[Sarcasm8]

I have a Dell Latitutde D510 laptop. I plug it in every night when I get home so it runs on AC power and charges the battery. It is no longer registering that it is plugged in, so the battery is not charging.

I know it is not the AC adapter, because I plugged it into my wife's laptop and it switched to AC power and started charging her laptop's battery right away.

Any thoughts on how I might remedy this on my own? I run a small business and being away from my laptop for several days secerely cripples me.

Thanks.

 

[schusterjo]

Will your wife's battery fit into your laptop? If so try to see if it will charge in yours. If so we know its a bad battery.

 

[Sarcasm8]

I don't think it's a battery issue, because if I take the battery out of my laptop, the laptop dies. If it's plugged in, that shouldn't happen regardless if there is a battery or not. It's just not running on AC power.
I've ruled out the power cord and the battery.

 

[awoolf]

I've ruled out the power cord and the battery.

When the power cord is plugged in the notebook, does the power jack feel loose or "wiggly"? Try pushing it in, lifting up or down, etc and see if it recognizes the power adapter while you hold the plug. If it does (or if you hear any crackling/sparking/arcing noises) you've got a classic case of "bad-power-plug-itis"

If you're very handy with a soldering iron and have a photographic memory (or take excellent notes), you can replace the jack yourself.

If not, Google is your friend - a quick search of "notebook dc power jack replacement" will give you a big list of companies that can replace your jack for a nominal fee. A little over $100 should get you back up and running in short order.

A. Woolf

If this helped you, please take the time to rate the value of this post:
http://rate.affero.net/awoolf/

 

[schusterjo]

I don't recommend working on it yourself, not knowing what you are doing you can easily damage the laptop, take it to a certified tech.

 

[TRS-80 vet]

I agree with sarc - that it's not a battery issue. I vote for a loose/broken connection at the power plug, since the icon for A/C isn't registering.

Plug your battery into her machine, and watch it charge (and confirm the loose/broken connection)...

 

[JohnWill]

I'd be cautions about plugging the P/S in until you're sure it's not a defective jack. This is the result when you get a short at the P/S jack due to it being loose. There's 60-90 watts of power available from that P/S, plenty to do a lot of damage.

 

[Sarcasm8]

The connector is extremely wiggly. I'm guessing that's the issue. Hopefully the warranty will cover it.

Thanks, all. As always, this is my #1 place to go for tech advice. My appreciation to all posters!

 

[gurutech]

You can check for Dell warranty here:

http://support.dell.com/support/top...systems_info/en/details?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd