Dell Inspiron E1505 Power Plug

This dell came in with the standard symptoms of not charging the battery or working on AC power.
It's becoming a more popular dell laptop were seeing as of late along with the E1405, E1705, E1401, E1501, and E1701. I believe this line of dell laptops is the predecessor to the Inspiron 6000 and 6400 series.
This uses the standard nine pin dc jack that dell has been using for the last four to five years.
Before opening the laptop I could hold the ac adapter plug at an upward angle and the laptop would power on. As soon as I let go the laptop would instantly power off.
You need to completely take apart this laptop to get to the dc jack.
When the laptop was all torn down I noticed a small burn mark next to a small chip on the motherboard called the power filter. I cleaned the area with electronic cleaner and re-soldered the power filter chip.
The power plug tested fine with a volt-meter and felt pretty solid so it wasn't replaced.
After re-assembling the laptop it powers on fine and the bad power filter was the culprit.

Dell Inspiron 1521 Power Problems

The 1521 is one of dells latest home laptops. It has since been replaced by the 1525 but uses the same dc jack as other dell laptops from the past four years.
It features a nice 15.4" widescreen, up to 4gb ram, AMD turion dual core cpu, optional integrated bluetooth, and much more.
This 1521 came in with a physically broken dc jack plug. It's very new and probably not susceptible to becoming loose as of yet.
It uses the standard nine pin dc jack and can use either a 65w (PA-12) or 90w (PA-10) ac adapter.
The laptop needs to be completely torn down to the motherboard to access the dc jack receptacle.
The power plug was replaced and the laptop powers on with no problems.
The only thing I wish the Inspiron family came with is a docking station.

How to ship a laptop

This has been a common question and is very important when using us for our dc jack repair services. Never put your ac adapter on top of the LCD. This will shatter the LCD.
The best way ship is through Fed Ex. They offer a special laptop shipping that uses foam cutouts to properly fit any size laptop from 12"to 17". The box includes foam cut outs, anti-static bag, slot for ac adapter, and extra foam padding to put where you choose. It's also a nice option because if any damage happens to your laptop you're using their box and insurance and the claim process will go very smooth. These boxes cost $10 and sure beats trying to find a box, packing peanuts, etc.
If you don't have a Fed Ex store available UPS also offers a special laptop shipping box.
If you want to use your own materials than you need to ship it properly.
1. Make sure the box your shipping in is adequate. Those small shipping boxes you get from free from the post office, UPS, and Fed Ex are NOT ok. They don't provide enough room for adequate packing materials and should never be used. Is your laptop worth risking to save $10? I don't think so.
2. Use lots of bubble wrap!! You need atleast two inches of bubble wrap covering the whole laptop. Use packing peanuts or paper for under and above the laptop in the box.
3. Do not using Styrofoam. It's a decent packing material but explodes all over the box during shipment and can expose your laptop to damage.

If you still own the original box the laptop was shipped in that is a good option. Please use common sense and more is better when shipping a laptop.

Remvong a CPU form a laptop heatsink

When taking a laptop apart you will most likely get to the point of removing the cpu.
Most of the time you simply unscrew the heatsink and or fan and the cpu is removable.
Sometimes when you remove the heatsink the cpu is still stuck to the heatsink.
As shown in the pictures taking a small flathead screwdriver and insert under a corner of the cpu and lift up.
Don't give it a lot of force because you could damage the cpu.

ZV5000 ticking problem

Yet another ZV5000 on my bench with dc jack problems. Unlike most others when you wiggle or position the ac adapter you can hear a "ticking" noise coming from the dc jack area.
If the laptop will stay powered on for at least 20-30 seconds a dc jack repair will most likely fix the problem.
This ZV5000 would power on for a split second then shut off no matter what angle I held the adapter plug.
When the laptop was fully disassembled I noticed an "epoxy like" substance that some use to hold the dc jack in place and try to prevent the dc jack problem from happening again. The problem with this is you cover vital circuitry that also goes into powering a laptop.
After the jack was replaced the laptop was doing the same thing after the repair. I believe putting epoxy like substances on the motherboard is what caused the failure.

hp dv4000 DC Jack Repair

This hp dv4000 came in with no signs of life. I couldn't wiggle or position the ac adapter plug in any way to get it to charge or power on.
It uses a less common five pin, 1.65mm dc jack.
When the laptop was completely taken apart I could see a separation where the voltage pin meets the motherboard. This would explain why I couldn't get it to power on using the wiggle trick.
After de-soldering and re-soldering a new dc jack on the motherboard the laptop powered on with no problems.

Asus W3000

This laptop came in with a physically broken dc jack. It was bent to the left and when torn down was halfway off the circuit board.
The dc jack is attached to a small circuit board that plugs into the motherboard.
It uses the same five prong, 2.5mm dc jack that many Averatec laptops use. The chassis of the laptop is very similar to some Averatec models I've worked on.
The dc jack was replaced and the laptop powers on with no problems.

Toshiba M35X

The Toshiba M35X has come through the shop many times over the years for dc jack repair. It uses the same problematic dc jack as the A75, hp zv5000, and ZD7000 which are all common models with the power plug issues.
This M35x had the dc jack broken off inside the laptop (See pic 1) and the older solder would need to be de-soldered.
After installing the new dc jack we make sure to apply plenty of solder to help this from ever happening again.

Averatec AV3225HS / 3200 Series

This Averatec Av3225HS (3200 Series) came in with the classic wiggle of the ac adapter to get it to charge and power on. The 3200 laptops are very common ones I see and fall under the $65 flat rate.
This one uses a three pin, 2.5mm dc jack that's soldered on an small circuit board separate from the actual motherboard. This is nice because if it burns the circuitry or if you drop it the actual motherboard doesn't get damaged.
The dc jack was replaced and the laptop powers on and charges the battery again.

Gateway MX6440 DC Power Jack Repair

This Gateway MX6000 series came in with no signs of life. The ac adapter tested out fine but no amount of wiggling or positioning of the ac adapter would make it power on.
When it was all taken apart I could see the center pin on the back of the dc jack had completely snapped, unable to give any power to the motherboard.
The gateway MX6000 uses a six pin, 2.5mm dc jack that's soldered onto the motherboard.
After a new dc jack was soldered on the laptop powered up without any problems.

Compaq TC1000 Tablet DC Power Jack Repair

The TC1000 compaq tablet is a small 12.1" lcd that's about four years old.
It came in with the dc jack problem symptoms and you could wiggle the ac adapter plug to make it shut off. The dc jack looked worn and loose.
It uses a five pin, 1.65mm dc jack that's soldered into the motherboard.
Soldering the new jack on fixed the problem and the laptop powers on with no problems.

Acer 3680 DC Power Jack Repair

This Acer 3680 came in with the center pin hanging down and very loose. When it was all torn down the center pin had been completely pushed off the back of the jack and was making any contact with the motherboard.
This five pin dc jack is the same jack the hp zt3000 and many other Acer models use. The dc jack center pin is 1.65mm.
De-soldering the dc jack and re-soldering a new one on did the trick. The laptop powers up with no problem and is charging the battery again.

Emachines M6805 DC Power Jack Repair

The emachines 6805 is pretty much the same thing as the gateway 7000 series laptops but with the emachines logo.
This 6805 came in with the classic positioning of the ac adapter plug to get it to charge/power on.
When it was all torn down the voltage pin on the dc plug had broken up and wasn't making proper contact with the board.
Replacing the dc jack fix all the battery charging problems.

Dell Inspiron 700M DC Power Jack Repair

The dell 700M uses the same nine pin dc jack as the popular Inspiron 6000, 1150, 5150, 9200, 9300 as well as the 1505, 1705, and Latitude D Series laptops.
I see all the above laptops mentioned with the dc jack problem.
This 700M can in with the dc jack already broken off the motherboard.
Soldering a new dc jack on fixed the problem.

Compaq 2200 Series DC Jack Repair

The 2200 Compaq laptops are the updated version of the 2100 laptops. They improve cooling by using Celeron M processors instead of a hot Athlon XP.
The 2200 uses a 1.65mm, five pin dc jack. On this 2200 the voltage pin's heat had broken up the solder and wasn't making proper contact with the board.
Simply replacing the dc jack fixes that problem and is a lot better than the factory compaq solder job.

Acer 4010 Series DC Jack Repair

This acer came in with the classic symptom of being able to wiggle the ac adapter to make it charge. The voltage pin simply isn't making proper contact with the motherboard and needs to be replaced for longevity.
The 4000 Acer laptops are very similar the 3000 series I frequently work on. They use the popular 1.65mm, six pin dc jack that the hp zt3000 and compaq X1000 laptops use.
The dc jack was replaced and the laptop now powers on and charges with no problem.

HP NX6110 DC Jack Repair

I keep seeing the NX6110 hp laptops come on with broken center pins. This business hp laptop was no different.
They are relatively simple to get apart and require a hex style screwdriver to get apart.
The dc jack is a rare seven pin jack that I've only used on these hp business laptops.
You need to be very careful when desoldering the dc jack because you can easily damage the board when trying to get it off. Just be patient and make sure all the solder is gone before you attempt to take it out.
When the dc jack was replaced the laptop powered on and charged fine again.

Averatec 2100 Series DC Jack Repair

The Averatec 2100 is an updated version of the 3200 series of laptops. They feature a 12.1" wide screen and Turion 64 cpu vs. the older standard screen and Athlon XP line of processors.
This laptop came in with no dc jack. Someone had attempted to remove the dc jack and do the repair themselves.
I de-soldered the left over solder but one of the traces was damaged. Thankfully the solder took and the laptop charges and powers on after the repair.
The 2100 uses a five pin, 2.5mm dc jack.