Hi All,

Something weird is going on with my laptop for the past few days and it doesn't make sense to me. I have to remove the cover every time I want to charge it. Can anybody explain what's happening to me?

A few days ago my laptop wasn't charging so I checked the charger with my voltmeter, it read 0V. I disconnected the power supply from the cable to check the voltage coming from the plug, it read 240V. I plugged it in again and double checked the charger because maybe it just wasn't plugged in properly, it read 19V so I thought my problem was solved. But my laptop still wasn't charging so I checked the charger again, it read 0V! I went through the whole procedure again and the exact same thing happened so I concluded that my laptop is creating a short circuit in the power supply.

I opened my laptop to check the charging port for continuity, it was okay. The cable running from the charging port to the motherboard was a bit squashed, but I was getting the correct readings on my meter so it was okay. Also, the cable was put in that position by the factory - it's only a few months old and it's the first time I opened it - so it's okay. I plugged my laptop in again, it was still upside down and I was still expecting the worst because I didn't really do anything but it started to charge. I closed it without the screws because I didn't want to remove 15 screws again if it stopped charging after I turned it over. I used it like that until it was fully charged and ran it on battery power for the rest of the day but it died when I picked it up so I assumed that the battery was loose.

I opened it again to check the battery and everything seemed okay so I closed it again but I put a few screws in this time because maybe the loose cover allowed the battery to move when I picked it up. I switched it on again and this time it stayed on when I picked it up so the screws fixed that problem. Later that evening, I needed to charge it but it wasn't charging anymore. I went through the whole process of checking the charger and opening the laptop again, and it worked.

Now I have to remove my laptop's cover every time I want to charge it. Why?

Regards,

Update

I discovered that the cover presses against a little switch next to the battery reset button. Does anybody know what that switch does?

Perhaps knowing the make/model of laptop may help? Most of them publish a technician guide or similar that may have your answer and/or give you an idea of the cause

Hi venome,

It's an Acer Aspire 1 A114-31. I searched all over the Internet for a technical manual or at least a labelled diagram of the motherboard. I only found the User's Guide.

Regards,