Shuts off after a minute or so

I have had my AA1 since the beginning of October. Over my christmas break the keyboard began malfunctioning by spitting out random characters when certain keys were pressed (example: 7 would put out either 5-95 or ] at random). I got it sent in to acer for repair and they replaced the motherboard. When it got back to me the keyboard was fixed, but the laptop shut off after about 60 seconds with no warning. I sent it in again and I got it back today. They said they replaced the hard drive. That was definately not the root of this problem since this even happened when I booted off a live USB. Anyway, I talked to acer again and I am sending it in for a third time. I would really like to avoid doing this; I already have the RMA and everything, but I would like to explore all my options before I lose my computer for another two weeks or so. Has anyone encountered a problem like this before? Any fixes??

 

Same Problem

I bought my Aspire One 160 GB in January and last night it started shutting down while booting up. Even if I go into the BIOS settings and just sit there, it will turn off in about 30 seconds. I have been working on it all night and now this morning, and have not found a fix for it. I am afraid to do any BIOS flashing because it might shut off during the process. I found this thread:

http://www.theacerguy.com/forum/topic/a ... 1#post-490

But none of the tips have helped me. I am out of ideas. Plus, I have read that some people had that problem, sent it in to Acer, and it wasn't fixed at all. I cannot WAIT to send it in, only to get it back with a formatted hard drive and STILL malfunctioning hardware! </sarcasm> I would love to keep all my important school files, but it looks like my only option is to send it in and have them wipe it clean and do their thing. So frustrating...

 

Mine appears to be overheating because the fan isn't switching on. I sent it in with a note explaining to look at the fan and that this was the third time I was sending it in. Generally the fan turns on when the computer starts doesn't it? I didn't hear anything on mine.

 

Yeah mine definitely has an overheating problem. It doesn't sound like the fan spins at all. I just hear the hard drive spinning up. Also, to make sure it was an overheating problem, I put the aspire one in a tight case, then in a grocery bag, and then in the freezer for 5 or 10 minutes. Then I turned it on and it lasted way longer than before and then finally turned off again. So it's obviously having some trouble staying cool. I guess I'm going to have to send it in..

 

Hi,

My AA1 is another with this problem. Purchased in Jan problem started after 6 weeks.

The model is an A150AB. The sticker on the bottom says it was manufactured in 0807, which I presume is July 2008.

As with others no fan noise and if the unit is cold it will last longer before failing. it will fail even if you enter BIOS setup, so it is not a software issue.

It appears that there is a whole batch with some type of fan/sensor problem, which fails at about 6-8 weeks after purchase.

D

 

So here's an update for anyone that is interested:

I decided to crack it open and see what the problem was. I used this as a reference:

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/show ... ight=bb320

I spun the fan a bit and put some fresh thermal grease (arctic silver) on the cpu. Then, while putting it back together, I made sure all connections were good and the screws were on tight. And...

It works great! The temperature is much better! I don't know what it used to be, but it is now consistently below 20 Celsius with normal usage. I also did some stress testing and ran the cpu at 100% for 10 minutes and there were no sudden shut downs and the temperature was still acceptable.

I noticed the thermal grease they had on there was kind of thick, almost as if it was insulating the cpu instead of allowing the heat to dissipate to the heatsink. Maybe that was why..

So if you have any hardware knowledge, give that a try. It was kind of scary , but mine works like a champ now and I don't regret it. I'm not sure if it "voids the warranty" since no seals need to be broken to get inside, and I've read that people have replaced their ram and still had their warranties. So I'm ASSUMING I'm still okay, but if not.... Oh well.

Anyway, just thought you'd like to know. Aside from the initial problems, I love my Aspire One.

 

If I get it back and it still doesn't work I am definitely going to do that.

 

Do not under any circumstances put your computer in the freezer.

MavisPuford has the correct solution, I discovered this last night. Mine wouldn't stay on for more than 30-60 seconds, and rightly so, the computer would shut off. Following a RAM upgrade tutorial from crunchgear to make sure I disassembled it correctly, I made sure the heat sink was tight and that the fan was clean and connected, and my system stays powered on now.

 

Yeah same prob. And this after 6 months. The chip thats visible when you lift up the keyboard gets to above 100 degrees celsius after about 1 second of turning on.
R

 

After sending it back three times and with a note the last time they finally fixed it. Something interesting to note: Normally it took about 3-6 days for them to fix the problem and ship it back out. When I included the note it took less than 24 hours to fix the problem and ship it back. The timeline was something like: I got the recieve notice at about 7AM and the ship notice at about 6AM the next day.

My computer now works fine now...yay acer support and their competence in fixing things the first time :roll:

 

Not sure if my warranty is valid...
Will try Arctic thermal paste