Dell and strange battery

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Hi,

My friend has Dell Lattitude Cpi 266MHz. The problem is that battery is seen
by the system only with the keyboard and top cover removed and during
pressing area over the cpu module. When I reseat all parts and srews,
battery is not seen by system. When I dismount the laptop and press some
places on the cpu module, battery is seen by the system again. When I set
hole think together, battery stops working - round Robin. Battery module is
good - tested in other machine. Any suggestions?

Greetings,
Juzek72

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Quaoar wrote:
> "juzek72" <juzek72@poczta.fm> wrote in message
> news:cgus1n$3g9$1@nemesis.news.tpi.pl...
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>My friend has Dell Lattitude Cpi 266MHz. The problem is that battery
>>is seen
>>by the system only with the keyboard and top cover removed and during
>>pressing area over the cpu module. When I reseat all parts and srews,
>>battery is not seen by system. When I dismount the laptop and press
>>some
>>places on the cpu module, battery is seen by the system again. When I
>>set
>>hole think together, battery stops working - round Robin. Battery
>>module is
>>good - tested in other machine. Any suggestions?
>>
>>Greetings,
>>Juzek72
>>
>>
>
>
> Cracked mainboard or fractured circuit traces, loose battery connector,
> etc., somewhere on the board, probably near the battery itself. You
> might need a magnifier/jeweler's loupe to see it.
>
> Q
>
>

Sometimes, you can't see the fracture no matter what you do.
Use a voltmeter or ohmmeter to trace the power runs. Feedthru holes
are a good place to look.

I've heard reports that there's a screw in the middle of the case that
gets missing or loose causing this symptom, but you've already tried that.

look for corrosion on the battery connector in the laptop. May not be
able to see it, but those fiberglass cleaning brushes work wonders.

also possible that there's a fractured bond wire inside one of the
control FETS that's pressure sensitive. That's gonna be hard to find
unless you can figure out a way to operate the laptop with all the
boards exposed.
mike

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