Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem
A bad connection between DC-IN power jack on the system board and the system board is a very common problem with Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 notebooks. If your laptop is out of warranty, then you can fix the problem by resoldering DC-IN jack on the system board. If it’s still under warranty, it would be fixed at no charge to you.
Problem symptoms:
- Laptop randomly shuts down without any warning.
- Power LED and battery charge LED start flickering when you wiggle the power cord or the AC adapter tip on the back or your laptop.
- The battery will not get charged.
- When you plug AC adapter, the laptop appears to be dead and there is no LED activity at all (DC-IN jack on the system board is broken).
To fix the problem, you have to take your laptop apart, remove the system board to resoleder or replace the DC-IN jack. Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 disassembly guides will help you to remove the system board. Take a closer look at the power jack on the system board with a magnifying glass. In most cases you get the power problem because of a bad connection between the DC jack and the system board, you’ll see a crack between the DC jack connector and the system board.
Here is an example of Toshiba Satellite M35X power jack. The crack occurs between the DC jack pin and the system board.
In some cases the connection is good, but the DC jack is bad itself. You can find a new DC jack for Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptops here. Search for DC jack M35X or DC jack A75.
How to resolder laptop power jack yourself.
UPDATE:
Sometimes, after you replace the jack, you can see that the system board doesn’t get power at all. The battery will not charge and the power LED will not light when you plug in the AC adapter. So, here’s a possible explanation.
When a connection between the positive pin and the motherboard breaks (cracks), the power jack gets loose. You can feel it when you plug in the adapter plug. A loose power jack can damage the trace inside the hole in the system board. Take a look at the picture.
As you see, the positive pin goes through the hole in the system board and you solder it on the top side. Right? What if the trace between the top side and the bottom side is broken somewhere inside the hole? I’ve seen it before a few times. In this case everything looks nice and clean on the top side. When you plug in the AC adapter, you get normal voltage readings between “+” and “-“ pins on the top side, but the power DOESN’T go to the motherboard at all, because there is no connection between the top and bottom sides. Test with a multimeter if there is a connection between the top and the bottom.
If the trace inside the hole is broken you still can fix it. You can run a wire to connect the top and the bottom sides. Be careful not to short something on the board.
Update:
Here’s another solution to fix the power jack problem, it shows how to relocate the power jack outside the laptop base. Check it out here: Toshiba Satellite A75 failed power jack workaround.
When you repair a loose power jack, it’s a good idea to check the jack on both sides of the motherboard. When you remove the top cover from a Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptop you can see only points where the jack is soldered to the motherboard as it shown on the second picture in this post, but you cannot see the jack itself as it shown on the first picture.
Removing the motherboard from Satellite A70/A75 laptop is a good idea because the jack itself might has a broken “+” pin, as it shown on the picture below. If the “+” broke off the base, you’ll have to replace the jack.
UPDATE:
Today I received another well written and well documented guide about fixing Toshiba Satellite M35X power connector issue. This guide was submitted by Stephen Macuch. Thank you Stephen for great pictures and detailed instructions.
If you are tired of fixing your laptop and want to sell it for parts you can do it here:
Any Notebook Part - free classifieds. Only laptop stuff.
Entry Filed under: Toshiba Laptop Problems
626 Responses to “Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem”
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Pages: « 63 … 48 47 46 45 44 [43] 42 41 40 39 38 … 1 » Show All
July 24th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Hi I am having the same problem with my A85 Satellite. Does anyone know where I can purchase a new DC Jack for this model? I have looked on ebay and to no avail.
Also, does anyone know if the A85 requires the same process as the A75 as far as fixing/replacing the DC jack?
Thanks in advance,
Megan
July 20th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Stop!!! If you have this problem with the DC Power outlet on your Satellite A75 there help.
Toshiba has extended the warranty on them till November 2007. If you have this problem you can call them and tell them that because of the class action suit that you warranty has been extended and you need a case number and the nearest repair shop that they recomend.Also check out these sites www.a70m30xsettlement.com/notice.pdf
www.a70m30xsettlement.com
Good luck
July 20th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
I can’t thank you guys enought for the info about the extended warrenty for the Toshiba Satellite A75 . I hand the DC power problem and was ready to start the repaire myself but with the extended warrenty I just called and they gave me a case number and I took it to repair shop that they recomended and I have it back and it’s working great. Best of all it didn’t cost me anything. They also fixed the short on the top of the laptop which is what the extended warrenty and classs action was about.
Thankyou Soooooooooooo Much!!
Suzie Humarock
July 18th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I have changed and resoldered the jack, but the problem persist….what can I do now?
July 16th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Hey Stephen,
Thanks a lot for your guide. It has been published.
July 16th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
[…] Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem […]
July 14th, 2007 at 4:20 am
Just did this repair to a M35X - note that the primary electrical traces are on the same side of the board as the connector - you shouid scrape away the green solder mask down to bare copper around the center pin, and along the sides near those two connections, apply a good flux, and then solder on the SAME SIDE OF THE BOARD AS THE CONNECTOR FIRST. If “laptop repair guy” wants me to send him a doc with pictures - email me.
-Steve
July 13th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Steve,
Yes, Toshiba has a different solution as attaching the power jack on a pigtail cable but not for the above mentioned models. If you have a Satellite M35X or A75, you might consider the power jack workaround solution. It doesn’t look pretty but should last for a long time.
July 13th, 2007 at 7:21 am
Does Tashiba have a different re-solution for the power connector, this is a wear and tare item. this will be a constant repair issue for the life of the computer, replaceing the power connector so often.
is there a better connector that has a better longivety than the standard part.
thanks
July 12th, 2007 at 9:32 am
Thank you all for the information about how to repair the AC problem on the Toshiba A75!
I was almost sending my notebook to repair, when i found this site.
You guys saved me about US$ 400,00!! That’s how much Toshiba was going to charge me for the repair!!
Now it’s working great!!!
Thank you very much!!!!
Greatings from Brazil!