I have a 15 inch Toshiba Laptop. Was bought 4 yrs ago but only taken out of package and used 4 months ago. Hardly any data in it. so close to being new. Suddenly it switched off and went dead. No power going into the unit. No lights. nothing. Battery fully charged. No warranty now. Before I take it for repair, can anyone tell me what could be the fault. Could it be a minor fault or a major fault. I know it has to be opened and inspected. Maybe someone went through this and could explain what was replaced. Thanks. Bill.
How do you know that? Have you tested the power adaptor? Get a new power adaptor, or borrow one if you can. Thats the easiest/cheapest thing to check. Again, how do you know that? If the adaptor is knackered then it would not be charging the battery either.
Hi . Thanks for Reply Forget to say that I'm an electrical Engineer (Retired) I also have a similar Toshiba model. If I had the proper testing meters I would open it and test the sections. No fault with the Adaptors & batteries Was just hoping someone had the same problem.
If the notebook was stuck in storage for 4 years, it is likely the battery is fully discharged, if not bad. It is also likely the RTC (real time clock) battery is fully discharged too. I note on my Toshiba, as per the manual, the battery charge indicator remains unlit when the battery is fully discharged. And it says charging will not begin immediately if completely discharged, and to leave it connected for a few minutes. Have you tried to charge it leaving it connected to the charger for several hours? I would try the notebook with the battery removed first and see if it comes on. If your similar Toshiba has the exact same charger (at least the same output voltage, connector, and importantly, connector polarity), you can try that too. Other wise, a different charger would be good to test with. I use and recommend a Automatic Universal 90W Notebook Power Adapter. I use this on service calls and when troubleshooting notebooks. You select the proper tip (out of 13 provided) and it automatically adjusts its output voltage for the battery or notebook it encounters. Thus far, I have had no problems using it on my own Toshiba, as well as several client's Dells, HP/Compaq, eMachine, Sony, Lenova, Acer, and even Apple notebooks.
Thanks for reply It seems you are not reading exactly what I said.I told you I have an identical Toshiba laptop, Same model, same everything. Of course I swapped the batteries and the charger. The fault is inside the laptop. Next week, I'll take it to get it fixed and I'll tell you what was done to get it working. Thanks
Ummm. No sir. You did not. It seems you are not reading exactly what YOU said. You said you have a "similar" Toshiba model. You did NOT say "identical", "same model" or "same everything". When it comes to computers, especially notebooks which tend to be very proprietary, there is a big difference between "similar" and "identical". And how are we supposed to know that unless you tell us? So only now do we learn you have an identical notebook and you have not only tried a different charger, but also a different battery too. Since we are not mind readers, we don't know exactly what hardware you have, or your level of expertise, that is information that is essential to know from the start if we are expected to give sound, and pertinent advice! If not provided in your first post, then we should have been told that in your second post after nukecad suggested you try a second charger. As advisors, we just cannot assume posters have the necessary level of expertise, or that they have tried all the obvious options, unless that information is established in advance. For example, now you say you swapped batteries and the charger. But we still cannot assume we fully understand what that fully means. For example, Did you put the good, fully charged battery from the working notebook into this broken notebook and it did not boot? Did you try the known-good charger without a battery on the dead notebook and it still did not work? And did you try the charger and battery from this dead notebook on your working notebook to verify they are both working fine and it is only the dead notebook that is bad? And with all due respect, being a EE and understanding "theory" does not imply you have a thorough understanding of "applied" electronics - especially since we have no clue what area of electronics you spent your career in or how current in the advances in high-speed digital electronics you've maintained your level of knowledge. As noted by the link in my signature, as a certified electronics technician, I know my way around electronics too. But that does not suggest I know how all electronics work. Just staying current is almost a full time job. Please do keep us posted. It would be good to learn what the problem is. Since neither your fully charged "identical" battery nor the "identical" second charger bring this never-used notebook to life then it would appear this notebook was DOA from the factory (assuming the notebook was stored properly all this time). Not good since the warranty has long expired. Hopefully, the totally discharged battery was trying to draw too much current and it is just a blown fusible link.
