My MS-1719 is Melting! (Literally).

So I've had this laptop for two years and a month now. No major problems of any kind in that time. I've upgraded the 250GB HD to a 500GB and added a 2GB stick of RAM. The last upgrade was made around September of '09.#

Just recently, though, I've been having a major, major issue. I thought it was relatively simple: the power jack was loose. Sometimes I'd be using the computer for a while, and all of a sudden it would tell me I was down to 7% battery. After jiggling the power cable in the back a bit, it would start charging, but often would keep slipping on and off battery power unless I held the cable in firmly.

But the bad part came yesterday. I had smelt burning for a couple hours, but assumed it was some idiot person I share an apartment with trying to cook. Then I got the low battery message again, but when I went to reseat the jack, I burned my finger. I promptly shut the laptop down, and flipped it over, only to find that the bottom of the chassis around the power and ethernet jacks was bubbled and melty. A hole had nearly appeared directly below the power jack.

This was clearly a bad, bad thing. I have exams and a dissertation coming up, so if this baby quits now I'm quite screwed. In the light of day, I couldn't see anything physically wrong with the power cable, the adapter, the plug, or the computer-end receptacle (except the melting, of course). So while shut off, I tried to charge the computer again. I had a solid green light for a few minutes, and then it started pulsing wildly and I could hear a clicking from the computer. It stopped when I pulled the battery.

To see if it was the power source itself, I tried a couple different outlets on different circuits in my room, and then a few more on campus (I don't live in dorm housing). Same result; pulsing green light, clicking, and the most recent time I could start to smell the burning within a couple minutes.

That leaves these possibilities: the power cord/adapter, the physical jack on the computer, or the battery. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm about to be boned.

 

Also, I just managed to take some pictures of the area around the power jack. Here are thumbnails (click for full size):

 

You probably should have resoldered as soon as the problem first appearred.

 

Agreed, be careful with that man, somethings not right (Probably that two pieces of metal that are foreign are inconvieniently touching.

 

Ok, here's a question: anyone know of a dissassembly guide for this sucker? I'm trying to get in and look around, but the exact spot is blocked by a plastic barrier so far.

 

There's a 1722 disassembly guide , I know that's irrelevant .. but who knows there might be some tips in it. You want to have a look ?

 

So the laptop does still work you just don't run if for more than a couple of minutes?

 

Hello Grahamdubya,
I'll explain your problem here. You problem is due to bad soldering that appears in time of usage of electrical equipment. (Working in factory that makes PCBs helped me a lot ) What happened is that there is a gap inside (usually one of) soldered pins of the connector, in size of some micrometers (not visible for unarmed eye). So when you connect the power the current that is needed for your laptop to work is prevented to flow equally through soldered area. Small sparks appears, which in time degrades the soldered area. This sparks also are the reason to hear strange sounds from it and to heat the connector itself. After the connector is heated it heats all the surrounding parts near it and you can see the result.
What you have to do is to buy new connector for you laptop and resolder it. The bad news is that this is pain in the a**, because you need to take out the motherboard itself. Good luck.

 

+1

Or you could buy another motherboard

As for the chassis, try to find one on ebay ... should be no more the $30 bucks

 

So I've obviously been a long time in responding to this thread; thank you all for your suggestions.

I eventually took the laptop into a repair shop in London, and after almost a week of their tinkering with it, was finally called and told that they were unable to fix it.

...Sort of. They did repair the original problem - while plugged in, the green charge light held steady, no burning smells, no heating up around the power jack. But it came back with a new problem: it wouldn't start up. When I pressed the power button, it glowed blue (as normal) for about 5 seconds, then just shut off again.

In case you're wondering, they didn't charge me for the 'repair', but now I'm in the same situation as before. I assume a new motherboard would fix it, but I'm not so sure that it's worth it at this point. Anyways, back to the drawing board, I guess. Thanks again for the help.

 

Hmm, there's a possibility that the heat might have damaged your motherboard. Or the guys at the repair shop royally screwed something up..

Either way, if you have school work, I'd say to have a friend lend you a computer or buy a cheap netbook for the time being. You can put your old hard drive in the laptop or in an enclosure if there are vital files on it.

 

Hello Grahamdubya;
I have had a customer with the same issue with the same model MSI notebook, the melting and all.
This is whats going on;
The power jack is set on an independent board not attached to the motherboard. As another member previously stated, the solder on the plug wears and causes a short circuit on the board, after a while, that board overloads and short circuits causing damage to the power board (The power board is rectangular and has the RJ6 (modem), RJ45 (network/LAN), and the power jack on it). The cheapest solution if you do want to fix it is get a new power board, however, after it goes dead, it is not a guarantee that the unit would work because there might be possible damage to the motherboard itself, at which point, you are looking to spend most likely over $200 for repairs on this thing.
Hope that information was helpful.

 

check my thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/msi/501561-question-about-gx740-640-a.html is it the same problem?

thanks