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Repairing / Diagnosing A Toshiba Satellite C55
steven123
Posts: 3,245 Forum Member
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A friend has given me a Toshiba Satellite C55-A-184 laptop (part no: PSCG6E-06F001EN) to try to repair for them. The problem is there is no sign of life from it whatsoever either on the battery or on the mains. Nothing on screen, no audible signs of life, no fan, no hdd sounds, none of the lights on the laptop light, not even the basic power light so I cannot even confirm if the AC adapter is working (it doesn't have a light on the brick part like they usually do). As it is out of warranty they said I can do what I like to it, including taking it apart, though I have little experience with the innards of laptops (though I have built and repaired several desktops so not a total novice either).
So basically, is there anything I can do to get a better idea of what has gone wrong with the laptop and maybe get it working again? If I was to open it up, is there anything I can check that is likely to cause this kind of problem?
So basically, is there anything I can do to get a better idea of what has gone wrong with the laptop and maybe get it working again? If I was to open it up, is there anything I can check that is likely to cause this kind of problem?
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So might be possible to swap one out assuming you can find the necessary replacement part. Looks to be a case of popping out the socket and disconnecting the wires from the PCB they run to so may not even involve any soldering!
Ah, I don't actually have a multimeter, guess I should get one. I see they seem to start at a few pounds, would a cheapie like this one do the trick? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-LCD-digital-multimeter-voltmeter-voltage-tester-ammeter-for-accurate-testing-/181699898858?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a4e286dea
I don't want to shell out a lot as I haven't discussed a fee with the owner and I normally do basic maintenance for them for free so I don't want to end up too far out of pocket in case they are expecting it as a favour...
While I wait for the multimeter would it be worth opening the case to check around the DC input for anything obviously amiss?
1. Disconnect laptop from power cord
2. Take out battery
3. Hold power button down for 30 seconds. Then release.
4. Put battery back
5. Connect to power cord
6. Any lights on? Press power button to test if it works.
If that doesn't work you could try it again.
The history of the laptop and how it came not to work will basically tell you the fault.
A) If it suddenly stopped working while in use then you have some kind of fault on the main board relating to power. Not economic to fix.
C) A faulty DC jack plug will be the same as (B)
The PSU might still be working a bit but not enough to properly power the machine. However I would expect the "charging" light on the laptop would still illuminate. It's hard to say.
So some background info will be helpful
a cheapie one should be fine, its one of those things that once you have one you can do all sorts of things with it, it won't be able to tell you if the brick can provide enough grunt but if theres zero power at the connector then its probably a good place to start.
no harm in opening up the case and having a look, but be aware that once you open the case up the person could then start saying that you broke it more etc and expect you to fix it no matter what the cost and things can get ugly, also get them to order the parts required as i've had people who always believe that they can source it cheaper so just give them the part numbers and let them get on with it
I tried the steps suggested but they didn't make any difference, still no sign of life at all.
I have now got the multimeter and tested the AC adapter, it seems to be ok and is outputting the correct 19v the laptop needs.
I have followed a disassembly video on youtube and taken the laptop apart. I am now wondering if it could be the DC input on the laptop itself but was wondering how you would actually diagnose this? I have taken it out of the laptop body to examine but I can't see anything obviously wrong with it, no cracks that I can detect, it seems to make good contact with the ac adapter. There are videos on youtube for swapping in a new dc socket but none seem to deal with actually determining if that is the problem in the first place!
Would it be ok to connect it to the laptop AC adapter with the case off? so I can try moving the dc input jack a bit in case it is a lose connection on the jack, I don't mean actually attempting to boot it, just switch it on at the wall socket to see if the power light comes on at any point?
Also if I could do this, can the power light come on without the battery in or is it essential to have the battery installed for the power light to light?
Regarding how it happened the owner said that they had to leave the room suddenly and left it with a toddler who they suspect might have stood on it or kicked it or similar
I had a quick look online and it seems the Toshiba C55 DC jack is on a flying lead which plugs into the main board.
So you set the meter to a range that allows continuity checks. Might be simply 'Resistance' or there might be a "beeping" range you can use. A good connection will show 0 (zero) resistance on the meter (in fact not quite but that's fine)
Using your three arms, hold the DC jack socket and touch one probe to the centre pin and the other probe to the outside of the socket where the pin is fixed to the wire. Repeat with all the other shiny brass bits on the jack socket.
Maybe you can leave the jack socket in place in the laptop while you do this, it'll be easier.
I would NOT plug in the power while the laptop is partially disassembled, too easy to damage when there is power going into it. And it won't gain you anything so no point.
I was not able to do the continuity tests as I wasn't sure which settings to use on the multimeter (there are about 2 or 3 different resistance ones (think it was 200, 2000 and another one) or where exactly to touch the jack. Obviously the inner pin but does the other probe go on the silver outside body?
However, I don't think I need to anymore as I was able to check the voltage going into the board where the flylead connects from the DC jack and it is getting the full 19 volts on both sets of positive and negative cables so the power is fine up to that point.
Does this mean it is likely something on the motherboard? I have a feeling that probably won't be a easy nor cheap fix?
Is there anything else worth me trying? (that would be cheap and easy to fix if it had broke). If not I think I'll just put it back together and give them it back. They mentioned they saw a used one they liked the look of so might just recommend they get that....
Yes, I've tried both with and without the battery and it makes no difference.
Chances are that once the 19V hits the main circuit board it goes into several voltage regulator stages that produce the voltages needed by the CPU, RAM, hard drive etc (which will not be 19V).
It is possible that one of these stages has failed but unless there are test points marked on the circuit board where you can measure these voltages it could be impossible to work out how to measure them. Especially if they are not working!
If you can get at the contacts for a USB port then the outer two should be 5V which might be something you can test.