HP Spectre X360 - Plugged In, Charging BUT losing % Wont Turn On W/O Battery, New Battery Tried, AC

[ENRKyle20]

Hi there. I am working on a customers laptop and I am having some issues that I have never seen before. Any help or advise would be GREATLY appreciated. 

PC: HP Spectre X360 

MODEL: 13-4003DX

HAD A SCREEN ASSEMBLY REPLACED AS ORIGINAL CRACKED - UHD Screen

Customers Issue: Wont Turn On Or Charge

Attempts At Repair:

1) Try a known good genuine charger from an idential machine = no change

2) Order and install a USED yet genuine battery = powers on but wont charge (see below)

3) Tried 2 more USED battries & one NEW Battery= no change 

4) Tried A new DC Jack Assembly (With Known Good Charger) = no change

5) Several combinations of batteries & chargers

6) Installed all HP updates (including bios) [running on battery]

7) Inspect Motherboard for visual damage to any components, none found

😎 Roll Back Bios = No Change

9) TO ELIMINATE ANY POSIBILITIES OF THE SCREEN BEING THE PROBLEM I USED HDMI AND REMOVED THE SCREEN = NO CHANGE

10) Backed up the entire SSD, Full Wipe, Fresh Install Of Windows 10, Install & Updates & Drivers = No Change  

11) All possible combinations of the above 

12) Because The Cooling System Was Apart It Was Cleaned And Put together With Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound. 

DETAILS: Computer powers on when a battery with a PRE charge is installed, Boots up, Runs Well - When plugged in it says "plugged in, charging" (Stuck On Calculating) in Windows but it will continue to loose battery % and it will crash when battery gets down to 0% (after adjusting power setting to not allow sleep or hybernation). Charge light is solid amber, Once the pack dies it SOMETIMES flashes white. Tech got into the hardware test and ran full disgnostics with no errors found. On battery test page all stats report fine / healthy. Charger reports as genuine and no errors. 

What am I missing here. What is the next step. I would hate to throw a motherboard at it since all other parts of it work. Thank you 

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UPDATE: I did have a nearly identical machine here for testing / part swapping and I noticed that the good X360 WOULD power on and run when using JUST THE CHARGER, but this problematic machine will not. SHOULD THE SPECTRE X360 WORK WITHOUT A BATTERY INSTALLED? (Normally I would think YES, but with these newer machines some of them are starting to not power on without a battery installed) 

[ENRKyle20]

I spent some time with the board under a microsope and found something that looks to be the issue.

There is a component that does not look healthy. Photos below. 

This looks like perhaps a resistor, a pull up resistor? It has PU just above it, PU3 next to it. 

Does anyone have the schematic for this machine? 

(sorry for the large photos on the page)

[ENRKyle20]

lookie here. same exact failure point on another machine:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Spectre-x360-13-4003dx-Motherb...

That thread did not come to any real solution or help identify the component - Still trying to figre that out. I de believe its a resistor. It measures 16.4 on the 200K scale for resitance even looking the way it does.  Others around it are all over the as far as resistance goes. Any help identifying this problem surface monunt component would be great. Thank you 

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UPDATE: Looks to be a capicitor:

SM CAPACITORS
Most SM capacitors are not identified in any way and the SIZE OF THE COMPONENTS DOES NOT indicate the capacitance as each capacitor has a different number of layers. A 22n can be smaller than 1n due to the layers and the voltage rating. There is also a number of different sizes for SM capacitors.
The only way to "read" the value is via a capacitance meter. Always keep chip capacitors in their "carrier" until required. 
Some manufacturers have a 3 digit code such as a letter to indicate the origin of the component, a letter to represent the two digits in the capacitance (A=10, B=12 C=15 D=18 etc) and the third digit is the multiplier. The answer is given in pF (puff).

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Gathering more info

From Someone With The Same Problem Seeking Help:

"

I checked the parts website, but it onl has the major assemblies, no SMD parts. However, all I may need to replace is a capacitor or two, and these HP specific. The only thing I need to find out is the capacitor value. Often times(but certainly not always), using too high a capcitor value is alright when the capacitor is being used in the voltage regulation circuit. However, I would feel much better is I know the exact value.

Is there anyway you could put me in contact with someone who has more intimate technical knowledge of this machine?"

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Re: Spectre x360 Convertible 13-4002dx Motherboard Failure [ New ] 

‎05-24-2017 10:45 PM

I posted on another thread that I had this exact same issue. My 13-4003dx is less than 2 years old as well. I was working on my computer with the charger connected when it suddenly powered off. Immediately after I was unable to power back on or charge the battery. Whenever I push the power button unplugged the LED charging light will blink 3 times but the computer won't turn on.  Opened up the bottom panel and saw the same capacitors fried just like others on this forum.  The support rep I spoke to basically said sorry you're out of warranty, but we'll replace the motherboard for $700+!!  This is clearly a problem that HP is not addressing and if nothing comes from all these reports of a clear manufacturing flaw, I will make every effort to be sure that I, or anyone I know, will never buy an HP again.  

Attached photos for reference.

[ENRKyle20]

Many more photos of this same failure

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3Bu9TKwADa4dk85UjV0TW9iQms

I have confirmed that it is indeed a cap. and it does fail the test below, the others near it do not fail.

To test the capacitor with a multimeter, set the meter to read in the high ohms range, somewhere above 10k and 1m ohms. Touch the meter leads to the corresponding leads on the capacitor, red to positive and black to negative. The meter should start at zero and then moving slowly toward infinity.

I have removed the bad one (it crumbled off) but now I am looking for a replacement. The value is unknown. I did test the laptop with the failed cap removed and it does the same thing as post 1 = no change. 

next step will be to remove the - what looks to be identical cap above it and measure it. 

"No, having a higher rated cap will not somehow store up more voltage than is available in the circuit. You actually want a cap with a slightly higher voltage rating than the highest voltage you expect to put across it. In fact, if you put more voltage on a cap than it is rated for, it is apt to catastrophically fail, i.e., pop or explode."

[ENRKyle20]

Spoiler

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Anyone... Bueller?..

[MKazi]

@ENRKyle20

I have escalated your concern to HP’s Support Team in your region to have it reviewed for available options, if any.  You should be contacted within 4 business days (Excluding holidays & Weekends).  

Response times may vary by region. Please send a Private Message, if you aren’t contacted within 4-5 business days.

[ENRKyle20 · Accepted solution]

Thank you! 

SOLVED - HP WAS KIND ENOUGH TO COVER THE REPAIR OUT OF WARRANY. TOOK ABOUT  A WEEK. THANK YOU HP! 

[WindwardWizard]

ENRKyle20 I have a Spectra X360 model 13-4002dx which is also dead and with the exact same capacitor damaged as yours. Did you ever find out the capacitance and determine if replacing it fixed the problem. I have pretty good soldering skills - even for SMT parts. My X360 is out of warranty but not all that old - very frustrating that HP has this obvious product defect and are not admitting it. There is no way that I would spend $500+ to repair a known design/manufacturing defect even though I loved it before it died.

[WindwardWizard]

Here is a photo. The burnt and cracked capacitor is the bottom or the two in the dead center.

[bkmurphy]

I am having the same problem. Everything tests okay and I purchased a second charger to test but had the same issue.

A lot of people are having the same problem but I'm glad HP fixed it for you.

Just my opinion if anyone from HP should happen to read it but it would be nice if HP would recall these laptops and fix the problem for the rest of us who are a little beyond their warranty. I purchased the upgraded model with an I7 7th gen and 512GB SSD so it's a little disappointing to have spent more money with the expectation that I would be using it for a few years verses the little over a year I had.