Repairing laptop DC jack

Noodleface

Noodleface

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Hey guys,

I'm sure I'm not the only one here that has had this issue. I've had my Asus G73JH for around 3 years now, and the DC jack is really starting to shit the bed. Originally it was just a loose connection, and some wiggle would fix it. Now I'm finding the connection is extremely loose and the connection on my AC adapter that plugs into the DC jack gets extremely hot (very very hot for real). This leads me to believe the solder joints are going bad and the connection is shittier than I originally believed.

Can anyone recommend any shops online that will allow me to send this out and fix it at a relatively decent cost with a good reputation? There's a million sites out there, so I'm not sure which to use.

I can't use ASUS, I blew away any chance of a warranty when I took this thing apart so many times.
 
Neki

Neki

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L

Luthair

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Why not talk to Asus about authorized repair shops? I know my mother took her toshiba in someplafor waranty repair a few times for power issues.
 
Zodiac

Zodiac

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Any local mom & pop computer repair shop worth its salt could do this for you.
 
Noodleface

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Luthair_sl said:
Why not talk to Asus about authorized repair shops? I know my mother took her toshiba in someplafor waranty repair a few times for power issues.
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I'll contact them, not sure how much they'll help considering I've been out of warranty for two years.
 
Haast

Haast

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Noodle, aren't you an EE? Ask a tech at your company to do it for a 6-pack of beer if you aretoo big a pussy to do ituncomfortable making the repair.
 
brekk

brekk

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Zodiac_sl said:
Any local mom & pop computer repair shop worth its salt could do this for you.
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This. I swear DC jacks account for about 50% of the walk=in laptops we get. I'm not a laptop tech, but I do all the soldering for him. These are generally pretty easy except for some dells with 8+ solder pins. Fuck those things.

Depending on model we charger roughly 200$ to do one. 1-2 hours for disassembly, soldering, reassembly and then price of the actual jack which can very from 10$ to 40$.

Do some research on your model. Some laptops, especially Dells have a modular design with a small board holding the DC jack plus a few peripheral ports that plugs into the main board. For these no soldering is required you can usually find the modular boards on ebay for 10-30$ and it's just a plug in part.
 
Noodleface

Noodleface

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Haast_sl said:
Noodle, aren't you an EE? Ask a tech at your company to do it for a 6-pack of beer if you aretoo big a pussy to do ituncomfortable making the repair.
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Yeah if I worked at a small company I wouldn't mind asking our tech, but I don't want to get someone fired over this. I am definitely too big of a pussy to do it.

I wish it was modular, but it's not. It's just a straight up DC jack connected to the motherboard.
 
Siliconemelons

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I did a few Dell XPS laptops with this- youtube + standard soldering skills and a few parts off ebay = done - I charged 100$ to my client- about half what I see around town and mail in services- typical 150-250 etc parts labor etc.
 
Noodleface

Noodleface

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Ordering a new Weller soldering station. Might just go for it. I figure worst case, if I can't get the jack removed I'll just bring it to a shop and have them fix it.

Do I use just regular ol' resin core solder or something different?
 
Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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Did the kit come with a solder remover-sucker-uper-thing? you will need one of those to facilitate removal and then cleaning the connectors of the broken/old solder... I use whatever is the standard shit from radio shack... one customer called me back 2 years later for more work on their desktop- I asked about the laptop and they said its still going good :)
 
brekk

brekk

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Solder suckers don't work, get some solder resin, and mesh. I personally take out the shielding layer from an old USB cable. Dip it in resin then onto the solder you've melted that your trying to remove, some will suck up, repeat.
 
Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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brekk_sl said:
Solder suckers don't work, get some solder resin, and mesh. I personally take out the shielding layer from an old USB cable. Dip it in resin then onto the solder you've melted that your trying to remove, some will suck up, repeat.
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I have had good luck with the one I have now... but the first one I did shook more than it sucked so all it did was make the molten solder splatter everywhere it was pissing me off- but the one I got now works like a dream- barely shakes when you press the button and has good vac right at the spot.
 
Noodleface

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xadion_sl said:
Did the kit come with a solder remover-sucker-uper-thing? you will need one of those to facilitate removal and then cleaning the connectors of the broken/old solder... I use whatever is the standard shit from radio shack... one customer called me back 2 years later for more work on their desktop- I asked about the laptop and they said its still going good :)
Click to expand...
Didn't buy a kit, just buying a new soldering station.
 
BrutulTM

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Solder suckers do work, as does the braid. They are both useful depending on the situation.
 
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