Dell Inspiron E1405 fails to start on pressing power button

rudy_26 · Joined: Jun 28, 2009 Posts: 2

I own this laptop for 2 years. Things were perfectly fine and working fine. Suddenly it switched off. I was not running any unusual program to face a virus attack (I do have McAfee registered).
while trying to switch On it, pressing the power button, the 3 green lights (num lock, caps lock ) turns on for 4-5 secs, black screen remains black, nd it dies. repeatedly pressing it does not help.

I have checked my RAM, Hard disk, and battery connection, AC adapter, they all are working fine. I have tested RAM and HD in my friends laptop and worked fine with all data intact.

How can I switch on my laptop again?
Is something wrong with mother board, powering on now, the fan does not turned on, seems like motherboard failing to initiate.
Please help me..

Thank you

Rudresh

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

If the fan isn't on, any computer will turn off to protect the CPU from overheating.

goretsky · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 12:39 am Post subject:

Hello,

Try removing the primary battery and CMOS/RTC backup battery, hold down the power button for about 30 seconds, and then wait about 5 minutes for any electrical current to dissipate and then plug in just the AC power adapter. Does the power light come on? If so, try powering the notebook computer up by pressing the power switch to see if it comes up as normal. If it does, then you could be dealing with a bad CMOS/RTC battery.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

rudy_26 · Joined: Jun 28, 2009 Posts: 2

I tried to open the laptop, and clean the fan if its due to excess heating. I don't know how to get to CMOS battery, Can anyone tell where is it or how to dismantle the E 1405 laptop

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

Here's the link to download the Owners and the Service manuals.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins640m/en/index.htm

The service manual shows how to remove the coin-cell battery
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins640m/en/SM/coinbatt.h...wp11236

briguy9181 · Joined: Jul 02, 2009 Posts: 6

Rudresh,

The same exact thing just happened to me (i also have an E1405), I've never seen anything like it, if you have any progress on fixing it, will you please let me know what worked?
Thanks,

Zlim- those were great links by the way thanks, but removing the coin battery, main battery and following Goretsky's instructions didn't help. When I plug in the power cord after following those steps, the screen stays black but it trys to boot up (ie the three green lights come on for 3-5 sec then go off, and the power light stays on) If I press the power button again, it turns off. Any other suggestions?

Thanks
Brian

goretsky · Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:35 am Post subject:

Hello,

Perhaps one of the installed hardware components has become loose?

I would suggest you try removing all customer-accessible parts, such as hard disk drives, optical drives, memory, et cetera and then reseating each one.

If the problem was due to a loose connection, then this might solve the problem.

The next thing I would suggest is checking all of the system's fans to verify they are spinning up properly when power is applied to the system. You may need to partially diassemble the system in order to check this.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

briguy9181 · Joined: Jul 02, 2009 Posts: 6

I took apart everything to clean the fan as best I could, so everything should be properly seated. I did notice that when I plug in the power cable, it does not charge, or even recognize that it's connected to power, but when the coin cell battery was removed, it did recognize the power cable and turned on. Is that an indication of anything?

My next thought is to pick up a new coin cell and fan, because your right about the fan not spinning up.

I'll let you know if that takes care of it, but let me know if the laptop not recognizing the power cable is any indication to you.

Thanks
Brian

briguy9181 · Joined: Jul 02, 2009 Posts: 6

I replaced the coin cell battery with a new one, and that didn't solve it. Is there any chance its the DC power jack? I know mine is a little loose, but my battery has plenty of juice in it so I wouldn't think that was the problem.

Anyway it looks like I have to mail order a fan, so I'll give that a shot.

goretsky · Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 10:22 pm Post subject:

Hello,

The system will probably not start up if the fan is not working in order to prevent the CPU from being damaged by heat. Hopefully, after you replace the fan things will be back to normal.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

briguy9181 · Joined: Jul 02, 2009 Posts: 6

Well I replaced the fan, and still no luck. The fan still won't spin up when I power on. It makes sense what you say Goretsky about protecting the cpu since the fan doesn't spin up. Everything seems tight where the fan connects to the mother board, so I think I'm giving up. I'm guessing something is wrong with the motherboard.

goretsky · Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:05 am Post subject:

Hello,

If not the motherboard, than the CPU. I am not sure what the cost of replacing these would be, but it may be less expensive to buy a new computer. Perhaps you can salvage the RAM and hard disk drive.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1546 Location: Central FL, USA

If two of those models are having the exact same problem, then it's probably a well known failure in that model of Dell.

Google the problem and / or contact Dell.

For instance, the motherboard failure in the Dell XPS 400 is so well documented that there are thousands of posts on the internet about it.
That model also has a very weak power supply.
The best fix for that PC is to scrap it out for parts and buy a new computer.....
preferably NOT a Dell.

Then, next time around, don't buy a Dell.

Doc Cool

briguy9181 · Joined: Jul 02, 2009 Posts: 6

Thanks for your help Goretsky, I'm trying to find one with a broken screen or other cosmetic damage. It looks like I can spend less than $200 and get a fully working machine though.

Doc I appreciate your advice, and I know there are a lot of people that detest Dell, but personally I have bought and or serviced 10 different dell computers, 2 of which I sold and the rest I currently service. This is the first one to ever give me a problem and curiously its the newest of the bunch at 2 years. The rest are all older than 6 years, and my family/friends hardly bug me with problems.

And to contrast that record because I've read so many good things about Lenovo, I recommended my sister and girlfriend buy one (T61 and s10), and they both have problems that I can't fix within 1 year. So I'll let Dell slide on this one, although I agree it's odd that both E1405's failed in the same way around the same age.

Brian

boourns · Joined: Aug 18, 2009 Posts: 1

I have just worked on an E1405 over the last week with the same issue. I replaced the system fan, and cleared the cmos and replaced the batt. and tested the memory. After contacting several departments at dell they suggested a new motherboard at the out of warranty cost of $498 +tax.

briguy9181 · Joined: Jul 02, 2009 Posts: 6

I picked up a working E1405 from ebay for $200 with shipping, it had a better screen and faster processor. Hopefully this motherboard won't die on me anytime soon. I certainly wouldn't pay $450 to replace the motherboard.