Detecting faulty chips in a dell xps m1330 "won´t power up issue"

[strengthever]

hi everybody:

i am a newbie about electronics, but i need your help in how to detect or replace faluty connectors or chips in my dell XPS m1330 due to no power up issue.

can you share your expertise with a new one!

I´ve read about a R010 chip but how can i be certain about it if i don´t have any thermal vision gadget?

thanks in advance!!

---------- Post added at 22:47 ---------- Previous post was at 22:43 ----------

 

[KJ6EAD]

The direct answer to your question giving due regard to your knowledge level: get at least 4 years of electronics training at the educational institution of your choice, but by then the board will be obsolete. If the board and it's components have been damaged by liquid as it appears, it will almost certainly be uneconomical to repair. I wouldn't go further than testing the power supply at your skill level.

 

[biff44]

Make sure the processor is well attached to its heat sink, if not the chip overheats and shuts down almost instantly.
By taking some of the memory sticks out, one at a time, to see if there is a bad memory.
Try powering it up with a spare power supply if you got one, to see if it just can not handle the power surge.

THese are things to try if it starts to power up but shuts down withing 10 seconds or so.

 

[strengthever]

I appreciate your help but according to the steps your are telling me to do, it´s done, now i feel that the power rail integrated to Mobo is short, as if power on but after 3 secs aprx, it turns off again, like voltage isn´t passing through!!
Besides i called Dell support center and they told me i need to buy a new mobo which costs around 400 dlls + shipment....what a nice deal for a customer!!

Thanks anyway biff44 and as KJ6EAD said, "I have to get at least 4 years of electronics training at the educational institution of my choice for learning to fix these issues"

Sincerely:
Marco

 

[biff44]

I have the years, but I also have a computer doing just what you say yours is doing. Never could figure it out, and new ones are cheap enough that it did not make sense to try to fix it further. I even tried a complete power supply swap out. Dell support....I would rather fight with a rabid weasel then have to talk to those guys again!

 

[skda01]

Did you find the solution to this issue?

 

[mello2011]

I have a xps m1330 with silly problems. I found solution and I thought I would share it with some folks out there. My problem was connecting the laptop on ac power, I had no lights, no signs of life, no boot, nothing. If try boot it from a charged battery, the laptop boots right up but can't find a hard drive.

I took the laptop a part and ac port was fine with all solder solid and good. With a magnifier I noticed the problem was a small crak in the solder on L31 component. Its hard to see by eye, like a hair line. This component is near the connector where the ac charger connects. After resolder this component i solved the power problem. The second problem with the hard drive not being recognized, i found a bad capacitor near ram memory connectors. It was visible burned /corroded. The capacitor number responsible for this problem was C530. Just thought I'd share

 

[aqibi2000]

I have a xps m1330 with silly problems. I found solution and I thought I would share it with some folks out there. My problem was connecting the laptop on ac power, I had no lights, no signs of life, no boot, nothing. If try boot it from a charged battery, the laptop boots right up but can't find a hard drive.

I took the laptop a part and ac port was fine with all solder solid and good. With a magnifier I noticed the problem was a small crak in the solder on L31 component. Its hard to see by eye, like a hair line. This component is near the connector where the ac charger connects. After resolder this component i solved the power problem. The second problem with the hard drive not being recognized, i found a bad capacitor near ram memory connectors. It was visible burned /corroded. The capacitor number responsible for this problem was C530. Just thought I'd share

Hi there i am new to this motherboard board diagnostic scence, but have been repairing all BGA issues on laptops (macs, HP dell etc)

But today have an m1530 and cannot get any boot, it has the saem problems as expressed with the m1330 please can you assist me it simply tripcs the PSU befoer showing any life on the mnobo itself..

I appresiate any help to FIX this motherboard as a learning curve. I have BGA equiptment and testing equiptment but no infrared camera for heat sensing.

Aqib

 

[mello2011]

Hi there i am new to this motherboard board diagnostic scence, but have been repairing all BGA issues on laptops (macs, HP dell etc)

But today have an m1530 and cannot get any boot, it has the saem problems as expressed with the m1330 please can you assist me it simply tripcs the PSU befoer showing any life on the mnobo itself..

I appresiate any help to FIX this motherboard as a learning curve. I have BGA equiptment and testing equiptment but no infrared camera for heat sensing.

Aqib

hello. I had worked also on M1530 laptops to and not much sucess with them. try check this:
TPS51120 - Synchronous Buck Controller (charge controller) and check if this IC gets HOT as soon as power is inserted.

From looking at the datasheet, it seems that this IC is is responsible for charging the battery and switching to AC when charged.

My first few tests had me checking the surrounding caps - 1 short
I removed the shorted Cap and still have a short across the pads which to me indicates the IC is damaged - hence the heating up

The constant switching of the power supply (Charger making contact, then breaking) over a space of time slowly burns out these controllers until either the battery refuses to charge, or the laptop refuses to power up.

I also recommend look at the maxim chip. They have a long history of problems on this particular laptop.

 

[BradtheRad]

1.

Try disconnecting all peripherals. Try removing nonessential cards, etc. Anything that might draw power away from the main board.

2.

Even if the computer is off, does the light come on that shows external power is coming in? Does the charging light come on?

3.

With a magnifier I noticed the problem was a small crak in the solder on L31 component. Its hard to see by eye, like a hair line. This component is near the connector where the ac charger connects. After resolder this component i solved the power problem.

This seems to be a common problem with laptops. It may be the case with the OP.

The power jack is a prime location for stress. The jack itself is sturdy. However pushing and pulling on the power plug can cause the board to bend. Cracks easily develop in traces and solder joints.

The power jack really ought to be attached to the enclosure rather than the motherboard. I'm convinced the manufacturers put the power jack on the motherboard to make it easy on themselves.

If the problem is tracked down to be in that area, there may be a local laptop repairman on Ebay who lists the service as 'laptop power jack fix' for under $100.

4.

To cool off components, there are spray cans containing a chilling liquid, to aid in troubleshooting.

To see if an overheating problem can be made to repeat, or repeat without waiting forever, try a hot air blower.

 

[aqibi2000]

First of all i have to say thank you to both of you for your fast response. Being my first time here, hence it certainly will not be my last!

@BradtheRad This may sound a little funny, but I am the local guy who fixes Laptops and Games consoles for a living. I working within a HP Company repairing insurance laptops for customers. On the side I do my own repairing, not essentially for the financial gains but more due to wanting to learn more with electronics.

- I have undertaken all the primary steps to debug a fault - removing unneeded PCI cards etc.... I was going to consider reballing the GPU but held back after reading this forum as the M1330 is very similar to the M1530.


@mello2011 - The power is instantly cut within a millisecond of plugging in the power lead, the LED on the PSU goes out immediately, no power lights light on the motherboard at all (not even the battery charging light if battery is plugged into the Mo'bo.)
. I have tested the PSU to 18.5V it works fine with other dells. I do believe it is a CAP that is shorting but uable to identify. Please can you assist me further
The mentioned "TPS51120" cannot even get hot because the fuse in the Dell PSU kicks in within 0.1seconds so I don't get a chance to test it. Please can you tell me which CAPS to look for and an approximation as to where they are located..?

Thank you for all your help and time. I appreciate this genuinely

Regards Aqib


.............................EDIT.................................................................................................................................................
PS - I have tested the I/O power board disconnected from the motherboard itself and it does not kill the PSU LED. but when attached back to the motherboard the PSU automatically trips. Hence have to unplug the PSU from the mains and then it resets' again.

 

[mello2011]

I am a beginner in repairing motherboards. I fixed last week a M1330 and it works amazing now as mentioned before. Now i have a M1530 that don't show any lights, no leds, no fan. The motherboard looks like was barely used, fan was clean, no lint, thermal stuff like new. i left bga problem aside on this one at first and decided look for bad caps or something else. I noticed when I connected the ac power or battery power, the chip TPS51120 gets very hot. With a multimeter I see juice flowing what makes me think i don't have a bad solder or power jack problem. I did some research and some other users said this chip TPS51120 can fail sometimes and others also said the maxim chip could be a culprit. I had no time to investigate further yet. In your case the led light comes for at least for a fraction of a second. Mine was nothing. I had steady light in my brick dell charger. That's it.



@mello2011 - The power is instantly cut within a millisecond of plugging in the power lead, the LED on the PSU goes out immediately, no power lights light on the motherboard at all (not even the battery charging light if battery is plugged into the Mo'bo.)
. I have tested the PSU to 18.5V it works fine with other dells. I do believe it is a CAP that is shorting but uable to identify. Please can you assist me further
The mentioned "TPS51120" cannot even get hot because the fuse in the Dell PSU kicks in within 0.1seconds so I don't get a chance to test it. Please can you tell me which CAPS to look for and an approximation as to where they are located..?

Thank you for all your help and time. I appreciate this genuinely

Regards Aqib


.............................EDIT.................................................................................................................................................
PS - I have tested the I/O power board disconnected from the motherboard itself and it does not kill the PSU LED. but when attached back to the motherboard the PSU automatically trips. Hence have to unplug the PSU from the mains and then it resets' again.[/QUOTE]

 

[aqibi2000]

Just a quick note
The light I am constantly referring this to this is the dell psu power brick (the charger)
No lights on the motherboard itself just to be coherent.


Thanks in advance

 

[mello2011]

Just a quick note
The light I am constantly referring this to this is the dell psu power brick (the charger)
No lights on the motherboard itself just to be coherent.


Thanks in advance

I believe there is a short somewhere in your board. Sometimes its very hard to find where it is because the MB has multilayers. it could be anywhere. If the board has previous signs of repairs, look with a magnifier for excess of solder shorting it, with good luck maybe you can find where. I tried reflow a board like this and no sucess.
I recommend see other threads. Hopefully someone with a similar problem posted a solution he tried.

 

[aqibi2000]

There have been no previous repairs as it
I know it's previous owner. I cannot find any inclination as to what is shorting the board
- this is the similar thread that's why I posted here.

 

[jrmurphy77]

I have a xps m1330 with silly problems. I found solution and I thought I would share it with some folks out there. My problem was connecting the laptop on ac power, I had no lights, no signs of life, no boot, nothing. If try boot it from a charged battery, the laptop boots right up but can't find a hard drive.

I took the laptop a part and ac port was fine with all solder solid and good. With a magnifier I noticed the problem was a small crak in the solder on L31 component. Its hard to see by eye, like a hair line. This component is near the connector where the ac charger connects. After resolder this component i solved the power problem. The second problem with the hard drive not being recognized, i found a bad capacitor near ram memory connectors. It was visible burned /corroded. The capacitor number responsible for this problem was C530. Just thought I'd share

Awesome thanks! I found this post while researching for common issues to this problem before I started getting into the board level diagnostics. My M1330 had no AC power when plugged in so no battery charging, and once it finally gave up it would power on with whatever little battery was left and then shut down shortly after POST. Tried the quick and dirty replace easy components such as the battery and the charge/ USB board and was about ready to replace the AC socket itself (even though it looked like power was there at least to the socket's solder joins) when I came across this post.

This point (under L31) seems to be the point where most of the flexing from the AC socket stresses the board. My L31 also had this ***** (broken solder joint)and after resoldering this point and plugging in the power, the blue light on the mobo (AC connect) came on (it didn't before). All good now, battery charging AC power recognized etc.

Hats off to mello2011 for doing the legwork! Thanks!