Yesterday I went to turn on my A500, and I didn't get the familiar "click". It didn't turn on. Tried pushing the button several times, and it just felt dead.
Sooo, living in Mexico and knowing that it would be weeks or months before I could get any sort of repair turn-around, I decided to have a go at fixing it. I found a couple of instructions on the web on how to open the case - almost frighteningly easy with a guitar pick or something like that. You can have the back off your A500 in about 20 seconds.
Looking around where the power switch is, I found that it wasn't even attached to the motherboard anymore. It had broken off and dropped down into the case. Nothing for it! I decided to remove the battery, motherboard and whatever else I needed to get to it. It didn't take long, but you need to be real careful with the flat cables and other plug ins. One cable next to the battery connection I just couldn't get out, so I removed everything else and folded the motherboard over to have a look.
All I can say is that either the Acer motherboard designers are morons, or someone didn't do their job. The entire power switch (about 2mmx2mm) is held down by three surface mount pads on one side. It's quite easy, with enough pressure, to just have the entire switch rock back and, in my case, just break off the motherboard. There are two small pins on either side of the switch, and matching holes in the mother board, that appear to be there as a means of soldering into the motherboard to provide mechanical strength. These weren't soldered in, and the holes clearly had never seen any solder.
With a good light and a magnifying glass, and a very tiny tipped soldering iron, I was able to tack the three surface mount pins on the power switch back in place on the motherboard. I did try to solder the side mounting pins down, but I couldn't make it work. The space is tiny and there are other components on the board very close.
The vibration motor is about 3mm behind the switch, and I assumed it had better mechanical strength than he switch did. So, I pumped some hot glue into the gap between the back of the power switch and the motor. All seemed pretty strong, so I re-assembled tablet. The switch felt good, and the system powered on!
The entire process took me about 2 hours.
Just a couple of points here:
- If you do decide to remove the back cover from your A500, remove the SD card first. I didn't, and for some reason when I put the case back together the card came out a little and actually broke in half.
- DO NOT SOLDER ON MOTHERBOARDS IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW. I'm a 30+ year electrical engineer and have been soldering things together since I was 9. It takes an extremely steady hand, the right iron and the right solder. If you don't have the skill or the tools, send your tablet off to have it done.
- BE EASY ON YOUR POWER SWITCH. I'm sure my problem started when I poked my power switch too hard. Be nice to your power switch and you won't have the problem I did.
- The hot glue thing works pretty well. If you are at all worried about your switch coming off in the future, it's pretty easy to pump a little hot glue down in there to give it more strength.
I hope this helps others. It was pretty upsetting to sit down at a meeting with documents on my tablet that I needed for the meeting, and not be able to get it to turn on. it was quite a relief when it all came back.
Sooo, living in Mexico and knowing that it would be weeks or months before I could get any sort of repair turn-around, I decided to have a go at fixing it. I found a couple of instructions on the web on how to open the case - almost frighteningly easy with a guitar pick or something like that. You can have the back off your A500 in about 20 seconds.
Looking around where the power switch is, I found that it wasn't even attached to the motherboard anymore. It had broken off and dropped down into the case. Nothing for it! I decided to remove the battery, motherboard and whatever else I needed to get to it. It didn't take long, but you need to be real careful with the flat cables and other plug ins. One cable next to the battery connection I just couldn't get out, so I removed everything else and folded the motherboard over to have a look.
All I can say is that either the Acer motherboard designers are morons, or someone didn't do their job. The entire power switch (about 2mmx2mm) is held down by three surface mount pads on one side. It's quite easy, with enough pressure, to just have the entire switch rock back and, in my case, just break off the motherboard. There are two small pins on either side of the switch, and matching holes in the mother board, that appear to be there as a means of soldering into the motherboard to provide mechanical strength. These weren't soldered in, and the holes clearly had never seen any solder.
With a good light and a magnifying glass, and a very tiny tipped soldering iron, I was able to tack the three surface mount pins on the power switch back in place on the motherboard. I did try to solder the side mounting pins down, but I couldn't make it work. The space is tiny and there are other components on the board very close.
The vibration motor is about 3mm behind the switch, and I assumed it had better mechanical strength than he switch did. So, I pumped some hot glue into the gap between the back of the power switch and the motor. All seemed pretty strong, so I re-assembled tablet. The switch felt good, and the system powered on!
The entire process took me about 2 hours.
Just a couple of points here:
- If you do decide to remove the back cover from your A500, remove the SD card first. I didn't, and for some reason when I put the case back together the card came out a little and actually broke in half.
- DO NOT SOLDER ON MOTHERBOARDS IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW. I'm a 30+ year electrical engineer and have been soldering things together since I was 9. It takes an extremely steady hand, the right iron and the right solder. If you don't have the skill or the tools, send your tablet off to have it done.
- BE EASY ON YOUR POWER SWITCH. I'm sure my problem started when I poked my power switch too hard. Be nice to your power switch and you won't have the problem I did.
- The hot glue thing works pretty well. If you are at all worried about your switch coming off in the future, it's pretty easy to pump a little hot glue down in there to give it more strength.
I hope this helps others. It was pretty upsetting to sit down at a meeting with documents on my tablet that I needed for the meeting, and not be able to get it to turn on. it was quite a relief when it all came back.