Anyone ever have a problem with a loose power jack on a laptop?

[Al Neri]

This began a few weeks ago, and now it's gotten to apoint that I can't charge it unless i hold it in at a certain angle to charge...

it's a dell 710m ...

I tried taking it apart but I couldn't figure out how to get the casing above it off.

could i solder it back on? is there anything I can do myself without paying someone to do it.

Anyone have diagrams how to take apart a 710m? I am ready to resolder it back on, google yielded nothing.

Thanks!

Don R.

 

[LS20]

YES. on the same 700m.

BUT, it was because i dropped the laptop 4ft onto a hard surface right on the power jack area!

the common solution IS to solder it, which ive tried, but opening the laptop is a biatch even with instructions and diagrams online


if its way too fubar, like mine, you need a replacement AC jack unit. i got mine for 25$ online


(and 150$ frys repair charge )

 

[Al Neri]

ttt

 

[Nohr]

I had that problem on an old Compaq Presario with a Pentium 150. Seems it's not an uncommon problem. I don't know what it's like on your Dell but I had to completely tear apart the Presario to get at that connector so I could resolder it to the motherboard. If one of the legs/pins is broken off the connector you may need to get a replacement one.

 

[So]

Definitely doable, but it all depends on how much confidence and soldering skill you have.

 

[Shawn]

Seems pretty easy to fix. The only hard part is getting the laptop apart.

 

[Al Neri]

i have some soldering experience... my hand has a mild case of the shakes but nothing serious

 

[Nick5324]

My brother had this problem with his laptop. He took it to "the laptop guy", a local store that buys, sells and repairs laptops. For $200, it was fixed. While I wouldn't pay that, my brother valued his time more than $200 to have someone else fix it. GL to you OP.

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: Nick5324
My brother had this problem with his laptop. He took it to "the laptop guy", a local store that buys, sells and repairs laptops. For $200, it was fixed. While I wouldn't pay that, my brother valued his time more than $200 to have someone else fix it. GL to you OP.

the scary thing is that laptop parts are so cheap he may have been able to buy a new motherboard on ebay for that price.

thats the thing about laptop repair. prices drop very frequently so its hard to justify paying anyone to do extensive labor on the unit.

i wouldnt pay anyone to service my laptop if i had to, id just buy new parts or a new machine.

 

[Pepsi90919]

i've never had a laptop that took AC.

 

[loup garou]

bump

 

[Exterous]

Its a pretty common thing. As for soldering - depends on your skill and the location. I haven't ever done it for a dell but I could never get an Averatec soldered on well enough for it to keep longer than a month but I have had success with HPs and Compaqs

 

[MisterJackson]

Originally posted by: KrillBee

Originally posted by: Nick5324
My brother had this problem with his laptop. He took it to "the laptop guy", a local store that buys, sells and repairs laptops. For $200, it was fixed. While I wouldn't pay that, my brother valued his time more than $200 to have someone else fix it. GL to you OP.

the scary thing is that laptop parts are so cheap he may have been able to buy a new motherboard on ebay for that price.

thats the thing about laptop repair. prices drop very frequently so its hard to justify paying anyone to do extensive labor on the unit.

i wouldnt pay anyone to service my laptop if i had to, id just buy new parts or a new machine.

Ummmmm........no. A USED board for a 700m is:

$200

A NEW board will run you $400'ish and up on that model.

If the repair guy was "buying boards and throwing them in" he'd make NO money. As it stands the jack itself is cheap but you're paying for the labor and knowledge.

To 90% of the people out there its worth $200 to $300 to fix a laptop if it lasts them another few years as opposed to dropping $600 + on a new one.

If I get a customer that insists on repairing it but I think the laptops too old and not worth the money to put into it I'll tell them.

 

[dethman]

i just had the exact same problem on my 700m 2 wks ago. i took the entire laptop apart (which took quite awhile) and found the DC jack was loose and was partially burnt. It's a fairly complicated jack on the 700m, there's 9 points to solder in a 0.75x0.75cm sq area. i decided it would be better to take it to a professional as though i'm pretty decent at soldering, it wouldn't be worth my time. $125 in repair costs later, the laptop was fixed and he fixed my speaker too which was broken.

 

[Al Neri]

thanks for the bump werk. let's hope this werks!

 

[j00fek]

should open another thread about it

 

[Umberger]

I had a very similar problem with a Dell Inspiron 5150. It wouldn't charge unless a put a lot of lateral pressure on the jack. Luckily, it was under warranty and they came and fixed it... their solution was just to replace the motherboard.

 

[Shaotai]

I also had a similar situation with a friends compaq m700. I fully stripped it down to just the mobo and resoldered it. It wasn't a good job and broke again, but the second time, I was really able to see where the break was and fixed it for good! No issue!

 

[Al Neri]

Should I desolder / resolder it?

I tried desoldering it with a braid, for about 2 minutes it didn't desolder :

 

[Al Neri]

ttt

D0h

i just realized have 50 days left on the dell warranty... is this covered?

 

[Al Neri]

?

 

[LeadMagnet]

I have this problem on a Latitude 640c