RE: Laptop power problem

["McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>]

First, find out what the repair-shop's minimum is.$50 for a guaranteed
repair might be worth it for a couple more years of laptop. 
$200 might not be justifiable. 
$50 for "this might fix it, but no guarantee" would likely not be worth
it.
If you are the least bit adventuresome, you can try some tinkering.
If any of the mating parts can be accessed, it might be possible to do
some judicious bending and prying. At some point, there's a prong that
goes into a hole or slot and is gripped. If the prong is solid, you
can't do much with it. If it's folded metal, you can possibly expand it
a bit. Alternatively, the gripping female parts might be accessible
enough to bend, so that they press more firmly against the male parts. 

However, if the actual joint is not the problem, it might be that the
cable has flexed one time too many near the connector (do you often plug
in the laptop then jam the back of it against the wall ... or against
some other surface... the cat? ... that puts bending pressure on the
cables?) and has broken conductors that make contact only when the cable
is held "just so". In that case, you can futz around until you locate
the break, cut the cable open and repair it easily.

In many cases, the socket in the laptop is soldered directly to a
circuit board. If any of the solder joints is weak, it might not have an
actual soldered contact anymore and only be making contact when the
cable is levering the socket in the right direction. The solution to
that is to reflow the solder around the pins that join the socket to the
board in the laptop. You'll need a soldering iron. That's still not the
$50 that John mentioned, but the little things add up in a hurry to the
point where it becomes worthwhile to pay somebody who:
a) knows what they are doing
b) has tools and equipment already.

Kevin

> -----Original Message-----
> From:
techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-
> l.com] On Behalf Of John Posada
> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 15:39
> To: Nancy Allison
> Cc: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Re: Laptop power problem
> 
> I've now gone through maybe six laptops (Dell and HP/Compaq) and not
once
> have I had this type of problem. Me thinks the salesman is full of
crap.
> It
> seems that this should be fixable by having a reputable shop replace
the
> female plug where you insert the power cable...what could it
cost..$50.00?
> 
> On 4/7/08, Nancy Allison <maker -at- verizon -dot- net> wrote:
> >
> > Intensely annoying!
> >
> > The power connection to my laptop has become increasingly
unreliable.
> When
> > I plug in the power cable, the connection isn't made, and the laptop
> > continues to work from the battery. I used to be able to jiggle the
> > connector to get it to settle in so the connection would persist.
> >
> > Now, short of standing and pushing down on the connector with my
thumb,
> I
> > can't get the connection to stay up. I am currently using my backup
> cable,
> > which has the same problem but it is not as severe (yet).
> >
> > At the computer store where I bought it (and where the warranty is
long
> > outdated), the salesman said that this is the "dirty little secret"
of
> > laptops and that lots of them have this problem. Only IBMs and
Apples
> have
> > solved the problem (the Macs by splitting the cable into four, with
four
> > magnetic connectors).
> >
> > Have you encountered this problem, and were you able to solve it?
Maybe
> my
> > backup cable will last until the laptop is obsolete, but if it
doesn't,
> I
> > will have no way to use my laptop.
> >
> >
> > --
> > John Posada
> > Senior Technical Writer
> > NYMetro STC President and Program Chair

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