desoldering....

mizzou

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2008
9,734
54
91
I'm going to desolder a AC Power plug on my dell inspiron 6000. The contacts are bad w/ the motherboard and it's causing a sporadic charge if I move my laptop or gravity pulls on the AC power cord.

Alreayd replaced the battery and the AC Adapater so I know its the AC Plug in the laptop now.


Anyone want to offer any tips or concerns? I'm a neophyte solder'er, just going to fly w/ what youtube shows me.

Will get a desoldering suction pump and a weller iron and hope for the best!
 

stahlhart

Super Moderator Graphics Cards
Dec 21, 2010
4,273
77
91
I've always gone with desoldering braid -- this is absolutely the best I have ever used:

http://www.bdent.com/category-s/123.htm

Any residual flux can be cleaned with annhydrous (or close to it) alcohol and a swab. You can get a bottle of 91% at CVS for a few bucks that works fine.
 

Soulkeeper

Diamond Member
Nov 23, 2001
6,723
147
106
A heat gun might also work, depending on exactly what you're dealing with
 

Sniper82

Lifer
Feb 6, 2000
16,517
0
76
probably just a weak/broken solder joint on one of the pins. You could probably just reheat it with a iron and call it a day.
 

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
Not much to it other than what you already know. I've had to do power plugs on Toshiba and Acer laptops (the ones with the crappy male prong style) and the male pin always gets loose in the back of the connector causing heat/shorts/sporadic operation. The only real challenge is figuring out how the laptop comes apart. The rest is fairly easy.
 

paul878

Senior member
Jul 31, 2010
874
1
0
It is unlikely that you will the able to desolder the whole connector without damaging the pcb. I usually cut the connector up and desolder it one piece at a time.
 

stahlhart

Super Moderator Graphics Cards
Dec 21, 2010
4,273
77
91
It is unlikely that you will the able to desolder the whole connector without damaging the pcb. I usually cut the connector up and desolder it one piece at a time.

That's actually a pretty good idea, if the part is known to be bad anyway and won't be replaced. You could hold onto the lug to be removed with pliers and apply the iron -- it will probably come out easier this way than trying to desolder the joint completely first. Especially true if the holes in the board are plated-through.