HomeHere are three different laptop DC power jack repair techniques you can use to bring your laptop back to life.
1. The most common technique is resoldering the DC power jack back back on the motherboard. In this case your laptop will look exactly the same as before but the same problem with the power jack might happen again in the future.
2. Relocating the power jack outside the laptop case. After this repair the laptop will not look very sexy but this technique works. This repair should last for a while because you will not be stressing connection between the power jack and the motherboard anymore.
3. Replacing original factory DC power jack with a generic one. I like this one. The only problem is finding the power jack that fits your adapter and mounting it on the laptop case. If you can do that, this repair should last much longer the two previous techniques.
Here’s an example of replacing the power jack on a Toshiba Satellite A65 laptop with a generic jack purchased at RadioShack (Jack #274-1576).
May 9th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
[...] You can use these power jack repair techniques to fix your laptop. [...]
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:14 pm
was just wondering if anyone has the size specs of the acer tip. I have an older targus universal power supply and the tip from tagrus waa not an exact fit. It works at times but I want to just solder the correct tip on and be done with it. I have a local surplus store that has a ton of different sizes but would like to know thw specs
June 5th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Can I ask a question. I am trying to re-solder a dc jack in a dell latitude d600. I have to remove the old one first. I am using a weller 40 w soldering iron. it goes up to 900F. Yet it won’t melt the solder. I have tried put new solder over the joint and even used desoldering braid, but it will not loosen. Is my iron still not hot enough? Or, is it another problem. Thank you for your help. By the way your site is great, what a help for do it yourselfers.
Bob Becker
June 6th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Bob Becker,
I’m using Weller WES51 soldering workstation. It has tip temperature control range: 350°F to 850°F and for jack soldering job I set it to 850°F.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:47 am
how do i take the cover off a gateway lap top to the power port?
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:23 am
minton,
All laptops are different. Search though the Gateway category on the right side of this site. I posted some Gateway disassembly instructions in there. It’s possible you’ll find a similar model.
August 11th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Hello
I have a laptop acer 5002WMLI is it possible to replace the dc jack usb femal?
If it s possible please send me a time line
Thank you
August 14th, 2010 at 11:42 am
peggy,
Not sure what dc jack usb femal is.
November 19th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Just replaced power jack on Toshiba L505. When it powered up, there is no control of the cursor with the touchpad or with an external mouse. Any ideas on how to reconnect with the cursor?
November 21st, 2010 at 12:25 am
Bruce,
Not sure what’s going on but make sure the touchpad cable is connected correctly.
Usually, if the laptop touch pad doesn’t work, you still should be able to use an external mouse. In your case both don’t work and I think it’s somehow related to connection between the touchpad cable and motherboard. This is just a guess though.
November 21st, 2010 at 9:31 am
Thanks for the prompt response. The Toshiba L505 is now responding to an external mouse, but not to the touchpad. I’ve checked the connection to the motherboard (seems good) and tried toggling the touchpad on/off using function/f9. Is there a way to determine if the issue is touchpad or motherboard?
November 21st, 2010 at 9:40 am
Bruce,
This could be software or hardware problem.
Try booting your laptop from Live Linux CD (you can try Knoppix or Ubuntu). When you boot your laptop from one of these CDs, it will take you to a Windows-like desktop. Test your touchpad in there.
If the touchpad works fine in Linux but not in Windows, this is software related problem. Reinstalling Windows from scratch will fix it.
If the touchpad doesn’t work in Linux, probably this is hardware failure.
Which part is causing the problem? I don’t know. Could be bad connection, bad touchpad, bad cable or motherboard problem.