Power contact point inside a laptop

[Trieste]

My power cord and my laptop don't seem to be getting along. It seems to be because the tine of the plug doesn't seem to be maintaining contact with whatever conducts power inside the laptop. Is this something that is fixable, or will it become slowly worse until I break down and replace my laptop? :(

[Vekseid]

I've fixed it before, yes. It's a problem known to plague HP/Compaq systems, though eventually it will happen with any of them if the jack gets enough abuse.

You usually need to get a new power jack for your laptop, take your laptop apart, unsolder the old jack, and solder the new one back in. How long this takes depends on how disassemble-unfriendly the laptop in question is. Sometimes all you need to do is bend something, but compared with the frustration of completely disassembling and reassembling a laptop, $40 and a bit of soldering is rather paltry in comparison.

It's really not fun, at all. Then again my memories may be tainted by the first customer I fixed it for.

Depending on the type of jack in question, you can extend the life of the jack through various means, but I'd hesitate to recommend anything without seeing it clearly. The most reliable solution is: simply stop the abuse of it - no more plugging/unplugging, try not to twist it too much if at all possible.

[Trieste]

That sounds... Out of my personal skill set.

[Autumn Sativus]

If you purchase the part, you may be able to have any local computer repair shop (not best buy or anything, just something small and non-chain, where they actually know how to fix things without just sending them out or replacing the whole thing) do it for a fairly small price of labor, depending on how difficult it is to open up. Would still be cheaper than a new laptop, methinks.

[Vekseid]

If you purchase the part, you may be able to have any local computer repair shop (not best buy or anything, just something small and non-chain, where they actually know how to fix things without just sending them out or replacing the whole thing) do it for a fairly small price of labor, depending on how difficult it is to open up. Would still be cheaper than a new laptop, methinks.

I would expect to pay around $400 for it, unless you find one of those rare instances where someone is both a) competent and b) hasn't done it before and wants to learn how. Laptops take hours, and a lot of room, to disassemble and reassemble, and you need someone willing to solder a motherboard, meaning that they aren't your typical CS geek.

[Trieste]

If a repair is $400, I can get a new laptop, a comparable one, for only a little more. I also don't really have money to blow with the move coming up. *grits teeth*

Thanks for the help, both of you!

[Autumn Sativus]

That's a much different price from what I got when I had this problem, Veks. Just going off personal experience, I had several quotes under $100. This was at least 5 years ago though.

It wouldn't hurt to shop around some on both the repair and the new laptop angles. Good luck in either case. :-*

[Vekseid]

That's a much different price from what I got when I had this problem, Veks. Just going off personal experience, I had several quotes under $100. This was at least 5 years ago though.

It wouldn't hurt to shop around some on both the repair and the new laptop angles. Good luck in either case. :-*

Erf, it looks like you're right.

I guess it's just not my idea of fun -_-