Solved! Absolutely no power to HP Pavilion

[jellington90]

So my girlfriend's laptop stopped turning on one day. She owns a HP Pavilion DV4.

The computer will not POST at all. I get nothing from it (no video, no audio, it's like a brick) when I hit the power button. Because of this, I figured it was the power supply, so I bought a new power supply and still the same result.

Knowing that it is likely not the power supply, my next guess would be the DC jack. Would this be the most likely issue? I can't see why it would be an issue with any other piece of hardware.

Also, it wasn't dropped prior to it stopping working. She says that it was unlikely that the cord got bumped or jerked a lot while charging during her ownership (however the computer is ~ 3 years old).

 

[ntcosa]

it can either be that the battery is dead, and isn't charging or converting power.. or that the jack is screwed up.. if its the power port, then the entire PC board needs to be replaced unless u can find the jack where its messed up and solder it yourself

 

[jsc]

Open up the laptop (not a trivial process) and inspect the area around the power connector. Something that is easily repairable may have separated from the PCB. Otherwise use google to find a replacement power jack.

 

[jellington90]

I took it apart, and found that the DC jack itself is not soldered to the board, it uses a connector. I found the voltage provided by the power supply and the voltage at the connector (the connector that plugs into the board from the DC jack) were the same. This leads me to believe that the power jack is fine (?). I also didn't notice any signs of damage (not that I'm very experienced in this kind of thing...).

 

[christop]

You might need a new motherboard for your laptop. I have heard bad things about the dv series some loose wifi after a while other gpu then the whole thing dies cause is heat and poor design. I would google you exact model and see if others have had the same problems. I just worked on a dv 6436nr and the customers wifi just stopped showing up. I search the net for the problem and this has happened to allot of people. The board is frying itself. Good luck

 

[jellington90]

Yeah, I was hoping to not have to replace the system board. I can't see anything wrong with the power jack though, and I'm not experienced enough to find shorts or fried components.

 

[jellington90]

So I ended up buying another DC jack anyway, so I'll let you guys know if it works. I doubt it though, the old one seemed fine (except for the LED on it won't light up...). I'm just hoping there isn't a short on the board or something.

 

[rescuein]

So I ended up buying another DC jack anyway, so I'll let you guys know if it works. I doubt it though, the old one seemed fine (except for the LED on it won't light up...). I'm just hoping there isn't a short on the board or something.

did it work? please let me know.

 

[jellington90]

did it work? please let me know.

Replacing the DC jack had no noticeable effect.