Laptop won't turn on.

[tim.rose2]

Hi.
I have a laptop I purchased from you a few years ago. The model no. on the back is N141CU. It's worked perfectly until today. Unfortunately it now won't turn on. Pressing the power button (whilst plugged in) results in the green start up button coming on for a second, the keyboard lights flashing and then nothing happens (I.e. it appears to terminate the start up sequence and switch off). The flashing repeats every few seconds as if it keeps trying to start until stopped by pressing and holding the power switch to turn off. Without the power cable in you just a single flash and then it turns off and stays off. Hope that makes sense? The only thing I've noticed of late it that it sometimes doesn't charge when plugged in. Removing and refitting the power cable has always started it recharging so not really caused a problem. Any ideas? Sorry I'm not brilliant with computers so will need guidance. Hopefully nothing too serious. Otherwise I guess I'll be taking it to a repair shop.
Thanks
Tim

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi.
I have a laptop I purchased from you a few years ago. The model no. on the back is N141CU. It's worked perfectly until today. Unfortunately it now won't turn on. Pressing the power button (whilst plugged in) results in the green start up button coming on for a second, the keyboard lights flashing and then nothing happens (I.e. it appears to terminate the start up sequence and switch off). The flashing repeats every few seconds as if it keeps trying to start until stopped by pressing and holding the power switch to turn off. Without the power cable in you just a single flash and then it turns off and stays off. Hope that makes sense? The only thing I've noticed of late it that it sometimes doesn't charge when plugged in. Removing and refitting the power cable has always started it recharging so not really caused a problem. Any ideas? Sorry I'm not brilliant with computers so will need guidance. Hopefully nothing too serious. Otherwise I guess I'll be taking it to a repair shop.
Thanks
Tim

With modern laptops they require a working battery to power on even when plugged into the mains.

The fact that the light comes on briefly then immediately shuts off when on battery, whereas on mains it continually goes through those symptoms could simply point to the battery having died.

The other thing it could be is the charger, perhaps that's no longer working so the device hasn't been receiving a proper charge.

The default warranty is 3 years labour covered. You do have the option of setting an RMA through your online account and returning it to PCS for them to diagnose the issue, that shouldn't incur any charge other than shipping to them.

That way you can get a conclusive diagnosis, and if it does turn out to be something simple like battery or charger, those are simple things to replace.

If it turns out to be something more serious like requiring a new motherboard (very worst case, but a possibility if the charging port has become damaged), then at least you can get a quotation without having to commit to anything, so you know where you stand.

 

[Martinr36]

Warranty on battery is only 6 months, just so you know

7.7	Laptop Batteries come with a maximum 6 month warranty, regardless of which warranty option is purchased.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Warranty on battery is only 6 months, just so you know

7.7	Laptop Batteries come with a maximum 6 month warranty, regardless of which warranty option is purchased.

Parts warranty has likely expired completely unfortunately, unless they chose Gold which so few do.

 

[tim.rose2]

Laptop is 4 years old so definitely out of warranty. It's life, things break and I know it'll cost me a few quid to fix.

I think the charger and battery are fine other than the minor issue mentioned earlier where it sometimes doesn't start charging.

 

[tim.rose2]

I've never tried to open this laptop but if memory serves correctly there is a button battery on the motherboard. I'm wondering if it could be that? Can't remember it's exact purpose other than that being knackered in an old computer of mine resulted in it loosing the date and time every time I shut it down.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I've never tried to open this laptop but if memory serves correctly there is a button battery on the motherboard. I'm wondering if it could be that? Can't remember it's exact purpose other than that being knackered in an old computer of mine resulted in it loosing the date and time every time I shut it down.

If you’ve never opened it, that may well be why it’s failed. They require servicing abiut once a year which means taken the fans and heatsinks off and cleaning them and repastring the cpu and gpu.

If that hasn’t been done it will have been heavily thermal throttling for an extended period of time which generally means cpu/gpu/mother board failure

 

[tim.rose2]

Could well be. Mind you, the last laptop I had worked perfectly for 8 years with no servicing and I'm fairly confident it'll work again when I try to fire it up. Have a feeling I did have to do a fan clean and repaste once in its life. I'll open it up over the weekend and have a play.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Could well be. Mind you, the last laptop I had worked perfectly for 8 years with no servicing and I'm fairly confident it'll work again when I try to fire it up. Have a feeling I did have to do a fan clean and repaste once in its life. I'll open it up over the weekend and have a play.

Was it a performance laptop though? Custom laptops are very different to others in the components and management.

Does your other one have a dGPU?

 

[tim.rose2]

Neither were performance. Just standard pc specialist laptops for general stuff. No separate graphics in either.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Neither were performance. Just standard pc specialist laptops for general stuff. No separate graphics in either.

Apologies, I looked up the model and saw it was a clevo, I had no idea clevo did ultrabooks, so assumed it had a dGPU in there.

You're right, that's a very different kettle of fish then, the servicing is less of an importance in this case.

 

[jaybeecee]

Give PCS a call and get it booked in for an RMA. They can do in-house DC Jack repairs.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Give PCS a call and get it booked in for an RMA. They can do in-house DC Jack repairs.

Have you got evidence of this? Historically they’ve always replaced the main board according to RMA reports

 

[jaybeecee]

They have recently introduced an in-house repair team that can deal with specific board related issues, but the vast amount of RMA reports you have physical access to must say otherwise!

 

[SpyderTracks]

They have recently introduced an in-house repair team that can deal with specific board related issues, but the vast amount of RMA reports you have physical access to must say otherwise!

Do you work for PCS then? So they can do PCB solder repairs of individual components?

 

[jaybeecee]

You'd have to speak to the PCS support team for the specifics - I do know they cannot replace CPUs or GPUs.

 

[SpyderTracks]

You'd have to speak to the PCS support team for the specifics - I do know they cannot replace CPUs or GPUs.

@moosEh @Monarch @JakAttack Could we have some clarify on this, if this is a new service we could do with knowing so we can advise accordingly?

 

[Monarch]

Thank you for raising this! To address this -

For in warranty customers, the manufacturer always comes first and we work with official warranted solutions.
For out of warranty customers we have some more options. Within the last five years, we have been offering to attempt DC Jack repair (de-solder and replacement) for select laptop motherboards where parts and availability allow.

From the beginning of 2024, we also have begun in-house out of warranty board investigations. This is primarily trace and SMD voltage identification. Outcomes that can be offered can vary and will likely be limited by the following; a) we can only attempt PCB repair work if the required part is available (in stock and at market), and b) we do not offer BGA and complex SMD replacements, we do not have re-balling / re-flow stations nor the in-house expertise to look at these avenues. In a number of cases the work completed may look like relevant capacitor replacements or similar.

This does mean that there is a limit to what we can achieve for these out of warranty customers, but gives us an avenue to try and offer every possible lower cost remedy prior to full motherboard replacement which typically is the most costly option. In some circumstances this may also allow us to forecast and inform potential costs to a customer if they choose to have it sent away to manufacturer for paid repair of things that are outside of in-house scope.

Our work is focussed on laptop motherboards, however it is my understanding that if such work came up for desktop parts there may be some circumstance we can attempt it there too. As always, we only work on PCSpecialist parts and purchases.

When a customer engages with us, they do should not need to ask for this sort of work - if this is work that we are capable and available to attempt when the goods are back with us we will make the offer to the customer.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thank you for raising this! To address this -

For in warranty customers, the manufacturer always comes first and we work with official warranted solutions.
For out of warranty customers we have some more options. Within the last five years, we have been offering to attempt DC Jack repair (de-solder and replacement) for select laptop motherboards where parts and availability allow.

From the beginning of 2024, we also have begun in-house out of warranty board investigations. This is primarily trace and SMD voltage identification. Outcomes that can be offered can vary and will likely be limited by the following; a) we can only attempt PCB repair work if the required part is available (in stock and at market), and b) we do not offer BGA and complex SMD replacements, we do not have re-balling / re-flow stations nor the in-house expertise to look at these avenues. In a number of cases the work completed may look like relevant capacitor replacements or similar.

This does mean that there is a limit to what we can achieve for these out of warranty customers, but gives us an avenue to try and offer every possible lower cost remedy prior to full motherboard replacement which typically is the most costly option. In some circumstances this may also allow us to forecast and inform potential costs to a customer if they choose to have it sent away to manufacturer for paid repair of things that are outside of in-house scope.

Our work is focussed on laptop motherboards, however it is my understanding that if such work came up for desktop parts there may be some circumstance we can attempt it there too. As always, we only work on PCSpecialist parts and purchases.

When a customer engages with us, they do should not need to ask for this sort of work - if this is work that we are capable and available to attempt when the goods are back with us we will make the offer to the customer.

That’s definitely worth knowing! Thanks for clarifying