Laptop power issues.

[join993]

Hello, I have a laptop and this weekend the cord you use to recharge the battery stopped working. I can't recharge the battery, and if I remove the battery it's the same thing. I think it's the connection between the cord and the laptop, not the transformer.

Is there anything I can do, or do I have to buy a new cable?

 

[PohTayToez]

Hello, I have a laptop and this weekend the cord you use to recharge the battery stopped working. I can't recharge the battery, and if I remove the battery it's the same thing. I think it's the connection between the cord and the laptop, not the transformer.

Is there anything I can do, or do I have to buy a new cable?

More often than not, this is actually a problem with the power jack on the laptop coming unsoldered from the board. Although sometimes this is a result from wires breaking or crossing near or on the power connector on the power supply, where it plugs into the laptop. Less likely, sometimes the power supply itself goes bad.

The quickest way to find out what is wrong is to get another power supply and test it out, and hopefully it isn't the power jack on the laptop that is the problem. If you can't find a power supply to borrow to test, you should be able to find one relatively cheap on eBay.

 

[join993]

Aaah...

You know what, I think I have a volt-meter lying around somewhere, I'll use it to test the cord, sometime.

But if it now is the laptop connection that's the problem, can I open it up myself and fix it? Or do I need to turn it in to some computer guys? I know my way around computers *pretty* well, but I have never opened up a laptop before.

 

[PohTayToez]

Aaah...

You know what, I think I have a volt-meter lying around somewhere, I'll use it to test the cord, sometime.

But if it now is the laptop connection that's the problem, can I open it up myself and fix it? Or do I need to turn it in to some computer guys? I know my way around computers *pretty* well, but I have never opened up a laptop before.

Well, it really depends if you think you're up to it or not. Replacing the jack on a laptop really is the hardest hardware repair you can do on a laptop. You'll need to order a new jack, shouldn't be more than $10 off of eBay. You have to remove the motherboard, which involves dissembling nearly the entire machine. There are lots of screws of lots of different sizes, so I always draw a diagram on a piece of paper to indicated where each screw goes. Then you need to desolder the old jack and solder on the new one. Usually in order to remove the motherboard the heatsink and fan have to be removed, so it's a good idea to replace the thermal compound. Then you put everything back together and cross your fingers.