Predator 17 died, all that works is the power button lights.

HelghastPredator

Predator 17 g5-793-793X...
3 months old and 1 payment left to do 😣 (but on Acer site they claim I have no warranty left for this machine WTF?)

So...yeah....after some days with weird symptoms like CPU going to 80c when idling with 10-20% load while my GPU was around 30c and SYSTEM around 30c as showed with Predator Sense..my P17 just went to sleep.

All that was left working was the powerbutton light.
I could not turn off the light unless with poking a pin in the battery hole.
Everytime I turned it on I had to use a pin to shut it off again...
(This was with battery and also with power cord plugged in.)



The only thing that works is the lights of the power button...no fans, no boot up sound, no nothing.

Been fiddling with it for days now.

What I've done so far;

1: opened it, removed battery for hard reset.
(Static dump, reset procedures, you name it)

2: cleaned EVERYTHING carefully.
(Inside is cleaner than a lab)

3: checked thermal paste and heatsink.

4: disconnected RAM and (cleaned) and put it back.

5: pulled out the last hairs that I had and vacuumed them.

So...at the moment I have put my P17 back together except for the battery.
When I plug in the power cable and press the power button the lights (Predator Lock Triangle) go on but that's it...also still can't turn it off unless I unplug the power again.

I've reached a dead end cuz I feel like I tried EVERYTHING.
1800euro paper weight.

Any other tips than before mentioned solutions would be awesome.
Thanks a lot in advance!!!
Greets.

ven98

Did you have any warranty stickers on the screws holding the heatsink? If no call Acer support, not Acer site, call them on the phone. If you had warranty stickers, why did you remove them? The warranty period starts from the day you purchase the laptop, not from the date when the laptop is registered(this is what Acer website shows).

Have you tried removing the CMOS battery?

HelghastPredator

Hey, thx for the quick reply.
It is weird because I expected some warranty stickers but in fact...there weren't any to break. 🤔
I haven't tried the CMOS battery.
I'll look it up cuz I have no idea what or where it is and will post the result asap. 
Thanks again. Cheers.

ven98

This is great. That means you can still contact Acer support and request a repair.

HelghastPredator

I've located the small battery but it has a special clip holding it with black tape over it.
I'm not gonna tinker more, I'll just bring it back to the store so they can send it out for repairs...or preferably a new one since I had nothing but misery with it.
BOSD, overheating, going black with fans maxing out, W10 corrupted etc.
Thanks for your help, ven98!

ven98

The overheating is from the poor termal paste alone.

HelghastPredator

It was barely a smudge but I didn't add any.
I'm not a specialist in these things.
I dare to open a laptop and clean it and add some RAM maybe but that's about it.

ven98

Theraml paste is essential for cooling. The air is bad thermo conductor, because the space between particles is very wide and it is harder to transfer heat energy. Thermal paste is used to eliminate this air gap and at the same time having better conductance. Thermal paste if not liquid metal(liquid metal not recommended as it voids warranty) is not considered a good thermo conductor(not better than copper or any metal), but considerably better than air. As it isn't good conductor you have to keep the layer as thin as possible so the CPU die and the heatsink are as close as possible.

Best method to apply thermal paste is to apply a little drop in the middle of the CPU die and place the heatsink on top. It will spread the paste when you you apply gently a pressure on it and tighten it up with screws.

HelghastPredator

I'll remember that for future maintenance.
Thanks once again!