Acer Aspire 7520 Cutting Out

[Deleted member 20519]

Hi guys

I'm having a bit of a problem with my laptop, an Acer Aspire 7520. I've had it for a few years now and it's been fine but it's developed a problem over the last few months. While using it it cuts out randomly with no warning. I used it for 2+ hours yesterday with no problem but today it doesn't even get to the Windows boot screen before cutting off.

I've cleaned all of the fans, tried different RAM sticks, tried a different hard drive with no luck. It doesn't feel like it's getting hot so I don't think it could be heat related.

I've also updated the BIOS but I've got no idea what to do now. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Crackle]

Motherboard, power supply, processor. Check your logs for any hardware errors being reported (google it, it's quicker than me trying to explain).

 

[the snail]

Hi guys

I've cleaned all of the fans.

Did you remove the fan, or just clean it in place? I had the same problem with my aspire - the keyboard would get hot. I removed the fan, and there was a thick wad of dust between the fan and the casing, removed it and it runs fine now - I think this is a design issue with aspire laptops.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Did you remove the fan, or just clean it in place? I had the same problem with my aspire - the keyboard would get hot. I removed the fan, and there was a thick wad of dust between the fan and the casing, removed it and it runs fine now - I think this is a design issue with aspire laptops.

I didn't take the fan out, I just blasted it with compressed air. How hard is it to remove the fan?

 

[the snail]

three little screws, didn't need to disconnect any wires.

 

[Simmer]

does it cut off with a "click" like the power has gone, or does it hang at a blank screen with some of the status leds still lit up ?

blasting air in the vents is bad.. there's usually some copper tubing exhaust pipes attached which then get blocked even more. .. a hoover is better to suck the dust out

 

[bikepete]

Try operating it with the battery removed. Worked for one of my laptops...

 

[Deleted member 20519]

does it cut off with a "click" like the power has gone, or does it hang at a blank screen with some of the status leds still lit up ?

blasting air in the vents is bad.. there's usually some copper tubing exhaust pipes attached which then get blocked even more. .. a hoover is better to suck the dust out

Yes, it clicks and then cuts right out.

Sometimes it takes about 10 minutes to power up, the power button flashes green but nothing happens.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Try operating it with the battery removed. Worked for one of my laptops...

Tried with no luck

 

[Shaun]

When you "blasted it out" - how harsh was the blast? Spray-can strength or commercial car tyre inflator?

It's possible to ruin the bearings in fans by rotating them faster than intended with compressed air, so check underneath to ensure the fan rotates properly when you power it up.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

When you "blasted it out" - how harsh was the blast? Spray-can strength or commercial car tyre inflator?

It's possible to ruin the bearings in fans by rotating them faster than intended with compressed air, so check underneath to ensure the fan rotates properly when you power it up.

It wasn't a strong blast, probably the same as blowing on it. The fan is spinning fine while the laptop is on.

 

[Shaun]

So it goes off even with the power plugged in? Have you tried a chkdsk to check / repair the HDD?

Open up command prompt and type: CHKDSK /R and press Enter / Return.

Note: It may complain that it cannot run (because you've booted to the disk and you're using it to run Windows) so it will run at next startup. Restart when you're ready for it to check the disk.

It may take a while depending on size of disk so don't restart until you've finish the key jobs you want to do on your computer.

Let us know if it find or fixes anything?

 

[Simmer]

If it loses all power including LED's with a single "click" , the same sound as if you press and hold the power button, then either:
Power circuit faulty
thermal cut out threshold is incorrect in bios settings
faulty thermal sensor (could be dirt related blocking airflow and getting a hotspot)
Ribbon from power switch panel to system board is loose. (it thinks the power button is being held down if the ribbon strips breache multiple connectors)
Something is shorting (bent USB inserts are common)

If it "clicks/knocks" multiple times but retains power (you mention flashing green led, not sure if this is on reboot ?) .. this is most likely the disk armature knocking. Hope you backed up your data !

 

[Deleted member 20519]

So it goes off even with the power plugged in? Have you tried a chkdsk to check / repair the HDD?

Open up command prompt and type: CHKDSK /R and press Enter / Return.

Note: It may complain that it cannot run (because you've booted to the disk and you're using it to run Windows) so it will run at next startup. Restart when you're ready for it to check the disk.

It may take a while depending on size of disk so don't restart until you've finish the key jobs you want to do on your computer.

Let us know if it find or fixes anything?

Ran a chkdsk last night and it took about an hour to complete (the hard is only 80GB) so maybe it fixed something? Used it for about 2 hours with the charger plugged in and then a further hour running off of the battery alone, here's hoping that that's fixed it

 

[Simmer]

Ran a chkdsk last night and it took about an hour to complete (the hard is only 80GB) so maybe it fixed something? Used it for about 2 hours with the charger plugged in and then a further hour running off of the battery alone, here's hoping that that's fixed it

That's good news, so the clicking was probably the drive unable to read a bad sector. Bad news is that once the surface on the platter starts to break down it only gets worse. If you have any files on that drive not backed up to DVD etc, I would do it now.