My acer aspire 5552 wont power on

I see others have had this problem also and nobody has provided answer but I figured I might as well try again. When I attempt to power on my notebook (described in subject) the power light and HDD light come on very briefly and then the computer immediately powers back down. You can hear the dvd drive do it's access check just before all the lights go out. I have done the reset, and tried another montior (although that applies to a totally different problem). it appears that the computer is finishing all it's preboot checks OK and then shutting down when it starts to load the operating system.

The notebook controls my medical telemetry equipment and while I have that plugged into my desktop for use at home right now any movement outside my home means I go unmonitored since having a battery powered computer is essential to the equipment's portability.

If anyone who has had this problem on this or a similar notebook model has learned or figured out how to fix it, I'd appreciate some suggestions as to what I can do to get it up and going. I really don't want to send it to a shop unless I absolutely have to since there's no telling how long I'd be without it or how much it would cost (on Social Security so not a person of means).

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Nofsdad

Geez! After reading the massive number of posts about similar problems with Acer notebooks of all persuasions and taking note of the total lack of any response from Acer, the one response being to take it to a service center (if you can find one within a hundred miles) and paying their exorbitant fees for even glancing at it it begins to look like I made a really bad mistake in choosing an Acer to power something as important as as my medical units. Unfortunately I don't have the bucks to replace it and it's not covered by Medicare. Time to blog a warning I guess. Smiley Frustrated

Cory-Acer

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble. It sounds like the unit is powering on briefly, but it's not staying on for more than a few seconds. Does this symptom persist when you have the AC Adapter plugged in? Or is it only happening on battery power?

If it's happening on AC Power, I might suggest that you try a power reset. Removing the battery and AC Adapter and holding the power button for 30 seconds. If the problem continues and you're not getting more than a couple seconds, service would be your best option at that point.

If it's only happening on battery, it could be either your battery has died, or the AC Adapter isn't charging the battery for some reason (hopefully, just the battery has died).

Hope this helps,
Cory

Nofsdad

It happens no matter what you do. Charger plugged in or not plugged in. I've done the reset numerous times. I'm hoping it's going to turn out to be something simple like a mem stick coming unseated or something. I've had that happen with desktops. Will be opening it up to reseat those and check for anything else that might have come loose but after that I'm at a loss. Not sure if it would be better to pay to have it fixed or save my nickels and dimes and replace it.

By the way, I was a tad unfair in my assessment... it should be known that this computer has worked flawlessly for the past almost three years. It's just when I read the literally hundreds of posts here and on other tech forums about seemingly most Acer laptops eventually dying this death, I get to wondering why the problem(s) causing it it are noit rememdied by now or at least a fix devised.

Cory-Acer

I understand the frustration. For a relatively popular notebook like the AS5552, you'll see lots of storys, because we sold lots of them. Also, the failure you're experiencing isn't unique to the AS5552, all computers and electronics will eventually fail, and if it's not the power source to go first, then it will try to power on, figure out it can't and power off.

I think checking to make sure the memory is seated is a good idea, just to make sure, but even if it wasn't seated properly, I don't think that would stop the power process. Is there anything flashing on the screen at all? Do you see the Acer splashscreen, does the backlight turn on at all? Is it possible to get into the BIOS by pressing F2?

Do you get any lights on the unit when it's not powered on but the AC Adapter is plugged in? It should be attempting to recharge the battery.

Nofsdad

Nope. Nothing ever makes it to the screen. the power and HD lights come on, the DVD light comes on and it makes it's typical little noise and then the computer just powers off as if I'd hit the button again. And I think you're right about the memory sticks too. When it happened in the lap top it would go ahead and boot and the Windows 8 logo would come up, it just wouldn't go anywhere from there. In the case of the laptop, it's simply turning itself completely off and you have to hit the button to power it back up.

Cory-Acer

Not a huge chance of success with this, but just to make sure the battery isn't shorting or something...

Can you remove the battery and just power on AC Adapter? Are you getting anything different like this?

Nofsdad

You've given me some new things to try. I've built and serviced my own desktops for25-30 years now but this is my first laptop and the first time it ever gave me any problem so I've never even seen the inside of one. I'll check everything I can while I've got it open but I think it's probably dead.