Chosen Solution
Hello all. Few days ago my laptop died. The AC adaptor was plugged (and with the green light on) but the battery indicator decreased and finally, the windows low battery message was displayed and finally I shutdown the laptop before the battery was empty. After that, I tried to switch on without the battery, only with the AC adaptor, but with not successful. When I put again the battery on the laptop then the laptop worked but the battery continued discharging until it was completly empty. And now the laptop not works any longer. I check the AC adaptor works and a IT professional said me that the problem was the DELL integrated motherboard. I asked Dell for support and then they said to me that if I want to repair the computer it would cost me $1080 :O Now I’m asking if there is any way to repair this by myself and where can I found how to repair. Is anybody lives in Spain and knows any shop where I can repair it is also a good solution. Thanks in advance. Regards.
It sounds like your problem is the DC-In board. Unfortunately, I do not know if that is integrated with the mother board on Dell computers or not. If it is, you will probably need to replace it. I’ll bet you could find a replacement for significantly less than $1000, but I’m unaware of any websites with repair guides for these computers. I wish I could be more help!
If you have a multimeter you should be able to check the output of the power supply. If the output from the power supply is good than it is probably your battery. If I remember correctly the battery had to be installed to power up the laptop even with the power supply.
My latitude 100L making same problems, it works from battery, but not from AC-adapter. Adapter is OK, problem is on the motherboard, I checked with oscilloscope - PWM controller (ISL 6247) on the motherboard give power for short time and for unknown reason, interrupt supply of power. So, I will play a bit again with this laptop, and if it will not work I will probably replace motherboard. Check on ebay, it could cost around 40$.
One thing to check would also be the power cable from the adapter to the computer. If there’s a physical break in that line it would result in the same issue, slow battery decline and failure of power. Find another AC adapter and see if it works. If that still fails, then Tyler’s advice stands.
Check your battery if good .
