dell mini short-circuited

[markieb]

Hi all I am new to this forum and i have searched for a solution endlessly already.I shorted my dell mini 10 by pluging an ac powered usb port into a external dvd drive that was connected to it.anyway it powered off straight away and hasnt come on again .I tried the new lead /no battery /hold power button methods and am getting power on the power lead connector to motherboard but after that i can't see anything blown on the board anywhere.Is ther a way to check the circuits with a multimeter?if anyone has an idea of what to look for on board I would be very grateful,any starting points at all appreciated thanks Mark

[Mad_Professor]

Re: dell mini short-circuited

I don't fully understand your situation.

You didn't short something, you fried something. If you shorted something, the fuse for the USB ports would normally blow and the computer would be ok.

USB is typically DC, if you used a AC to DC power brick or wall wart connect to the DVDRW drive it shouldn't short, unless you used incorrect specified voltage, it would normally fried the drive and computer would be fine.

If you used an AC based power brick or wall wart, by standards they don't make USB ends for those specifically because of that reason unless you modified one.

Now if you use a pwr brick/wart to a dvd drive that has two male usb plugs one for data/power and another for auxiliary power and you plug your pwr brck/wart into auxiliary I could see that back feeding into the mini and frying the computer.

Take it apart check for fuses that's about it.

Unless you have some skills in soldering and removing surface mounted devices and testing it with a multimeter or oscilloscope.

Otherwise pull the hard-drive, yank the sticks of ram and if the processor isn't embedded pull that too and sell it on ebay.

[markieb]

Re: dell mini short-circuited

I don't know if the board is fried.I was installing an OS onto it using an external hard drive which had 2 usb cables coming out of it .the install kept freezing as there wasn't enough power in in to run the dvd so i plugged the other usb lead on dvd drive into an ac powered usb port( 4 ports that plug into wall) i've already changed one little black rectangular fuse where jack plug connects to motherboard.I have a multimeter but i dont know what else to check .there are no signs of anything blown or burnt .when its plugged into battery i can short plug to screen and screen backlight comes on.when ac power this doesn't happen if thats any help.I don't like to let things beat me so if any one has any idea of what chips might blow under these conditions or a schematic for dell inspiron mini 1018 motherboard please let me know
thanks Mark.

[Mad_Professor]

Re: dell mini short-circuited

For future reference Computers and peripherals are Direct Current they use a power-supply *power brick or wall wart* to convert 120/240VAC to 12/5/3.3VDC Unless stated otherwise.

USB is 5VDC 500Milliamps.

Next time plug the dvd drive data/power and aux into the hub instead of having one on the netbook and the other on hub.


Inorder for badcaps to help you, You need to post clear and focus pictures of the board of both sides and a couple more where the USBs were plugged in.

They have to be focus and clear so we can read the print or traces.

[markieb]

Re: dell mini short-circuited

OK I couldn't get clear pictures with phone so i video'd the board on both sides ,I hope these are clear enough,the usb port that shorted the dell is the one on the seperate little board .I really appreciate the help by the way,if the video is not focused enough i can try to borrow a digital camera later.

[markieb]

Re: dell mini short-circuited

sorry I couldn't edit last post here is photos. there are more in an album under my profile,if you can tell anything from them ,or need anything else let me know.
thanks

[tom66]

Re: dell mini short-circuited

Look for little green components with an "F" on them. These are resettable fuses, but on a gross overload they can permanently fuse.

However your problem sounds like you have burnt out some component in the power system the best option may unfortunately be a new motherboard, contacting Dell for out-of-warranty parts sourcing may be helpful or you may just want to sell it as is.