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.
February 25th, 2011 at 3:37 pm
Hi there,
I also faced with the same problem. My laptop can power-on with battery support but will not when the adaptor is plug in. If the adaptor is inserted and power is switch on, my laptop will either gets hanged or it will poweroff.
Any idea what rectification can I take to solve this?
Thanks.
October 17th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Brian,
Thanks for the description but I posted a link to the disassembly guides in this post. Here it is again: http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
Just find your model and follow the instructions. I guess you missed the link?
October 15th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Hey guys,
Just spent about an hour figuring out how to get the laptop apart safely, its rather easy. Like the other guys said:
* make sure you get every single screw you see on the bottom of the laptop off first, even the bay for the hard drive (take the hard drive out as well), and the bay to the ram, which there is one or two screws to remove there.
*on the top, with the screen open, just above the Function keys you see the smooth glossy plastic piece about 11.5″ wide and 3/8″ thick, pry it off carefully with a flathead screwdriver, start at the sides to avoid breaking the piece down the middle.
*there are 2 screws to remove under that thing plastic piece
*you can then wiggle the keyboard free and carefully lift it out, it obviously has a short ribbon connected to the MB
*release the ribbon by pressing both black tabs on the ribbon connection to the motherboard downward
*remove all the screws you find under the keyboard and gently pry the rest of the top panel off.
*again, make sure ALL screws are removed before pulling top panel off.
Hope that is accurate of what i did earlier..
July 28th, 2010 at 3:53 am
I have this computer, and 3 mo after I bought it the DC adapter inside the computer broke off as you are showing here. When I took it to Best Buy where I bought it, there was another woman there who had the same exact computer with the same problem. I ended up sending it back to Toshiba and they supposedly fixed it. I have now had it 1.5 years and it became lose. I called Toshiba and complained because I hardly even use the computer and they fixed it again and said it would be the last time!
I think they made a faulty dc adapter. I think that the computer should have been recalled and I am NOT happy about the issue since I spent 700.00 on the laptop only a year and a half ago.
I will NEVER buy another Toshiba computer again.
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:10 am
nat,
Check memory modules. Try removing memory one by one. Test laptop with each memory modules separately.
July 19th, 2010 at 6:14 am
my machine is going on and off, can anyone help me.
July 12th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Todd,
Make sure all screws are removed.
Now take a knife and insert the blade between the top cover and base somewhere on the side of the laptop. Lift up the top cover. When the gap is wide enough, continue removing with your fingers.
Again, make sure all screws are removed from both sides.
July 12th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
I have the same problem as Texxs…I cannot for the life of me see how the heck you can get the top panel off. There is just no easy to separate it as far as I can tell. Even with something thinner than a guitar pick. Help before I throw this f****** through a wall.
April 28th, 2010 at 6:51 am
I am currently repairing two Toshiba L300 s with the same power socket problems. On one, the plastic support on the base has snapped off allowing the socket to come lose. I should really replace the base but the customer doesn’t want to pay, especially as I explained that I could not guarantee it would not happen again. I have glued it back in using Araldite Epoxy and told the customer to be gentle with it. On the second, the sides of the socket have snapped off allowing it to slip out of its supports. I have ordered a replacement Power Socket / Jack from ebay.co.uk for £6.99.
I think it is a great idea that that manufacturers have started to put the power sockets on a seperate ‘plug-in’ mini harness due to the fact that the the older style power sockets that were soldered to the motherboard were always breaking and very fiddly to replace. However, it is a shame that Toshiba has not designed these very well and have not provided adequate support / strength. Their is a stong metal plate for the kensington cable lock socket only millimeters away from the power socket. this could easily have been extended to provide a very strong support for the power socket which then would not break.
April 27th, 2010 at 6:16 am
just get someplastice epoxy and glue it in place. This way you do not have to take out the motherboard. This is common problem in a lot of Toshiia Laptops