Laptop Power Connector Not Connecting Properly

[Gary Brown]

Hi,

The power connector on my laptop has stopped making
good contact. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.
Jiggling the connector doesn't help but rotating the connector
does, temporarily.

Something appears loose but I'm not sure what. I don't have
a spare, compatible power source to try.

Is there a common cause and easy fix to this problem?

The laptop is a Compaq F572US.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Grinder]

Hi,

The power connector on my laptop has stopped making
good contact. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.
Jiggling the connector doesn't help but rotating the connector
does, temporarily.

Something appears loose but I'm not sure what. I don't have
a spare, compatible power source to try.

Is there a common cause and easy fix to this problem?

The laptop is a Compaq F572US.

The power connector is most likely a surface mount component. Something
like this:

http://doctorlaptop-repair-jack.com/jacksales/images/Jack7.JPG

Those skinny little pins, or the solder joints where they're connected
to the motherboard, can break. Repair can be a little dicey.

If it's just the solder joint that's gone bad, you can resolder it. Pay
care to use heat sinks to avoid damaging adjacent components, but that
might be difficult to do. That will likely be a short term solution,
though. The solder joint is supposed to be isolated from the mechanical
tension of using the socket, but it often is not.

If the component itself is damaged, you'll have to find a replacement.

 

[Gary Brown]

Hi,

The power connector on my laptop has stopped making
good contact. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.

HP quoted $298 to fix it. I passed on that. She gave me
the link to the repair manual. The connector sits on its own
small board. I ordered a replacement from a 3rd party.
Getting to the board requires disassembling the entire
unit which I didn't want to do again if it wasn't fixable.

Gary

 

[Paul]

My HP Paviliion DV6700 laptop is doing the same thing. I purchased my
laptop less than two years ago brand new for around $800. I have
searched and searched online to try and figure out what os wrong with my
laptop and I have found tons on websites that suggest that its the
socket adapter connector. These are awful with HP models. Mine is to
where the battery wont charge all the time, sometimes it will and
sometimes it wont, the screen dims and brightens when the cord is
jiggled in the socket, sometimes my bateery wont charge and it says
plugged in; not charging. From what i have researched this is a pretty
expensive issue to fix most of the time. You usually have to send your
laptop in to be fixed and it can be pretty costly and sometimes even
after they try to repair it, it still isnt guaranteed to fix the
problem. I beleive that i read that it is successfully repaired on about
70% on laptops depending on the brand. Some brands are only successfully
fixed 50% of the time. Also when the socket adapter is bad it can burn
up the motherboard and it sometimes has to be replaced too. A
motherboard is very expensive. If you do have to get a new motherboard
and the socket fixed it will be just as much money as buying another new
laptop. Most manufacters do not warranty the socket adapter repair under
their warranty. I kno HP doesn't. I'm having the same problem currently
with mine and I really hope this is not really the problem because that
is too expensive considering how much the cost of a laptop is when
buying it.

Around page 81 or so, is section "USB/power connector board". The power
jack is a removable subassembly. You won't need to solder anything. It
just unplugs. Replace the assembly with another assembly, and you're done.
The most skilled thing you'll need to know, is how to use a screwdriver.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01295877.pdf (DV6700 manual)

Paul

 

[Paul]

Not sure if you can find something like that on ebay or a
laptop parts website, but it was obscene how much HP wanted
for the equivalent board on a different laptop model, about
$70 plus S/H IIRC.

Considering the cost of it, that it's a simple single-sided
PCB, and that if I applied epoxy on the sides of the jack it
would be reinforced to be more durable than a new one, I'd
be inclined to repair the existing board unless the damage
was more extensive than just breaking the solder joint.
IRRC, the power jack itself can be had for closer to $20 if
it is damaged.

But at $70, that is cheaper than the $200 a shop would want,
just to "look" at the laptop. Certainly, if you have soldering
and epoxy glue skills, a cheaper repair might be arranged. Or
just solder the adapter permanently to the laptop

It is too bad you couldn't retrofit a Magsafe jack to the thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magsafe

Paul

 

[~misfit~]

Somewhere on teh intarwebs kony wrote:
[snip]

I suppose there is a positive side to it all, a friend is
sending me a couple laptops in a few days, to one of them I
will be doing a power jack repair and I keep the 2nd laptop
as payment.

If you find that you're getting too busy and you have many jobs like that
I'd be pleased to help... ;-)
--
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.
Nota bene: 'Return to' email is very rarely checked, if at all. It's spam
city but is a req. of my NNTP providor.