Acer Aspire 5349 started shutting down randomly, now can't stay on more than 2 seconds

Hi everyone!

I've been using my Aspire 5349 for over 4 years now running Windows 7. A couple of months ago it started shutting down randomly - sometimes after 1 hour of work, other times - after 10-15 minutes.

It is used mainly for light office work, but considering its age I decided it was due to dust build-up or otherwise overheating due to decaying thermal paste for the CPU and thermal pads - for the video chip. It is out of warranty, so I disasembled it and replaced them even though the thermal paste compound and the thermal pad seemed OK. There was no significant dust problem as well, anyway used the occassion to clean it thoroughly.

After assembly and powering up, it ran stable for 3-4 hours which even allowed me to upgrade to Windows 10 (32-bit). It rested for a few days because of the holidays here and then when powered on - shut down in approx. 10 minutes again. After that no matter what I do - complete disasembly, check everything for loose contacts, CMOS battery, laptop battery, etc. - it could not run for more than a few minutes starting the recovery of Windows and then shutting down again. In the last days it even cannot stay on for more than a couple of seconds before shutting down again, so I cannot even enter BIOS.

Laptop battery is good, since it was always used as a desktop replacement, anyway tried with battery on and battery off to no avail. The power brick is the one that was supplied with it originally, even though it says LITEON instead of ACER. Tried another one with the same voltages and amperes from another ACER laptop - the situation did not improve or change at all.

Logically I started to read here and found out about exactly the same issues with other similar models, so then I tried every suggestion - replaced RAM, HDD, even DVD, tried to boot from USB or DVD, tried to remove electrostatic charge build-up. I am highly suspicious about the latter, or any similar electric/power problem, because when I completelly tear down the laptop to the nuts, i.e. removing everything that can be removed and then assemble it again - it runs for 10-15 minutes before shutdown.

So, finally, the question is - are there any suggestions that I might follow?

The easy solution is to replace the MB in case this would help, or the laptop altogether, however I hate it when I can't understand or diagnose a hardware problem and will put every effort to identify and solve it.

Cheers!

Accepted answers

JackE

Google the keywords "5349" "mainboard" or "motherboard". Replacements run about $100 inc shipping, some on ebay US and some from China.

Jack E/NJ

All comments

JackE

Have any of these shutdowns ever been initiated automatically by Windows? Or have they all been like a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker?

Jack E/NJ

Sten69

No, I'm pretty sure it not called in by Windows or any bad device driver for that matter.

The symtoms are exactly as you suggest - like a fuse or circuit breaker activated, so power is immediately cut off without any warning. It is not an overheating or CPU or GPU thermal protection issue as far as I can judge.

JackE

You wrote earlier>>>After assembly and powering up, it ran stable for 3-4 hours which even allowed me to upgrade to Windows 10 (32-bit). >>>

This suggests and gives me some hope that either a replaceable component on the mainboard or a mainboard traceline is accidentally grounding, rather than a mainboard failure.

While it's painful looking for a needle in a haystack, I suggest that you again disassemble the system as before paying particular attention to tracelines and conductors that could possibly come into contact with the case or screws on re-assembly. You might even try to remove one non-critical peripheral at a time to test if the peripheral itself is defective.

Jack E/NJ

Sten69

Yes, I am also convinced that something related to power is either short-circuiting on something loose or not making proper contact when the laptop is handled.Tried the method with removing non-critical peripherals one at a time, seems not to be caused by any of them. Tried also to follow the power distribution within the MB, so far nothing appeared as a reason, but will keep trying.

Now I dissasemble and assemble it for a record time these days, probably can do it with eyes closed :-) , but the operational time was getting shorter and shorter - up to the point when it now no longer makes any difference. I remember reading about a problem with electrostatic build-up which was discharged if you tighten the screws of the bottom cover, but I for me this doesn't do anything.

So, in the end of the day, the most obvious reason for the time being is that some capacitor on the MB is faulty and since I am only a monkey with a screwdriver, I could probably check something with a multimeter but I am not clear what and then do what. As to bringing it to professionals for diagnostic and repair, I've had very bad experience with servicing and generally hardware proficiency in this part of the world and would not even want to explain 10 more times some obvious things to other monkeys :-)

JackE

Google the keywords "5349" "mainboard" or "motherboard". Replacements run about $100 inc shipping, some on ebay US and some from China.

Jack E/NJ

Sten69

Yeah, in the end of the day it comes to that - replacing the MB. I would even find it here in Bulgaria for as low as 45 USD, but I was trying to avoid that - it's not the matter of money, but of principle - I can't accept the fact that if something is working (even though intermittently), it should be replaced. Replacing the MB feels like throwing the towel in a boxing match with somewhat even oponents :-) A better option will to replace the laptop altogether after all these years.

Anyway, so for now I would accept this is as the solution, but will tinker with the machine a bit more before letting it go. So, in the meantime anyone is welcome to share experience in such problems and hardware. Google says other brands experience this as well.

JackE

>>>so for now I would accept this is as the solution, but will tinker with the machine a bit more before letting it go>>>

Heh-heh! I'd do the same thing. I have Win98- & WinXP-era laptops with equally-annoying MB issues that I haven't given up on yet. I'd really like to use them to control specific hardware like a weather station. So I keep poking around the components and tracelines from time to time with a probe, tweezers and 10x loupe searching for culprit needle-in-the- haystack(s). 8^) Really more of a learning experience.

Good luck! And let us know if you find anything.

Jack E/NJ

Sten69

Same feelings here :-) Can't stand anything that is not working as it should be, no matter the age. Still have a couple of 22 yrs old Escom Blackmates running Windows 3.11 with black-white TFTs and 4 MB (not GB) of RAM. Their weak elements were the display inverter and obviously - the HDDs after all these years, but thanks to simplicity - could be made to work or replaced.

The best machines I had so far and still using them are a couple of DELL 1520s, already 10 yrs old, never even opened to clean them, never failed and still going strong now with the latest Windows 10. I am not even thinking to open them - afraid not to break up the magic :-)

Meanwhile, there's a possible culprit on the Acer 5349. A ribbon cable from the input power connector and plate to the MB was a bit loose and because it runs directly below the fan, there could be some unseen damage as well. Anyway before I assemble the machine again, took up your practice to have a look through 10x magnifier. I am shortsighted, did not need magnification until now even for the smallest elements, however now the magnifier revealed dust build-up around many of the chips and it is sticking in such a way that compressed air could not remove it. Probably in the factory they put some silicon grease or something. Will try using some soft brush. I remember that a couple of years ago had a very similar problem with a digital camera. Turns out there is high content of metals in dust and at some point it could shortcircuit the ever smaller elements.

So there are some avenues to pursue over the weekend.

Sten69

Finally the problem was identified to be with loose ribbon cable from the power connector (the plate with the ON switch) to the MB which runs above the fan. It is narrow - probably around 5 leads and if someone is moving the laptop often, because of he plastic body twisting and turning, it can get a bit loose and there'll be no proper contact.

Another thing - the MB side under the keyboard (i.e. the one which is accessible only if the whole MB is disasembled) accumulated an unbelievable amount of fine dust. Had a hard time to clean that, it is amazing that it did not short-circuit the whole thing.

Anyway, now the machine runs for a second day without any visible problems, except that when performing even light tasks the fan is running most of the time at high rpm. I have changed the thermal paste, its probably because of the hot weather, but did not witness such behavious so far. Maybe the newly installed Windows 10, even though it's the 32-bit version, is a bit too much for this machine? Or because there are constant updates going on all the time.

JackE

Congrats! Great detective work! Let us know when you upgrade back to Win7! 8^)

Jack E/NJ

Sten69

Thanks! However, it turns out it's not over yet. I brought it home with the intention to give it to my mother to keep in touch with the world, but the shutdowns started all over again. I am sure it's the loose connection again. Now, I do not think I need to replace the ribbon cable (testing it with multimeter generally says it's OK), so it's the contact with the connectors and when reinserted - it works for a while. Hopefully the connectors themselves will not be the problem, as it's more difficult to do replace them. Anyway, will try to put some silicon glue to harden all over the connector and fix cable and connector in one indivisible part and see what happens. It could not become worse, anyway. Actually, the whole problem started when after all this years on the desk, I started to carry the laptop on a couple of occasions to seminars. It just has too much plastic and is too flexible, in order to have the sufficient structural strength as needed for a portable device, that's my opinion.

Anyway, after all this exercise, whether it is over or not, I can probably qualify as good as anybody as an Acer hardware support, especially given the level of it here, even though I have only some basic technical background :-)

As regards the software, I think the intensive work of the fan (and processor) was due to the machine being offline for the past month or so and now did almost 2 full days of whatever updates MS threw at it. Probably should have attempted clean install and not keep settings and documents because I have them elsewhere anyway. I would consider that now the registry file has swollen as pornstar boobs :-) Only 2 Gigs of RAM do not help it either even though it's the 32-bit version. Its DDR3, so it won't be so expensive compared to DDR2 to increase it when everything else is OK. Then will try it with 64-bit version as in my experience it is more stable and non-problematic in respect to drivers especially the latest releases.

Speaking of drivers, another thing is that MS installed as drivers whatever they consider certified and tested for legacy hardware, but the reality would require that I go to hardware manufacturer websites and download the latest drivers for every piece of hardware, even though it may be in some cases for earlier versions of MS Windows.

For now I am unwilling to do that, because on a previous instance when I used driver search and update programme (Iobit Driver Booster or something like that) for a legacy laptop updated to Windows 10, devices like the display, touchpad, USB ports refused to work with their suggested manufacturer's drivers and had to revert to MS suggested ones for Windows 10. Anyway, that was some time ago and by now manufacturers probably have done some effort to supply proper drivers for Windows 10 even for older devices or at least I am ever hopeful.

Anyway, I will not downgrade to Win 8.1 or 7, even if I have to buy cooler pads for older laptops :-) The step is made, Rubicon is crossed, there is no way back :-) In this field - software and hardware, things quickly become obsolete and better to get used to the new, than to avoid the change. I am aware Apollo spaceships were designed and launched with computers with the capacity of a modern calculator and OS like the DOS. Also probably the most used OS worldwide is still the Win XP, or maybe 7, but be it solely for reasons of information security, better to use the latest OS, no matter what the theorists of conspiracy say about it :-)