Laptop DC Jack Repair

If your laptop or notebook computer will not power up, not charge the battery or has been smoking or has a burnt smell coming from it, you may have a bad dc jack.

A lot of laptop users experience this and it is very common. The dc jack is the plug in the back of your laptop that the ac adapter plugs into to power your laptop and charge your battery.

Now that you know what the dc jack is, I am going to explain how they break or go bad. You see the dc jack is soldered onto your laptop motherboard and it will have anywhere from 2 – 7 prongs soldered to the board. Most of the time, these are broken by the computer user, I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true, these don’t just fall off r break on their own. The leverage on the dc jack when you have the laptop sitting on your lap, hanging the ac adapter off the desk, or tripping or standing on the power wire going from the ac adapter to your laptop, all are very common reasons these get damaged.

I have seen several instances where kids or the family dog trip across these cables and damage the port on the laptop. Most people will admit they did it, but a lot of folks play dumb and just tell us it just stopped working!

Now for the good news, we can fix it instead of replacing the motherboard. First, let’s diagnose the problem. It’s easy, so you don’t have to pay someone to tell you you need a new motherboard. A lot of shops replace instead of repair, and laptop motherboards can cost up to $700.00, so you may want to troubleshoot this yourself.

• Remove the battery and plug in the ac adapter to your laptop.
• Hit the power button to turn the laptop on.
• Did it come on?
• If not, wiggle the plug a little to see if you get any power indicator lights on your laptop.
• If nothing, put the battery back in.
• Do you have lights or power now?
• If not, or if it only powers up with the battery in or when you jiggle the plug, you more than likely have a bad or broken dc jack.

You should send it in for repair and professional diagnostics now. Don’t run out and buy another battery or ac adapter, as you may be wasting your money and will still have to pay for the repairs to your laptop.

One last word of caution. If you determine that your dc jack in fact is causing your laptop to fail, DO NOT attempt to do this repair yourself, unless you are very familiar with electronic soldering, plugging and unplugging small ribbon cables without damaging them, and very good with puzzles! Laptops have a lot of tiny screws and cables, and no two are alike, so if you can open one you may not be able to open another. This repair is best left to a professional laptop repair service like DCjackFix.com.