pretty new NEC P7200 copies Disco

[PhilipA]

I have a NEC P7200 about 18 months old.
In the last few days it is refusing to turn on ie when I press the button nothing happens and it does not start to boot . After several random tries it may decide to boot.
I bought a new switch cover thinking it was a membrane that may be broken, as the switch had a broken feel. when I fitted the new cover however , it was obvious that the switch is a small mechanical on/off press button. I cleaned it with electronic contact cleaner spray, and also the interlock switch on the hinge of the display, and the power socket, battery terminals, and all other open sockets.
With my limited knowledge it seems like a relay problem or maybe a bad contact on a board.
Any ideas where the power goes from the switch? To an IC, relay, mosfet?
Regards Philip A

[WhiteD3]

My bet is your power supply is cactus.

[PhilipA]

Hmmmm.
While I was away on my trip to the Flinders ranges I used a Projecta Laptop charger.
It blew up the first time used.
I wonder if it surged enough to damage my power supply.
But it still worked fine when I got home for 2 weeks or so.
Regards Philip A

[abaddonxi]

Sounds like your power supply socket could have a snapped or bad contact.

Has it had any drops or knocks that might have pulled the power cord out?

That could also be the reason why the other power supply blew up - something shorted when power socket moved about on motherboard.

If that is the case, you can fix it by stripping the laptop down and resoldering/replacing the socket. I've never played with NEC laptops, so have no idea about it, but it should be reasonably easy to find a manual, or a website with pull-down pics.

Oh, and you might be able to test with a multimeter to the socket, or cut off the cord from the blown power supply, check for continuity with meter, then us it to check the power socket if the socket is too small to get multimeter probes into.

Cheers
Simon

[PhilipA]

The bloody thing is now working.
I stripped it down , but couldn't really get it completely apart, but could not see anything amiss around the socket. I made sure to earth myself and I also earthed the chassis to a water pipe before I started
When I reassembled it , the light went on, it began to boot and a message came up "Intel cannot recognise media, insert boot disc"

So I removed the hard disc again and refitted it, and then away it went as if nothing had happened.
It looks like it may be a hard disc problem or with the hard disc connections.
The corrugations look like they took a toll.
Lets hope it continues.
Hard disc on way out?????
Regards Philip A