon]

posted this originally in Gen Hardware and was re-directed here, so here it goes:

i recently obtained a sony vaio notebook that needs a possible power supply swapped out, but i was wondering if anyone knew of any websites that helped in taking certain laptops apart, such as diagrams and what not.

i have worked on laptops before, such as dells and hp's, but this is my first sony and just wanted to see if anyone knew of any helpful sites before i dive in.

i am refraining from sending it off because i'd like to do it myself, i just can't find any information after googling.

props to thee who can help!

 

[kayatai]

what power supply are you talking about?

the battery and the power brick are all that I know of that are user replaceable (maybe bios battery). anything else is probably soldered onto the motherboard?

 

[PloKoon]

well i'm attempting to repair this for my gf's uncle, and he said he had called Sony's tech support and they said it was the power supply, so that's what i'm going off of.

it gets no juice, with or without the power adapter (brick?), and i've tried the little reset button on the bottom, reseating the memory sticks, stuff like that that's suggested from their website.

i'll be breaking it open tonight to see if it's do-able i just wanted to get as much heads-up as i could before i'm knee deep in parts

 

[jschuk]

Which Sony is it? I have taken a few Sony's apart and about 2/3 of them were a little odd in that they use plastic covers that slide over both the base assembly and the cover assembly (not the LCD cover assembly). Otherwise, they are just like other laptops, screws on the botttom usually followed by screws underneath the keyboard/palmrest.

 

[PloKoon]

it's the Sony Vaio PCG-991L, but on the inside on the lcd bracket it says PCG-FX390P.

here's a pic i took of the inside, maybe you can give me a hint on what i need to look at.
i circled what i think is the power supply, or at least where the DC IN is plugged into on the motherboard.
would that be what i need to replace?

http://home.comcast.net/~hipnotik/misc/sony2183mod.jpg

thanks for your help!

 

[Geomagick]

I know it might sound stupid but could it be that the external power supply is at fault and not the DC unit on the m/b. And the reason that it won't power up at all is that the battery could be flat as a pancake.

As for inside DC/DC conversion would be a selection of IC's and high current transistors not the wire bundle that you circled.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Alphahawk]

I have done laptop repair for awhile and one thing to check also is if the ac port is busted. QUick test of that is see how much wiggle the ac port has with the power brick plugged into it. You should havbe almost no wiggle in it. IF it is extremly wiggly the you need to resoder or replace the mobo. From what you are saying and how sony stated it that sounds like what it is.

 

[PloKoon]

stupid question: if the power adapter has a green led on it does that mean that it works properly?

on the sony site it told me to plug the adapter in it with and without the battery, neither made a difference.
if the battery was flat would it be able to power up by itself with just the adapter?

i'm lost as to what i would need to replace, the owner of the laptop doesn't really care if i destroy it heh, he just wants me to try.
i just don't know what units to try to replace first.

 

[jschuk]

Put a voltmeter to the AC adapter, make sure it is putting out the 19V (it might read a little over 19). Take the same voltmeter and set it to check for continuity. Now make sure that you get continuity from any ground point on the system board and the ground contact on the recepticle. For the positive, you will just need to look at the board and see where the trace goes from the recepticle, make sure you have continuity there too.

Want to swap boards? Mine gets power all the time, it just locks up sometimes.

 

[t40newbie]

Hi, I just got a new notebook. I was wondering if it's harmful to leave the computer on all the time. I leave my desktop on all the time b/c I've read that it's better for the computer. I don't know if this also applies to laptops since they are meant to be mobile and I suppose are designed for frequent shutdowns. Any ideas?