I have a Dell Latitude D610 that I was working on for a friend. When I plug the adapter in the wall the led is on. When I plug into the computer the led on adapter goes off. I have no power to computer. What could be the problem? It's a brand new adapter. I am assuming its a short somewhere. How would I troubleshoot? Thanks for your help.

This sounds like a case of something causing the laptop to draw too much power for the adapter, or causing a fault in it. I am going to assume at this point the laptop doesn't power off battery alone or the battery is charged.

I would recommend first removing the battery and trying to power it on without the battery. When an adapter is trying to charge battery and power laptop both it draws alot more power and this could be the problem if the adapter is weak it fails then.

Second while you have the battery removed inspect it for signs of heat stress or discoloration. Most people don't consider this but if a cell ruptures or shorts inside the battery case it can show these effects, and cause substantial power draw and cook an adapter and sometimes the laptop too.

Third if these don't give indications of the problem, remove the hard drive then try powering system on with hard drive remved. As you do this try and put slight (not too hard) pressure on the jack with the adapterand shift it's position trying to turn it on at the same time. This may show you if you have a bad DC jack, this model I believe has either 5 or 7 legs to the DC jack which can be the source of problems like this if there is a cracked solder joint.

Finally, reinstall your battery and hard drive then with power reconnected feel down the length of the power cables on the adapter for any hot ares, if there is a pinched or shorted wire you may feel a hot area on the cord.

The adapter is new. The LED going out when plugged in indicates a short. I did try removing the hard drive and the battery and still get the same results. I also tried applying the pressure on the jack but no luck.

This may seem like a dumb thing to ask, but it may be worth verifying that the adapter meets the power requirements of that Laptop, if I remember correctly the 610 is a model that requires a 90W adapter make certain you don't have a 60W or 65W adapter.

If this is the correct adapter and you didn't end up with a bad one out of the box then the problem likely lies on the board in terms of power distribution and switching or in the DC jack.

Incidently the removal of the HD during the testing with the DC jack was for the purpose of not sending short voltage surges into the drive any more than needed if the DC jack was failing and you were wiggling it during power on.

The adapter is a universal one (targus) and it does list the Dell model. I'm not sure waht the power rating is. The laptop belongs to someone else and they had told me a tech was working on the computer with the same results on the original adapter and he tol;d them they needed an adapter.

There is a chance that it could still be the adapter then depending on it's rating, if it isn't then you are looking at something within the power distribution / regulating system which generally means taking the laptop apart to see if it is the DC jack or something which has come loose that you can reseat otherwise you are basically considering a MB replacement which I don't know would be worth the money for this laptop.

hi,
is there anyone who can help me to sort out more or less same problem i m having with my sony vaio t1xp laptop. i was working fine but one day i tried to connect my mobile watch via usb , as soon as i conect it the laptop went dead within no second and never turn on again. no light no other signe of life.
please advise..
thanks