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.
May 3rd, 2013 at 6:16 pm
Yes, I too have the same damn problem. Shame on TOSHIBA for missing this defect in workmanship! They should know better than that because of the many different laptop designs
they have had in the past!! So here is how you can fix this little problem. Go to the hardware store and get some 30 minute epoxy, You know the 2 part kind….OK, We are on the same page here! remove all sections of the laptop including the dvd drive. Now you can see the jack and the the broken slot rail. Mix up a small amount of that epoxy and commence to put a small amount on each side or the jack rails. slide the jack back into place and wedge a small stick between the jack and the battery bulkhead. Leave this to set up for an hour and “WALA”, She’s a done deal. This will be much stronger than the engineered Toshiba rails.
September 28th, 2012 at 4:50 am
I have the same problem but I can fix mine eventually. What all of you need to understand is that building laptops is like assembling a car. All they are concerned about is how to build (it) cheaply and quickly. Real-world design experienc e is not a factor. The cheaper they can make something (which includes low assembly overhead), the more profit they can get out of it. Things under the hood/under the keyboard are not built with the end-user’s satisfaction in mind. They look at having to fix something under warranty as a loss of profits and will only do it once to avoid financial losses. Sucks for us but that’s the way they do it.
August 10th, 2012 at 9:49 am
L3505. We have gotten in three this week with broken jack sockets. We replace the power jacks with new ones and none will power up. We install a charged battery and it powers up. I suspect the MB failed and the customer kept trying to jiggle the ac adapter.
Is this a known issue with this model?
July 23rd, 2012 at 7:30 am
I have two L355 laptops (two kids). Both had the plugs broken. It is a bad design. A metal plug can be obtained at Radio Shack at low cost. You will have to have some basic electronic skills. Use a Dremel or a rat tail file to widen the hole in the plastic. Push the metal plug through the hole and tighten the nut. Solder the old wires onto the new plug. It will take about 40 minutes. You will never have the problem again. My son has not been able to break this fix.
June 3rd, 2012 at 10:48 am
@ Dianna,
It depends where you take your laptop for repair.
A local repair guy probably can do it for $100. If you take the laptop to a professional repair shop, most likely the repair bill will go up to $150-200.
Here’s how to fix it yourself: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/repair-damaged-power-jack-toshiba-satellite-l305-l355-laptops/
Requires some tech skills though.
June 2nd, 2012 at 6:37 pm
How much would it cost to get this problem looked at & fixed on my Toshiba Satellite L305 by a professional? I’m really wanting to take it and get it done but I don’t have a whole lot of extra money to be blowing on it since I’m expecting my first little one soon. Any advice as to a reasonably priced way of getting it fixed would be much appreciated.
March 29th, 2012 at 1:01 pm
Anyone have a part number for the L305D-55881 power jack harness?
March 17th, 2012 at 2:12 pm
BTW, my computer is also the Toshiba 305d
March 17th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Toshiba Lap Top turns on and immediately turns off again. No screen display or fan. Turns on for a second or two, then turns itself off.
Its not the power adapter or the jack. I plug the laptop in and the battery indicator light comes on as well as the plug symbol. The battery holds a charge as I can take adapter off and can turn it on however it turns itself off again.
I know its a power issue, obviously. Geek Squad told my friend (its her computer) that it sounded like the HDD, LOL Yea okay, the hard drive prevents it from turning it on…
Anyway, any ideas? My guess its the CPU/motherboard any ideas or others with this problem?
November 1st, 2011 at 11:13 pm
To heck with replacing a broken base assembly or DC-IN jack. I know nothing about fixing laptops; I just removed all the screws, opened it up and Super-Glued the broken jack and base together in the correct position and it has been working fine for months. By the way, shortly after that my AC Adapter quit working. Toshiba and the stores in my area wanted $60.00-$100.00 for a replacement. So I browsed thru E-Bay and found many similar adapters for much, MUCH cheaper. Believe it or not, I paid $1.95 + $7.95 s&h for a brand new, off-brand adapter that has been supplying my laptop with power for a year now! And we use it a lot every day. I am still stunned. Can’t remember the name of the company but they had plenty more of them.