Aspire switch 10 sw5-011-148Q plugged in but not charging

Suhail1966

Hello,

My kid's SW5-011 no longer charging although battery icon level moves for 5-10 seconds then stops, battery percentage and 'plugged in' are shown but doesn't show charging or not charging. The battery keeps draining with charger plugged-in and charging led is on.

His sister has almost same notebook but SW-012 model. In order to check the battery and the charger I've tested both on the other device and vise versa,,, nothing wrong with either battery or charger.

I also uninstalled power drivers but still unable to charge the battery of SW-011 unless I move it's battery to the other notebook to charge it.

What would be the problem and how can I solve this.

billsey

The DC_In jack on your SW5-011 is mounted to the case and held in place with a single screw. There's a cable that runs between it and the motherboard. It's possible either the screw has come loose of the jack has been damaged. The Acer part number for that cable is 50.L47N5.005. The screw is small, a M1.6*3.5L.

Suhail1966

Thank you Billsey for the prompt reply. I've checked the screw and the inner pin of the DC_in Jack, seems nothing wrong with it. I will attempt to try connecting the DC_in jack of the other switch 1 SW5-012 (although it is shorter) to double check. neverthe less, I suspect either a short circuit in the charging circuit or a software issue. So I started downgrading from windows 10 back to factory setting W8.1 using Acer recovery management (I can see the 450MB recovery partition as well as the 100MB EFI system). The process stopped at 67%, kept restarting at a boot loop. Have tried the Alt+F10 with no success (won't take me to any where). Have also tried booting from the bois with bootable media USB after changing the booting proiroty to the USB, nothing is happening. Now I am stuck in boot-loop and don't know what to do. 😫

billsey

The initial upgrade from 8.1 to 10 wiped the original image from that recovery partition. That happened to everybody back then. Acer didn't introduce the Alt-F10 method until later. Back then you were expected to create a set of recovery disks using the Acer utilities when the machine was new. best bet at this point is to do a reinstall of the Windows 10 OS (I believe Home and 32bit with your system).

Suhail1966

I managed to get out of the boot-loop, reinstalled Windows 10 32bit and now the notebook operates normal. But I am back to the original problem which is unable to charge the battery unless I move it to the other device (Switch 10 sw5-012). The last thing I've tried is disabling the MS ACPI-compliant control method battery from computer management, the notebook worked fine without a battery with AC adapter on. I am sure nothing wrong with the battery or DC power jack socket or the charger nor it is a software issue. Perhaps it is something to do with the charging circuit components which blocks delivering power to the battery although the battery icon in the taskbar is acting normally (showing plugged in, percentage, remaining time and even the faulty remaining time until fully charge).

I've notice two strange things happening; the computer started shutting down by itself even the battery level is in the middle and the battery which lasts for 4.5-5.0 hours is now draining fast (won't last for more than two hours but acts normally when move it to the other device).

I really wonder what is the problem and would it be fixable. My son likes this machine but I don't think it is worth taking it to Acer dealer who will as for big sum of money to fix or to replace the motherboard.

Any suggestions? Or is there any way to deliver power to the battery for charging it without using the charger?

Suhail1966

Hello All,

I have sent the Switch 10 SW5-011 to notebooks repair center. The technician examined the whole power supply components and told me there is a short-circuit in the charging circuit and because it is a built-in circuit I have to replace the motherboard. Frankly saying, I have doubts as we do not have here professional technicians for 2 in 1 notebooks. My question; can I use a suitable charging circuit to charge the battery as an alternative, something like the below image?

billsey

Not really. Without access to actual schematics on the motherboard you wouldn't know where to inject the different voltages needed to run things.

Suhail1966

I thought of connecting a suitable charging module (12V 1.5A input, 3.8V 22Wh 5900mAh output) directly to the +/- wires of the battery which is almost identical to my charger and battery specs. Theoretically this match should work, isn’t it?

I saw this module in the ebay & AliExpress for just US$ 2.0-4.0

By the way, where can I find the charging circuit schematic diagram for the Switch 10 SW5-011?

billsey

As I mentioned, we don't have access to actual schematics. Those are proprietary and only available to Acer engineers. The battery is:

and I'm not sure if 5V might be a bit much for charging. Likely the power circuit steps that voltage down to something like 4V...

Suhail1966

Acer Aspire Switch 10 Pegatron P0JAC2 power tree.pdf

Sorry for bringing up this issue again but my son just like using this notebook and don't want to replace it. I managed to download the schematics for this notebook. I attach herewith power tree page. I'm not a technical guy and have here no proffesional ones for all-built-in motherboards,,, my last question and based on the attachment; is there a way to paypass the motherboard's 'damaged' charging circuit and deliver suffeciant required power directly to the battery even with external wires & charging port? bearing in mind that this notebook is working fine when I put the fully charged battery from the other Switch 10 his sister have.