Power Problem on PowerBook

[tromba]

I asked this question on Apple's forum and after a week had no response. Maybe someone here can help...

My daughter has a 12" 1GHZ powerbook and it just stopped charging. It runs fine (about an hour of battery life left) and when she tried a friend's charger that didn't work either. Orange light that indicates battery charging does not come on. Battery is fairly new and good.

From some reading I've done, it might be the DC-DC board (which I think is located under the touchpad) or the DC IN connector/cable to the DC-DC board. How do I tell which it is? (or if it's something else altogether....)

 

[tromba]

If its still under Warenty then take it back to the store for them to either fix or replace it. Not much else you can do.

Therein lies the problem. Out of warranty, and the local "Apple" dealer (COMPUSA) charges $170 just to look at it.

I can buy BOTH of those parts for that price. My wife and I took apart a friends Compaq laptop that stopped charging and tried to re-solder the connector (but that didn't solve the problem). I think we could do the repair if we knew which part was the problem....

 

[JimmehBeam]

you could get one of these my boss has one because he has more than one battery but it will charge the battery outside of the unit

http://www.newertech.com/products/products_conditioner.php

 

[NoUzrID]

There's a simple and cheap solution you might try before spending a lot of money. And that solution is...
1) Unplug the power supply from the wall and let it power down.
2) Unplug it from the laptop.
3) Remove the battery from the laptop.
4) Holding the power supply cord(the end that plugs into the laptop) look inside the plug and you should see 2 small metal strips. Take a small screw driver and "Gently" pry them up, take care not to over do it as they have to go back over the pin inside the power port.
5) Take the laptop and look down inside the power port and you should see more small metal strips. Using the same screw driver "Gently" pry these metal strips up just enough to raise them just a hair.
6) If possible purchase a can of "CRC" QD Electronic Cleaner.
7) Spray the Power Plug the port and the connections on the battery and the laptop with the cleaner. Note: The cleaner has a very high evaportation rate and leaves no residue, so there's no waiting for it to dry. Well maybe for 20 or 30 seconds.

I was having the same problem. I to thought it was the joint. After talking to a few people that do these kind of repairs and hearing their prices I decided to try an alternate route before dropping that kind of cash. At the time of this post, mine has not given me any more problems. Most people don't realize that over time residue builds up on these contacts and restricts or stops the power flow.