Powerbook G4: Diagnose faulty DC-In-board

[danielvegas]

Hi,

I own a Powerbook G4 15" 1.5GHz (Model A1106) and after 90 months of heavy use, the first big issue occured: I can't charge my battery any more.

With the power supply connected, the machine boots normally. However, with the battery in the bay, nothing happens. The DC-connector is changing to green after a while, but the OS doesn't recognize a battery (X-symbol in the menu-bar). The little LED-indicators on the battery don't show any reaction to a connected power supply, either. By now, the battery seems to be fully discharged anyway.

The DC-connector has been behaving a bit flimsy for quite a while already, as the connection is only working in several positions and required frequent turning of the power plug to find the proper angle. I recently changed the power supply, so I can rule this part out. The battery had about 350 cycles when I last checked and around 50% of health.

Hence, I suspect the DC-In-board, because the flimsy connection occurs even with the battery removed. However, I'm uncertain about the regular booting with a connected power supply. Does this already rule out the DC-In-board? Might it be a faulty battery? Or both?

Unfortunately I don't have any other batteries to test and shy away from spending $100 on a replacement.

I completely disassembled the Powerbook today to remove the DC-In-board. The soldering looks pretty intact to my layman's view. Is it possible to only swap the round female power connector?

Could you please help me diagnose the issue and narrow down the possibilities?

Thanks!

 

[eyoungren]

Wirelessly posted

A new DC in board will run you around $25 on eBay. Unless you have good soldering skills I would just replace the board. As you have it disassembled already it should be easy enough.

 

[skateny]

Hi,

I own a Powerbook G4 15" 1.5GHz (Model A1106) and after 90 months of heavy use, the first big issue occured: I can't charge my battery any more.

With the power supply connected, the machine boots normally. However, with the battery in the bay, nothing happens. The DC-connector is changing to green after a while, but the OS doesn't recognize a battery (X-symbol in the menu-bar). The little LED-indicators on the battery don't show any reaction to a connected power supply, either. By now, the battery seems to be fully discharged anyway.

The DC-connector has been behaving a bit flimsy for quite a while already, as the connection is only working in several positions and required frequent turning of the power plug to find the proper angle. I recently changed the power supply, so I can rule this part out. The battery had about 350 cycles when I last checked and around 50% of health.

Hence, I suspect the DC-In-board, because the flimsy connection occurs even with the battery removed. However, I'm uncertain about the regular booting with a connected power supply. Does this already rule out the DC-In-board? Might it be a faulty battery? Or both?

Unfortunately I don't have any other batteries to test and shy away from spending $100 on a replacement.

I completely disassembled the Powerbook today to remove the DC-In-board. The soldering looks pretty intact to my layman's view. Is it possible to only swap the round female power connector?

Could you please help me diagnose the issue and narrow down the possibilities?

Thanks!

Hi. I had similar problems with my iBook. Had to jiggle the adapter plug six ways to Tuesday to get it to work. But when it worked, the battery (in good shape) charged. It was a new adapter and eventually stopped working altogether.

I paid $12.99 for a DC-in board on eBay. Took me less than an hour to replace it. I've seen batteries for my Book on eBay for ~$20.

Good luck.