Aspire 5 A515-51G-520Q dead - only yellow LED blinking

My stepsons A515 (built 2017) stopped working overnight. It doesn't start anymore. My analysis so far (btw sorry, not native english speaker):

The power supply is fine (tested successfully on another device).
All ports (USB, HDMI etc.) look fine, no damaged contacts, no visible short circuits
Power supply unit disconnected: pressing I/O does nothing.
Power supply connected: yellow/orange LED lights up for approx. 3 seconds, then changes to flashing <1 Hz. Even then, I/O does nothing, neither immediately, nor after a night on mains.
Pressing the battery reset button makes no difference.
At the 4-pin plug from the socket to the circuit board, I can measure 0/19 V on all 4 pins.
I measure 0.8 V on red / red and 3.25 V on green and blue at the battery connector (connected to the board, only with power supply connected!).
Battery disconnected, external power supply on: does not start.
No difference with RAM and M.2 installed or removed.
Flat keybord connector cable removed and re-inserted.
Disconnected the BIOS battery overnight (still 3.1 V), reconnected: doesn't start.

Should the Aspire run with the battery disconnected? Might a defective battery be the cause of the error pattern described?

What else should I try to revive the device? I'm thankful for hints!

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JackE

Try the reset again this way.

(1) Press and hold power button till power LED is unlit. Unplug charger.

(2) Insert paperclip into reset pinhole on bottom for 60 seconds while at the same time pressing and holding power button.

(3) Plug charger back in but wait for battery charge LED to turn from steady orange to steady blue. This may take several hours.

(4) Try to turn it on again.

Ray16

Thank you @JackE ,

I read this hint somewhere here yesterday

and tried that. No difference.

I don't get a steady LED (except for ~3 seconds after plugging in the charger, then changes to blinking), not blue (never saw blue even for a blink of the eyes, since I got the notebook for a check), not steady yellow, not after charging for 12+ hours. Only that annoying 1 Hz on-off-repeat.

Do you know if the notebook should operate with the battery disconnected? I tried; this one here does not. If we knew that point for sure, it would be a bigger problem than a broken battery ...

JackE

If the battery charge LED kept blinking yellow after 12 hours, the battery pack should be replaced. Many newer laptops won't run with a bad battery or battery disconnected from the mainboard. Google search the keywords A515-51G battery for vendors who ship to your location. About $30usd for a replacement. If you shop by brand name ACER, Panasonic, LG etc, you'll likely pay more for the nice label.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/6d/2k382m416qne.jpg

Easwar

Hi Ray16,

Try to do power drain,

1. Shutdown the unit.
2. Unplug the cables connected to the unit.
3. At bottom of the unit there will be a small tiny pin hole with a battery symbol close to it. Take a pin or a paper clip insert into it you feels like pressing a button hold it for 20-30 seconds.

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