Dell AC adaptor flickering green light and won't charge laptop

I have a Dell Latitude E6400 and recently the charger blinks the green LED and wont charge the laptop. After a while however the laptop charges, and then this may occur again after a couple of hours, seemingly at random.

I tried to use the laptop without the battery and just the charger but it would not work. I also ensured that the charger was very firmly connected. I Googled this and apparently this could be a short circuit on the motherboard even though I have never opened up my laptop. What also seems strange is that sometimes it will charge and sometimes it won't. Will I have to replace the motherboard? Is there any quick fix or is it a deep rooted hardware problem?

NOTE: I'm not sure this is relevant but recently I have been noting that the CPU is being used much more than normal - about 80% when just booted up or loading a new chrome page. Also my laptop makes strange beeping noises randomly when I move my laptop whilst it is still on.

It is most likely to be a short circuit - does this mean the only fix is to open up my laptop (i have no hardware experience)? How would a short circuit occur if I haven't opened up my laptop?

joyalrj22

Posted 2015-01-23T18:49:02.707

Reputation: 3

My practical experience of this is not from computer technology, but from in-store advertising screens [my day-job], so ymmv, but a flashing PSU light is a sure sign in my field that the device [in your case your computer] itself is the source of the problem, not the PSU [I have a van full of spares so this is a really easy test for me]. I don't know the fix, because in those cases I just swap out for a new screen & send the bad one to the service dept for them to fix. Short-circuit would be a good guess, for starters. – Tetsujin – 2015-01-23T19:20:29.140

re: your edit - they put stuff really close together in a lappy. If it's not all perfectly aligned & fastened down tight, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that something is touching where it shouldn't occasionally. Some machines you can short out by leaning a bit hard on the trackpad. – Tetsujin – 2015-01-23T19:28:41.760

@Tetsujin is this bad for the machine if it occurs regularly? – joyalrj22 – 2015-01-23T19:31:33.020

It's not good - how well it survives is in the 'laptop of the $DEITY' ;-) but seriously, I'd get it looked at professionally, if you don't feel confident to take it apart yourself. – Tetsujin – 2015-01-23T19:33:46.587

Answers

There are two Green LED charger indicators; one on the charger itself, and one on the laptop indicating a charger is connected.

The one on the charger should be on solid as long as it is plugged in and receiving power. If that LED is blinking when it is plugged in, it means the charger is defective. Replace or borrow another to confirm.

If the charger indicator LED on the laptop is blinking (while the charger LED itself is on and plugged into the laptop properly) then most likely the power jack is bad. This happens when the charger plug repeatedly flexes the laptop's power jack during normal use - like bumping or pushing the charger plug against the laptop. The laptop power jack is relatively inexpensive (like $3) but depending on the laptop, takes significant labor to access and replace (like 30 minutes for the occasional hacker).

It is possible, but less likely to be a motherboard issue - where a section of it controls the power logic, deciding whether to get the power from the battery or charger input.

jdh

Posted 2015-01-23T18:49:02.707

Reputation: 6 645

-1

Just easy Firstly unplug battery ,powercord cable Than open back cover unplug CMOS battery , RAM Wait about 5 min for sure .... Than plug back RAM than power AC in LTP will back to normal .... Tested on ACER 5573

Wong

Posted 2015-01-23T18:49:02.707

Reputation: 1

Please read the question again carefully. Your answer does not answer the original question. Dell != Acer – DavidPostill – 2016-12-22T14:28:58.820