You have what's called an intermittent defect, causes, of this
type can be very hard to troubleshoot, mainly because, like you said
sometimes power, and sometimes not... Before you do anything,
Unplug the power cord from the wall!
You will need to,
"crack the case",
looking from, (front to back), it will be the left panel you take off
, exposing the "
inner working" or the "
guts"
of the computer. To do this; look at the side panel, you will see
anywhere from one to three screws holding the panel in place. Tools
needed are; small to medium size screwdriver.
The first place to look for problems is where the wires from your
power supply plug in to the motherboard.
A. could have bad solder joints.
B. bad/loose connection.
C. dirty prongs in the plastic plug.
Make sure you unplug the power cord at the wall!
Disconnect the power cable by placing your thumb along the left
(long side), of the plastic plug, you should feel the plastic tab,
close to the bottom and next to the board. Using your middle finger
on the other side (remember long side), again notice the tab,
squeeze, thumb and middle finger together, moving slightly, "wiggle"
as you pull, and the cable will come loose from the motherboard.
Using a magnifying glass and a scratch awl, inspect the (female),
end. By applying some pressure at each solder joint, if it has a bad
joint you may see some movement in the plug.
Next, if you have a air compressor blowing air into the male end,
(t
he plug end you just removed), and the female end, should
clean any dirt material in the plug. Make sure when reconnecting the
plug you push down completely, you should be able to feel the tabs
move as they lock in. The plug is now locked in place,
I wouldn't replace the panel just yet. Turn on the computer,
What's happening? If the problem is solved, you are finished and can
replace the panel. But, if you are experiencing the same troubles,
follow my next suggestion. The next place to start your
troubleshooting is at the power supply. For this you will have to
remove the power box from your computer. (4) Four screws hold the
power supply box in place, and are located on the back panel of your
computer, To locate the screws look where you plug the cord that goes
to the wall receptacle , you will see an air vent and the four screws
that form a rectangle, to remove them you will need a small to medium
size phillips screwdriver. You have to remove the cover, after
inspection of the soldered joints, and find nothing wrong replace the
cover and put the power supply box back in the computer vitrine
I think at this point, if you were unsuccessful at finding the
problem it's time to take your machine in and let the professionals
find the troubles.
