Member Avatar for Sintu Y Uyassi

Hi, my Dell Vostro 2420 is completely dead, with no indication of power going in. The AC adaptor is fine, battery ok but still no power. It came on after a week of going dead but then after powering on for about 7hours, the machine went completely dead after switching it off again & trying to restart.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by gerbil

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Quick, practical diagnostics and safe next steps for 's Vostro 2420 that build on and without repeating what they already tried.

Recommended sequence:

  1. Check the AC adapter with a digital multimeter across the barrel. Compare the reading to the adapter label (most Dell adapters are around 19–19.5 V). Measure it while plugged into the laptop too — a big drop under load means a failing adapter. Try a known-good Dell adapter if possible.
  2. Remove the main battery and AC, hold the power button ~15 seconds to discharge, then connect AC only and attempt power-on. Note any LED behavior on the chassis or adapter.
  3. Inspect the DC jack and its solder pads closely. Wiggle the plug to see if the jack is loose. With power removed, use continuity to check the centre pin to the board input pad. A mechanically loose/worn jack is best replaced rather than “reflowed.”
  4. With everything unplugged, measure resistance from the jack positive to chassis ground. A near-zero ohms reading (much lower than small capacitors would show) suggests a hard short in the input power stage. Do not try to power the board if a definite short is present.
  5. If no hard short, use a current-limited bench supply (or a service shop) to power and watch for a particular component that heats up; thermal imaging or freeze-spray can help locate intermittent joints.
  6. If solder joints at the jack or nearby power components look cracked, reflow those joints with proper flux and a fine-tip iron. Avoid indiscriminate “hot-air reflow” of the whole board unless experienced. Always remove battery/AC and use ESD protection when soldering.

Notes and cautions: “Dry soldering” (heating without proper flux/solder) is unlikely to yield a reliable repair. Work with ESD precautions, good lighting/magnification, and the correct tools; if uncomfortable with voltage/current testing or board-level repairs, professional repair is the safer and often cheaper route than risking further damage.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Check that the vents are clear. Get some compressed air and blow the system out to help clean it - taking the cover and keyboard off is good so you can blow the motherboard clean. If it is still dead, then you will need to send it in for repair.

Member Avatar for Sintu Y Uyassi

Thanks Rubberman have done that but still nothing.

Im thinking of dry soldering the power input area of the mother board. What do you think.

Member Avatar for rubberman

If you know what you are doing, then fine. I wouldn't, but my grandson would. He is much better at that sort of thing than I am as he designs and builds his own PC boards for drone aircraft control systems.

Member Avatar for Sintu Y Uyassi

Thanks rubberman. Would you mind some advice from your grandson.I would really appreciate it.

Thanks again

Member Avatar for gerbil

Urg. Could be anything. Dry solder joints are more common than you would like to believe. A tiny trace of corrosion around low power joints, hydrated salts remaining from cheap flux, dodgy connectors, the mb monitor chip, the ps's controller chips. Tap those chips briskly with a pen - they sometimes go "microphonic", meaning an internal pin out connection or silicon junction is intermittent.
I'd check if the PS was receiving a PSGood signal from the mb, and if so, was generating all requisite voltages. And if so, then I would sigh and consign the thing to a bin. Power supplies I can do; I cannot work with components that I can barely see. Others may be able to. There are in use components that are sub-millimetric now... :(. Interestingly, they are more reliable than their larger kin (it's a heat thing), but impossible to work with manually.

Edited by gerbil
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