HomeLately I’ve been seeing exactly the same problem with the power socket in some newer Toshiba Satellite L305/L305D and Satellite L355/L355D laptops. I don’t know if it’s a poor design or people just not careful enough with their laptops, but the power socket in these models breaks very often.
On the picture below you can see a good working power socket. The power jack is seated correctly. It’s tight and will not move when you plug in the adapter.
On the next picture you see a broken socket. There is a gap between the power jack and laptop base and when you plug the AC adapter inside the jack it feels very loose. In some cases, the power jack disconnects from the laptop base and you cannot plug in the power adapter at all.
In order to understand what’s going on it’s necessary to remove the top cover and take a closer look at the power jack.
As you see on the picture below, the power jack is not seated correctly and separated from the laptop base.
In some cases it happens because the DC-IN power jack gets broken.
In other cases, the DC-IN power jack is OK but the laptop base is broken. The power jack mounts between two plastic brackets inside the case. If one of the brackets is broken (the left one in my case), the DC-IN power jack will not seat correctly.
But in many cases you have both parts broken, the power jack and base assembly.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO FIX THE POWER SOCKET?
1. If the power jack is OK but the base is broken, you’ll have to replace the base assembly, which means you’ll have to disassemble the whole laptop.
2. If the base assembly is OK, but the DC-IN jack is broken, you’ll have to replace the DC-IN power harness.
3. In the worst case scenario you’ll have to replace both parts, the base assembly AND power jack harness.
UPDATE!
I just published a guide explaining how to repair broken power connector yourself.
Static electricity can kill your laptop. I recommend wearing an anti-static wrist strap while working with internal parts of your laptop.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
March 18th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I had exactly the same problem with my Satellite L305 laptop. I didn’t think that this will be covered by the warranty but I took it to the Toshiba repair center. They fixed it at no charge!
March 19th, 2009 at 9:04 am
I also have a broken socket in my laptop, it’s a Satellite L355. Is it a common problem with this model?
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I have the same problem. It doesn’t charge at all anymore. I was careless in the beginning. I had an incident that loosened the socket…then it wore out with the times I’ve charged it. Hopefully I’m as fortunate as Tim.
April 4th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Matthew,
Believe me, you are not alone. I’ve seen many different L305/L355 laptops with exactly the same problem.
April 8th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
So i have a versa premium, trying to google what part (power socket) i need but cant find anywhere…ideas?
April 9th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I have a Satellite L305, which is only a few months old. My base assembly & AC jack were cracked; Toshiba Repair Center said these items are NOT covered under warranty, because the problems are considered “customer neglect”. These are expensive repairs for a “budget” computer:(
April 9th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Tracy,
I think it’s just not a really good design and cheap plastic make it even worse.
Call a different service center.
April 9th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
When I have time, I’ll make a guide for fixing this problem using a generic power jack.
Basically, you buy a metal jack in RadioShack, mount it inside the case, cut off the old jack and solder wires to the RadioShack jack.
April 19th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
The same thing happened to my Toshiba satellite, it was a little loose to begin with, but then got worse and couldn’t charge.. they said it was “physical damage” (i.e. it was me who did it) and charged me $250 to repair it- I had to buy a whole new bottom casing and pay for the technician time. What a huge ripoff for something I probably could have fixed myself.
April 19th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Gwynn,
Be careful with the jack, the same problem may occur again. I’ve seen a few laptops coming back with a broken jack and base assembly a few month after I repaired them.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Ok, I cannot actually endorse my solution, as I did it today, and am not sure how it will work.
First, open your case up as per instructions above.
Second, use the best epoxy you can get to reattach the front of the jack to the side of the laptop. Though, it should be something you can remove if ever absolutely necessary.
Third, if you look at the top panel, you will see that a speaker is right behind the jack. On the side against the jack, epoxy some sort of cushion (I used cardboard), in order to add support for the jack.
Lastly, put everything back together again.
Not the best way to fix it, but since I can’t be without my computer for a day, and I don’t have 235.00 it will do until I return from the field.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:44 am
Thadd,
I’m not sure if this repair will last for a long time. I would think that replacing the original DC-IN jack with a generic one from RadioShack would be a better solution.
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
[...] Today I explain how to repair a damaged power connector also known as power jack in Toshiba Satellite L305 and L355 laptops. I started covering this problem in one of the previous posts. [...]
June 14th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Thanks very much for publishing the how to, plus the pictures. The jack was jiggly on my wife’s Toshiba L305 laptop. There were a few differences between your instructions and the L305, but they were minimal and I was able to follow your sequence because you laid it out clearly. The Rado Shack part was $3.00 and I was able to accomplish it in approx 3 hours. A lot of the time was spent getting the various tools in the garage. The issue was to get a small enough plilips head screwdriver. The end result was that I was able to accomplish this task and get my wife back up and running in much less time than packing up the computer and waiting for a couple of weeks – and also having the possibility of having the repair rejected or costing me $200 to get it fixed. This is just fabulous and I want to say THANK YOU for putting this on the web.
Your repair is better than the original design. THANKS!!
July 9th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
The dc-in port on my Satellite L355 has just broken again, for the THIRD time. The first two times this happened it was still under warranty and was repaired at no charge. I was told this is a rampant problem with this model, and given advice on how to carefully insert and remove the power connection – which I followed knowing the laptop was going to be out of warranty. Any word on a recall from Toshiba? This is my third Toshiba Satellite model over the years (15 years), and I am very disappointed in the apparent design flaw.
In the meantime, thanks for the suggestions on home repair.
July 9th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
tracy h,
I repair a LOT of these laptops with the power jack problem. Sometimes a few of them a day.
September 2nd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
My toshiba L305D did not quite make a year bought last December. Power jack
was always a loose from the beginning and now no power at all. I didn’t get
the warranty but looks like the don’t cover the problems they know we will
have anyway. Obviously there was a problem with my power jack was there
from the start I was aware the should be snug. So no power at all. Disappointed!
September 5th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
same problem but i went a diffrent route and got a whole new cable and [luged in the power in the new jack and it still wont charge any idea what the problem might be now?
September 24th, 2009 at 10:17 am
This is a known issue with Toshiba L300 series of laptops and will be repaired at no cost by Toshiba service center, even if your warranty expired, so if you your laptop has this issue contact any service center – I took it to CSS – cssnow.com in New York, they did great job fixing it and it still works.
September 24th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Mark,
Yes it is. I fix it almost every day, sometimes a few laptops a day.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:38 pm
We replaced the power jack with the one shown on your page but now the charger dont seem to fit the jack..do we need to get a new power plug and what size would that be
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:35 pm
julie,
Apparently you got a wrong one. Did you use Toshiba jack or generic one from RadioShack as I explained in this guide?