Acer CP5-471-312N Bad USB-C port / weird charging issue

I have an Acer CP5-471-312N Chromebook. The USB-C port has loosened up to the point that the charging cord barely stays in there. Can that be replaced?
The weird issue is that it won't start charging when it's on. Wiith the lid down or powered off, I can plug in the USB-C cord & it will start charging, & stay charging when I start up again (battery light is solid orange). But if I plug it in while I'm using it, the orange battery light flashes & it won't start charging. It does this with 3 different chargers (including the original). Any help would be appreciated.

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billsey

The USB-C connector is soldered to the motherboard and further held in place by two screws. It can be replaced, but take a technician with good surface mount soldering skills to do it. The power adapter is a 45W supply, the battery a 45Wh battery, so it would be normal for the battery to maintain it's charge if the system were running and increase the charge much faster if the system were off.

DPRoberts

That does make sense, but to clarify, it doesn't charge at all if I plug it in while it's running. The orange light blinks, and the battery indicator shows that it's not plugged in, and the battery dies at its normal rate.

But if I shot it down & plug it in, then when I turn it on the orange light is solid, the battery indicator shows charging, and it does charge.

I don't undestand why the state of the computer at plug-in should make a difference. If the USB-C port is loose, I could see it leading to an iffy connection, but this specific issue sounds software related - is there a way I can force it to recognized that it's plugged in when it's on?

billsey

Weird, does it have a battery reset pinhole? If so you can try that, 15 seconds or so with the reset pushed, then 15-30 minutes rest, then try powering it up and see if the behavior has changed. Sometimes you have to press and hold the power button to bleed the capacitors while doing the reset. Next thing to try if you don't have a reset hole or it doesn't work is to do three or four full cycles of discharge/recharge. It's potentially possible that the battery calibration is corrupted enough that it's mucking with the charging circuit.

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