Service manual to dismantle and replace power supply on HP Pavilion ZT3380

[justmanuals]

Does anyone know how to replace a power supply in an HP Pavilion ZT3380
laptop please?

The power plug seems to be exceptionally loose and if the computer shuts
down, you can occasionally get it turned on again by turning the plug around
in the socket 180 degrees so that something makes contact with something
again. But I don't think this is the whole story.

The computer does work as a desktop but once it did shut down overnight for
no apparent reason and once during use while I was trying to soak-test it
for this very problem. When it shut down overnight, by the morning, when I
turned it on, the orange charge light having presumably been on all night,
it showed 0% charge. Suspicious.

More importantly it shuts down completely if you accidentally jiggle the
plug, not going to battery power at all. In addition, when you start it with
a largely dead battery and then try to plug it in to charge the battery, the
battery doesn't charge at all. It CAN also show an orange charge light
overnight when off and by the morning, show no increase in charge: This
doesn't just seem to be a loose plug!

I upgraded the BIOS and this seemed to improve things for a very short
while, with the new BIOS having a battery calibration utility which worked
once. However, now it wont even charge the System Battery except
excruciatingly slowly. Isn't the system battery something like a
rechargeable CR2025? Which should discharge/charge in a few minutes. When
the battery utility did discharge/recharge the main battery, it did do it in
around a half an hour.

We HAVE tried changing the AC adapter in case the problem was with the
internal wiring of the plug itself and isolated that as not being the issue.

Someone once referred me to a service manual for my Pavilion 5415 which had
a similar problem but I cant now find the reference to it (and replacing the
power supply for the 5415 involved a completely uneconomical taking apart of
the whole computer down virtually to the last screw!). These internal power
supplies do occasionally come up on ebay and sell for a few bucks. possibly
for this reason?

Hopefully the situation wont be the same for the 3880? Though an alarming
number of them seem to come up very cheaply at places like Fry's, -
reconditioned .

(Incidentally it refers to itself on its screen panel as a ZT3000, on its
underside as a ZT3300 and on it serial number plate as a ZT3380US)

http://www.justmanuals.com

 

[DaveM]

You are absolutely right and this is exactly what i have discovered: The
centre pin in the female socket is very loose indeed. I am just wondering
what I will find when I get in there to replace it. And is there a link
anywhere to somewhere to buy a replacement?

All the manuals which result from the page you reference look a bit like the
notebook I have: I wonder how I establish which one is correct or are they
basically probably all similar when they look similar?

I wonder why the 3380 manual doesnt come up when one does the search you did,
especially when the results page does indeed refer to the 3380!



The price of having a computer shop replace the connector can be

http://www.dcpowerjacks.net/ is a good source for these connectors. Search for
your model.. No minimum order... refreshing.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

"In theory, there isn't any difference between theory and practice. In
practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

 

[w_tom]

I dont think there can be much doubt any more about what is
causing this, despite some responder's mention of the need to
check voltage measurements before soldering back what
everyone seems to agree is the broken connection.

Where did you find someone to do the repair? Or if you did it, was the
soldering a difficult one comprising lots of tiny connections?

Meter and two minutes would have identified a same broken solder
joint that was not obviously broken - and maybe six other problems.
There was no reason to believe you had a loose connector because it
should have been that obvious and stated in your first post.

Where do you find someone to solder a connector? Well, if that
computer tech cannot use a meter, he most definitely cannot solder a
connector safely; may even damage the motherboard or connector
trying. You need someone with simplest electrical knowledge and
soldering experience. Soldering is far more complex than a meter;
could even cause motherboard damage.

Everything posted says the connector is OK. If using speculation,
the most likely problem is a broker solder joint; not a broken
connector. Simply reflow solder in 30 seconds. Anyone who can solder
should have no problem opening the laptop if done with care.
Soldering can be accomplished in less than a minute. Learning how to
open the laptop - maybe 30 or 45 minutes. Less time if using a shop
manual.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Contacts are self cleaning. That applies both to connectors and to
contacts on battery.

You are speculating what is a problem; then trying to fix based only
on speculation. In but minutes with a meter you (or those who can
provide better information) would know rather than just speculate.
Everything posted is just speculation. Anyone with sufficient
technical knowledge to provide a useful answer will post nothing -
because no useful facts have been provided.

For example, what is that battery voltage? Now we can say if the
battery is charged. What is battery voltage when connected in system
or voltage on connector to that battery; measured when AC power is
applied and is disconnected.

Why are you getting weird calibration problems? Nobody who could
answer that question will even post because you don't provide numbers
necessary to answer that question. First essential numbers are in the
previous paragraph.

Meanwhile, WD-40 is a worst solution possible. Contacts are self
cleaning. Those with sufficient knowledge to answer your questions
would have also noted why contact contamination does not exist.

Is power supply a separate board? That would be unusual.

Meanwhile, money spend on the power brick also would not be wasted
had you used the meter and one minute to make those measurements.
Just another exmaple of why fixing things only based in speculation is
money wasted.

That joker again. Goi away, you are a) not welcome b) not helping
and c) do not have a clue.

Arno

 

[Adrian C]

Does anyone know how to replace a power supply in an HP Pavilion ZT3380
laptop please?

(Incidentally it refers to itself on its screen panel as a ZT3000, on its
underside as a ZT3300 and on it serial number plate as a ZT3380US)

HP Pavilion ZT3000 Series
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00047479.pdf

 

[shaq]

I believe you are confusing w_tom with news.rcn.com. The latter is
going to open a laptop, look at a power supply, and know whether that
power supply is defective on sight. He is going to solder a loose
connector but even declares voltage measurements with a meter as
complex. He is even going to *fix* bad electrical contacts withWD-40.

He wasted money replacing a power brick ony because he speculated it
might be bad rather than do what a 12 year old even does - use the
meter. The meter being so simple that it is even sold to K-mart
shoppers.

news.rcn.com does not even know how to open a laptop but somehow
*knows* the meter is too complex. Meanwhile, if he had used the
meter, then basic information on power supply operation, power
connector, and battery state could have been learned without opening
the laptop.

Most interesting is the speculation. news.rcn.com has assumed the
power supply will be on a separate board. I have yet to see that on
any laptop. But then news.rcn.com is using speculated symptoms to
know what is wrong.

If news.rcn.com cannot use a simple meter, then he most certainly
cannot use an iPod. Therefore he is the last person who should be
opening a laptop. Appreciate why HP would fear letting too many have
service manuals. Somehow news.rcn.com is going to look at a power
supply board and visually know it is good or bad? Well had he taken a
few voltage measurements without opening the laptop, then his replies
here could have been far more useful. Currently every reply is only
speculation. Even more absurd is that he will reflow solder on a
connector - but fears the multimeter as too complex. He will fix a
connector withWD-40. Others never questioned his technical grasp?

Ouch, using WD-40 for electrical contacts - BAD. Will degrade
plastics and make things worse in the long run. The only thing I use
for electrical connections is DeoxIT. It not only deoxidizes
oxidation, but actually improves the conductivity (not sure how, but
it does). Works on ALL metal surfaces and is perfectly compatible
with plastics. Here is the link: www.deoxit.com
I use it on everything from light bulbs to computers to audio/video
stuff.

Mike

 

[w_tom]

That joker again. Goi away, you are a) not welcome b) not helping
and c) do not have a clue.

And how many computers have you constructed by likely designing
every connection and building it by soldering wires? Zero? Throught
so. No wonder you offer nothing technically useful; use personal
attacks to prove personal superiority. Clueless is the one who does
not post technically; cannot challenge a post with a technical reply -
Arno.

 

[Arno Wagner]

And how many computers have you constructed by likely designing
every connection and building it by soldering wires? Zero? Throught
so. No wonder you offer nothing technically useful; use personal
attacks to prove personal superiority. Clueless is the one who does
not post technically; cannot challenge a post with a technical reply -
Arno.

You still owe me several technical replays in other threads. Oh,
wait, they would have made you look like an utter incompetent, so
you choose to ignore that part of the discussion. You can contribute
nothing even marginally useful here. Go away.

Arno

 

[news.rcn.com]

HP Pavilion ZT3000 Series
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00047479.pdf

Thanks Adrian, for some reason the manual section of the HP site for this
unit seemed to point to various other computers. 5.3 is the important bit
after you have passed the obvious bits: I suppose It will become apparent
when you can desolder the power jack and put a new one one: (They dismantle
the whole computer to get the mobo out)

(What the others, - W_Tom, - possibly dont know is that I had reported that
on further inspection, the centre pin is noticeably VERY loose. It might be
a loost soldered joint at the base but surely much better to simply replace
the whole connector?)

 

[DaveM]

Thanks Adrian, for some reason the manual section of the HP site for this unit
seemed to point to various other computers. 5.3 is the important bit after you
have passed the obvious bits: I suppose It will become apparent when you can
desolder the power jack and put a new one one: (They dismantle the whole
computer to get the mobo out)

(What the others, - W_Tom, - possibly dont know is that I had reported that
on further inspection, the centre pin is noticeably VERY loose. It might be a
loost soldered joint at the base but surely much better to simply replace the
whole connector?)

My experience with laptop power connectors is that one or more of the tabs that
are soldered to the main board have broken. The center pin is usually swaged
onto its tab. If the center pin is loose, then you might be able to solder it
onto its tab, but it probably won't last very long, since solder is a very weak
metal. You really need to replace the connector.

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the
address)

"In theory, there isn't any difference between theory and practice. In
practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

 

[news.rcn.com]

My experience with laptop power connectors is that one or more of the tabs
that are soldered to the main board have broken. The center pin is
usually swaged onto its tab. If the center pin is loose, then you might
be able to solder it onto its tab, but it probably won't last very long,
since solder is a very weak metal. You really need to replace the
connector.

Thank you for that input: This (along with the location of the manual) is
exactly what I wanted to know. The logical thing to do when you know that a
pin is so badly designed that it has started malfunctioning and you can see
a loose pin is NOT to try to patch up the pin [as you correctly note],
especially when the problem is so widedpread that there is a web site out
there specifically set up to deal with this exact problem at perfectly
reasonable expense!

In the words of Yes Minister, when a fish starts to smell, you dont stand
around enquiring which bit of the fish is smelling, (or for that matter
taking intricate measurements of tiny interior bits you can see are at
fault) you chuck it away.