Hit by lightning, old charger fried, new charger doesn't charge

[mdisaster]

I'm afraid this one won't be easy to reproduce 🙂

Two days ago lightning score a direct hit on our house and fried a number of devices. My 15-ba026nl laptop was charging at the time, and turned off. Disconnecting the charger the laptop turned on and operate regularly on battery power, however the charger became very hot when plugged in a power socket, and connecting it to the laptop caused the laptop to turn off. So I stopped experimenting, wrote off the old charger and began looking for a new one.

Today I bought a new HP charger (WD5D55AA), which according to the box should be compatible with the 15-baxxx series. When I connect it to the laptop the charge light becomes red for some seconds, then turns to steady white. However the battery icon says that the laptop is on battery power, and even HP Support Assistant says that the battery is fine but the charger is not connected.

So as I see it there are three possibilities:
1) the charger is defective.
2) the charger is not compatible with my specific model.
3) the laptop circuitry is damaged and doesn't charge the battery anymore.

Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot the problem?

Thanks in advance.

[Huffer]

Your logic is impeccable. Yes 1) and 2) are possible but extremely low probability. 3) is the likely answer but I can refine the question a bit more. 

The power jack on the laptop is the end of a separate pigtail device that plugs into the motherboard:

(12) Power connector cable 813945-001

See p. 73 of the manual here:

Manual

So question is whether the power surge merely damaged the power connector cable or did it go further and damage the charging circuitry on the motherboard? One way to figure it out is to remove the battery (yours is removeable without opening the case-good) and see if the laptop can run off just the adapter. If it can, that tends to point to damage to the charging circuit past the connector cable. If it cannot it is highly possible that adapter power is not getting to the motherboard at all because the connector cable is damaged. 

I must say in a lightning surge situation it is much more likely the motherboard is damaged but the test I outline above

is free and sheds some light on the situation. 

Post back and let us know what you find, please. 

[mdisaster]

Thanks for your suggestion! 

I disconnected the battery and tried to start the laptop on AC power, but I didn't get a charge light (possibly because there was nothing to charge, or should I have got some "battery broken or missing" status signal?), and the laptop didn't show any sign of life either.
 
So, it would seem that either the connector cable is damaged or it's both the connector and the motherboard...  actually I'd have settled for a batteryless laptop (I tend to use it plugged most of the time anyway), but apparently this is not the case and I'll have to take the disk off and save my stuff, or else take my chances with what life is left in the battery.

(I guess there isn't a simple way to recharge the battery without having it plugged in the laptop?). 

Thanks again for your help.

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

20 years ago laptop makers offered external battery chargers for specific models but not any more. 

It is also still somewhat possible you have a bad or incompatible adapter there. Is it a genuine HP adapter or a "compatible" knock-off? Does the original adapter work without a battery? 

If it does not run on a good adapter with battery out my next step as a tech would be to try replacing the power cable. Maybe $15 for the part and a good bit of labor but your other option, replacing the motherboard or buying a new laptop is obviously not cheap. 

[mdisaster]

The adapter is a genuine HP W5D55AA, however I just checked the compatibily list on the HP Store and my 15-ba26nl isn't there, even if the voltage is correct, the pin fits perfectly. and the label on the box states that the adapter is compatible with the 15-baxxx series (I've not the slightest idea whether my laptop is an Envy, a Pavillion or whatever though - I can only hope that HP doesn't reuse the same code name for different models in different series).

Apparently what I need is the slim model G6H45AA, which is compatible with my specific model, and  much more expensive as well.

However before going that way I'll try to swap the current adapter with a "universal" rip-off  (that is the only swap I am allowed in that store anyway), and see how it works out - maybe a dumber adapter will not engage the broken circuits, or failing that I can still use it with some of my other computers. Will try it tomorrow and post the results or lack thereof.

Thanks for your assistance!

[Huffer]

I usually source adapters by the HP part number not by the adapter maker's Code. 

65-W, for use in HP Notebook PC and HP 255 G5 Notebook PC models 710412-001

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-HP-TouchSmart-Ultrabook-710412-001/dp/B07BMFWDW6/ref=sr_1_20?s=electr...

[mdisaster]

Unfortunately I have to buy from Amazon.it, which offer a much more limited choice and also forces automated translation in its search engine whether you want it or not, so searching stuff such as "adapter", "charger" or "battery charger" can become complicated, if entertaining (just as an example, "battery"  is translated as "batteria", which is a battery but also a drum set , an artillery unit, or a set of pottery ...  )

Still, I'll see what can be done when the time zones are right. Thanks again for your help!

[Huffer]

Number like HP part numbers do not depend on language and make good search terms. 

https://www.amazon.it/Alimentatore-Adattatore-Alimentazione-709985-002-alimentazione/dp/B071CD8WKV/r...

I also saw some genuine ones there but my Italian is very very limited so not sure if they are really available to buy. 

[mdisaster]

Problem is, ripoff makers use the hp part numbers to indicate that their product is a replacement for that part or is compatible with that part. Also they are somewhat liberal with the use of "genuine" . For example the one you linked is a "genuine"  Yoofan product, reportedly compatible with the hp products mentioned in the title (the description basically  says "you can trust us, it's 100% compatible")
. .
Still, I agree that searching original HP products using the part numbers is the way to go. Will give it a try tomorrow.

I'm marking your previous message as accepted solution, since other than trying other adapters there is not much that can be done in the way of experimentation, and sending the unit for service will be probably necessary anyway.  Will update the post with the final result in a few days. Thanks again for your support!