My MS-1719 is Melting! (Literally).

[Grahamdubya]

So I've had this laptop for two years and a month now. No major problems of any kind in that time. I've upgraded the 250GB HD to a 500GB and added a 2GB stick of RAM. The last upgrade was made around September of '09.#

Just recently, though, I've been having a major, major issue. I thought it was relatively simple: the power jack was loose. Sometimes I'd be using the computer for a while, and all of a sudden it would tell me I was down to 7% battery. After jiggling the power cable in the back a bit, it would start charging, but often would keep slipping on and off battery power unless I held the cable in firmly.

But the bad part came yesterday. I had smelt burning for a couple hours, but assumed it was some idiot person I share an apartment with trying to cook. Then I got the low battery message again, but when I went to reseat the jack, I burned my finger. I promptly shut the laptop down, and flipped it over, only to find that the bottom of the chassis around the power and ethernet jacks was bubbled and melty. A hole had nearly appeared directly below the power jack.

This was clearly a bad, bad thing. I have exams and a dissertation coming up, so if this baby quits now I'm quite screwed. In the light of day, I couldn't see anything physically wrong with the power cable, the adapter, the plug, or the computer-end receptacle (except the melting, of course). So while shut off, I tried to charge the computer again. I had a solid green light for a few minutes, and then it started pulsing wildly and I could hear a clicking from the computer. It stopped when I pulled the battery.

To see if it was the power source itself, I tried a couple different outlets on different circuits in my room, and then a few more on campus (I don't live in dorm housing). Same result; pulsing green light, clicking, and the most recent time I could start to smell the burning within a couple minutes.

That leaves these possibilities: the power cord/adapter, the physical jack on the computer, or the battery. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm about to be boned.

[Grahamdubya]

I just managed to take some pictures of the area around the power jack. Here are thumbnails (click for full size):

[EzyStvy]

Yanking the hard drive out and getting your important files off comes to mind.

[Grahamdubya]

Yeah, I was able to get the important stuff when I first noticed the burning. Naturally, my external was running out of space already, so I may have to sacrifice some big files. God, this is such a disaster. I'm overseas in London for school so shipping it back would be prohibitively expensive. As would buying a new one here.

[glc]

If it's off warranty, it's going to cost more to fix it than it's worth. I'm afraid you may have to bite the bullet and buy one there that has a world-compatible power pack. Pull the drive and use a USB adapter to transfer your stuff.

[Grahamdubya]

So I assume then that this is not a potential DIY project? Everything is backed up fine; I also have an enclosure for the internal drive. God, what a tremendous pain in the ass.

[Iamjosh]

Grahamdubya, not going into why this problem had occurred, but MSI has had issues with these power jacks. Since you are in the middle of your dissertation and probably don't have too much time to chase MSI for their poor design, there are computer repair shops that can perform a repair to this problem, It requires the original jack to be removed (desoldered off the motherboard) and a new jack installed. If you live in a larger urban centre, that can be performed within 24 hours (assuming you can live without the laptop for 24 hours). Aside from the fact that you have a damaged case, I would render the laptop still functional providing you perform the above work.
Good luck.

http://www.digitalmindcomputers.com/

[glc]

Josh, are you reasonably confident that there's no further damage, requiring a motherboard replacement?