How do I take apart a Dell Inspiron 1000 in order to re-solder the jack plug? Thank you

I hope you understand that you’ll have to disassemble the whole laptop and remove the motherboard in order to fix the DC jack, right? You’ll need some computer repair and soldering skills.
If you are ready to go, here are step-by-step instructions for replacing DC jack in a Dell Inspiron 1000 laptop.

1. First of all, before you disassemble the laptop, make sure you have a brand new DC jack for your laptop.
I would recommend replacing the old jack with a new one, not just re-soldering it.

2. Get step-by-step Dell Inspiron 1000 disassembly instructions here. With these instructions you’ll be able to remove the motherboard.

3. Finally, read though this DC jack repair guide. It explains how to desolder the old DC jack and replace it with a new one.

My HP 520 laptop battery discharges even though it is connected to the DC power and another thing the battery starts charging if i shut down the laptop. Please give me the solution.

I think this problem is related to the DC jack failure. In HP 520 laptop the DC jack soldered directly to the motherboard. Overtime, if you plug/unplug AC adapter a lot, connection between the DC jack and motherboard breaks and it stops charging the battery.

Most likely you can fix the problem if you resolder the the DC jack.

In order to repair the jack, it’s necessary to disassemble the laptop and remove the motherboard. This service manual will help you to remove the motherboard.

On my Dell Vostro 1500, the plug in part for my charger adapter, inside my laptop broke off and is floating inside my laptop. Is this part replaceable?

In Dell Vostro 1500 the power plug (also known as power jack) is soldered to the motherboard.

Yes, the power plug is replaceable but it’s necessary to disassemble the laptop and take a closer look at the motherboard to make sure it’s not damaged by the broken power plug. This service manual explains how to remove the motherboard.

If the motherboard is not damaged, most likely you can solder a new power jack.

A friend of mine broke the DC-IN jack on her Toshiba Satellite p105-s6147. I have been able to replace the jack but there is a retaining clip that holds the DC jack to the casing. This has also been snapped. So now I need this retaining clip. Anyone have any ideas where i can get one? Thanks in advance for the help!

In a Toshiba Satellite P105 the DC-IN power jack mounts on the base assembly. If the jack mounting bracket is broken, you’ll have to replace the base assembly.

Here are instructions for taking apart a Toshiba Satellite P105 laptop. In order to replace the base assembly you’ll have to remove the motherboard.

The base assembly part number is A000005670. You can search this part number on eBay or google it.

I have a Dell Inspiron 9100. Mine kept on shutting down randomly and eventually got worse. I got a laptop technician out and at first he thought it was overheating but it turned out to be the AC plug going into the back. Every time it moved around the laptop turns off. This implied that it was something to do with the motherboard. I only use this as a spare laptop now, but want to have a hand at fixing it myself. What would you suggest? Is there any kind of botch job I could try before buying a whole new motherboard?

It’s possible that the power jack (the socket where you plug the adapter) is loose or damaged. When you move the AC plug inside the power jack it shorts the motherboard and because of that the laptop shuts down.

It’s necessary to disassemble the laptop, remove the motherboard and take a closer look at the power jack. If it’s broken or loose you may fix the problem without replacing the whole motherboard.

1. Disassemble the laptop. You’ll find instructions in the official service manual.
2. Remove the motherboard and take a closer look at the power jack.
3. If the power jack is loose or broken, you’ll have to resolder or replace the jack.
4. Find a new power jack here and replace it.

Before you take it apart, I would suggest testing the laptop with another working power adapter. Will it shut down with another adapter? If not, your problem could be related to the adapter. Apparently, there are damaged wires inside the power cable and you short them moving the cable. It’s possible the laptop shuts down because of that.

If you still have the same problem even with another adapter, you can inspect the power jack as suggested above.

I have a Toshiba Satellite A105-S4284 laptop. It is not showing that it is connected to the power cord. When I jiggle the port it registers. It seems loose. It doesn’t have warranty. I took it in to best buy and they think my motherboard needs replaced. Please help if possible…

First of all, this problem could be related to the power adapter. It’s possible that one of the wires inside the power cord is damaged and they make contact only when you jiggle the power plug. You can test the power adapter with a voltmeter. If the power cuts off when you jiggle the cable, most likely the power adapter is bad and has to be replaced. Also, you can test the laptop with another working power adapter. If you still experience the same problem even with another known good power adapter, most likely the problem is related to the power jack.

If your problem is related to the power jack, you can replace the jack WITHOUT replacing the whole motherboard. Fortunately for you in this model the power jack is attached to the power cable witch can be unplugged from the motherboard. You can find a new power jack (DC-IN cable) by this part number V000922060. From my experience, the power jack in this model is not reliable. I think that’s your problem.

In order to replace the power jack you’ll have to disassembly the laptop, remove the top cover, unplug the old broken DC-IN cable and replace it with a new one. You can use my disassembly guide but proceed on your own risk.

Once battery in my laptop is partially discharged and connected to the AC Power, it starts charging and then somewhere down the line, the laptop suspends with the ‘battery low’ pop up. When I bring it out of suspension, it shows the battery completely depleted, for whatever reason. Then, the second I power down, the battery starts charging. This isn’t normal behavior. If anyone can shower some light on this, I’d be really really grateful.

I think your laptop may have a problem with the DC power connector (AKA power jack). Even though the AC adapter is plugged, the laptop runs on the battery power. It happens because the power jack is not making good connection with the motherboard. As a result, the motherboard is not getting power from the adapter and runs on the battery power instead. The laptop works until the battery dries out and then it suspends. Did you notice if the battery starts charging if you wiggle the power plug inside the power jack a little bit? If it does, most likely the problem is related to the power jack and it has to be resoldered or replaced. Please read this post for more information: Laptop switching to battery while connected to AC adapter.

I viewed your photos on disassembling a Toshiba Satellite M65 series laptop and found a problem that I have not been able to get the Toshiba techs to assist me in regarding the DC jack. My jack is exactly as appears in your photos. The problem is the white connector on the board containing the four wires that attach to the DC power jack has separated from the board. I cannot find a replacement part and cannot get a number from Toshiba as they want a serial number, but it is unreadable on the label and unavailable since the computer will not start due to no power from the battery or the DC jack port. Toshiba said to take it to one of their repair centers. Unfortunately, the closest one is 200 miles away.
I have taken it to four different computer repair shops and they have not been able to find a part that is like mine. The closest they have come is a jack that has four wires with no connector. Their solution is to hard wire (solder) the wires to the short small stubs on the mother board that are located under where the old connector was attached. Their thought is the connector is part of the motherboard assembly and comes attached from the factory with no way to repair short of replacing the entire board.
Do you know anything about this DC jack and the white connector? Do you know of a source and/or part number? How does the connector attach to the motherboard? What is the best way to repair this port? Is there a way to reattach the existing connector? The wires are held in the connector by spring clips that can be removed by inserting a narrow blade under the retaining piece. But, nobody seems to know how the connector is attached to the motherboard.
I apologize for this email inquiry, but am very frustrated about not being able to get any answers from Toshiba and other sources. I have spent 5 days trying to get it fixed and am very close to just eliminating the connector all together and soldering directly to the board as I am not going to expense of replacing the motherboard in order to fix the DC jack.
Thanks for reading this inquiry and I appreciate any assistance or contacts you can offer.

Unfortunately, the DC power jack in a Toshiba Satellite M65 laptop is a part of the motherboard. It comes with the motherboard and you cannot order the jack separately. Even if you take your laptop to the authorized repair center they will not be able to find the jack part number and will offer to replace the whole motherboard, that’s for sure.
I think the solution offered by your local computer repair shop should work. You can fix the power jack problem if you solder wires directly to the motherboard. Cut off the white connector and solder all four wires directly to the motherboard. Remember to make notes how power jack wires are positioned and in what order they have to be soldered before you cut off the white connector.

I had a power problem with my Acer Aspire 5102 laptop.

The power plug would need to be fiddled with in order to work, once you found the right spot it would work great.

For about a week that worked, then it got harder. It’d take twice as long to find the sweet spot, then it would last 5 minutes to 12 hours and suddenly it was no longer charging.

I looked around online, and was told by a repair shop that it is definitely the power plug, Acers & Toshibas seem to have a problem with the power plug being crappy, he said to send it in & for $100+shipping he’d have it taken care of.

Well, for $400 I can buy a better laptop than what I currently have, so why would I spend 1/4 as much on a jack repair when I could just invest in a new laptop for that much?

I just kept putzing with the cord, (for about 3 weeks), while it kept getting worse, the cord needed to be putzed with at least once an hour to keep working, until today when it finally decided it would have no more & no amount of fiddling would work.

I have repaired XBOX & Wii boards for friends who were dumb enough to overheat them. This involves re-running a trace that been lifted, not nearly the same, but I’ve also helped them with their installations as well as repairing XBOX power supplies that had the built in fuse blow, so I figured what the heck, since I’m practically planning on throwing the machine away (not worth the repair & it won’t even function as a desktop), so I’ll fix it myself.

It was a massive pain to take apart. I’ve worked on Dells (upgrading CPU, general cleaning every 6 months or so), and while the equipment is junk (slow FSB, slow RAM, etc…) [at least the ones I've had to fix], the things are damn reliable & Dell is kind enough to provide a full break down set of instructions that show you every step of the way how to repair or replace anything.
NOT LIKE THIS ON THE ACER, I couldn’t find a manual, so I winged it.

When I get down to the motherboard, I notice solder splotches just about everywhere, the only reason for this is carelessness at the Acer factory, plain and simple.

Once I finally get to the power jack, I notice that 1 pin that’s connecting to the mobo is COMPLETELY BLACK, the only time I’ve ever seen solder like this is when you do a really really bad job soldering that results in a cold joint. So, I used some de-soldering braid & got all of the solder off (first you apply a new layer of solder, then you remove it all with the braid, don’t ask me why, but it works wonders), 2 of the other pins looked like the solder job wasn’t done very well either, so I de-soldered them as well.

I went ahead & re-soldered the pins back to the mobo, threw the battery in & low and behold! The problem is gone. I clean up the board using alcohol on swabs & more importantly removed the solder splotches that were all over the board. I finished putting it back together about an hour and a half ago, and its been running like new (while you’re in there, make sure you blow the cob webs out of the fans & heatsinks, you won’t regret it)!

Moral of the story, its not hard to fix, if your computer isn’t under warranty, consider fixing it yourself or having a competent friend who can solder take care of it for you.

I bought Acer Aspire 9110 laptop just over a year ago and cost enough! I’m experiencing a power problem – constantly having wriggle the cable in the socket to get mains power. Tried another tested (and working) adapter with same issue.
It seems nobody has found a solution so does it look like a sending off to be fixed sort of problem?

If you have to wiggle the power cable in the socket in order to get power to the laptop and new adapter didn’t fix the problem, then there is something wrong with the DC power jack. The jack either loose or broken. I’m not familiar with your model and not sure if the jack is permanently attached to the motherboard or the jack is located on a separate harness, but in any case it’s necessary to open up the laptop and take a look at the jack.
If the jack is soldered on the motherboard you’ll have to either resolder the existing jack or replace it with a new one.
If the jack is located on a separate harness, you’ll have to replace the harness.