Toshiba Satellite A75 failed power jack workaround
Today I received an email from Tony Sakariya (tsakariyaATyahooDOTcom) who was experiencing a problem with the power jack on his Toshiba Satellite A75 laptop. He’s been able to fix the problem by relocating the power jack outside the laptop case away from the system board.
I would like to share with others a tip for repairing their Toshiba A75 laptop for the DC Jack and battery charge problem.
I have a Toshiba A75-S209 for a year now. After the first 3 months it developed the exact same problem. Battery would not charge and I had to twist and turn the power jack to make the connection. Since it was in warranty, I returned it and they repaired and sent it back to me. The problem recurred again after about 4 months and I sent it again and they repaired it and worked fine for 5 more months and it failed. This is a design flaw with Toshiba. Now that I am out of warranty, I decided to repair it myself. Your guide for dismantling A75 was awesome. Thanks for the info. Now here is what I want to share with others. Resoldering the power jack with a new one does solve the problem for a while but it will reoccur. Hence I decided to bring out a wire with the Jack outside. Of course it looks dirty but it is a permanent solution. I am attaching the photo of the repair I did. I got the DC jack from ebay and insulated it with a electrical insulation tape. Now it is working fine, I do the connection and disconnection on the dangling power jack outside the laptop and hence no chance of breaking the soldering outside.
• Coil the pair of wire one round through the ventilation grill before taking it out as shown in the picture above. This is to prevent any external shock or force being directly transmitted to the soldering joints.
• Now we need to connect a new DC Jack to other end of the wire. I purchased the new DC jack from here for a price of $6. Shown in the picture above the white wire is the positive terminal (+) and hence must connect to the inner ring of the DC Jack. Similarly the blue wire being the negative terminal (-) should connect to the outer ring of the DC jack. Refer the picture below on how the wires are soldered to the DC Jack. Be careful not to short the leads as they are very close.
• Now neatly wind a round of insulation tape over the wire and especially on the exposed DC Jack exterior. This will prevent any short-circuit and also give a better appearance.
Toshiba Satellite A70/A75. Disassembly guide with pictures.
Valued Comments.
Submitted by Binney:
The workaround relocates the jack externally. When I did this, a short occurred between the metal casing on the top cover (the one removed with the guitar pick). This happens if the solder repair is too tall. I covered my repair with electrical insulation tape and that fixed the problem. It took me quite some time to figure out where the short was and would like to save others the headache.
Comments #282, 286 submitted by Jake and John:
Size N: DC Power Jack #274-1576 from radioshack works perfect and looks great. Costs $2.99, easier to solder, snugger fit, 5.5mm O.D. x 2.5mm I.D.
Here are some pictures of the end result of the repair with
the Radio Shack type jack. I added one of those quick release
key holder that I had lying around as a retention holder.Here is what it looks like unplugged: Power tip unplugged.
Here is what it looks like with the adapter plugged in and
the key holder reattached: Power tip plugged.
Entry Filed under: Laptop Tips and Tricks
317 Responses to “Toshiba Satellite A75 failed power jack workaround”
Pages: « 32 … 28 27 26 25 24 [23] 22 21 20 19 18 … 1 » Show All
Pages: « 32 … 28 27 26 25 24 [23] 22 21 20 19 18 … 1 » Show All
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I have an toshiba Sat A70 and i was woundering if its neccesary to take the old powerjack off the motherboard if im gonna replace it with a new one outside the laptop, also is the same exact same type/brand powerjack required or can i use something similar that the connector can fit in also. Please answer back thanks
August 21st, 2007 at 8:19 am
Is anyone having problems with the Tosibia Satelite 75 LCD monitor? Mine has been in the shop 5 times to replace the LCD. I luckily got Extended Warranty. It has been in the shop 2 other times for the power outlet problem and the motherboard going out. It has been a great computer when working. tosibia states it has to be in the shop with them x2 for a replacement. I have been taking it to a Tosibia recommended shop x7, but that does not count.
August 9th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
thinking about working on a35 power connector redo–how about runing one wire to the positive side of the connector only and put a slip connector on this wire and another on the positive side of the power adapter– now the power adapter negative works as it should –tape up ect and less obvious with one wire on back side–just thinking out loud- what do u think–charlie
July 30th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
I was wondering on if anyone has done anything to make the appearence of the cord less noticeable or anything to make it look nicer?
WHat if you were to get a case or a sleeve? Can the cable hide in there?
July 24th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I need to tell you THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!! My hubby just did what you said to do…I was waiting to get the part from ebay…But hubby went ahead to at least get the internal work done while waiting for the new part….But he ended up fixing the old part and my laptop works like a charm….I will keep the part in case this one fails again….seeing it is external it will be easier to replace….I am so thrilled…..Thanks to ppl like you that let others know how to fix this problem or I would still be in the dark and annoyed…..So again THANK YOU!!!!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:28 am
@ken
run XP disk and enter Recovery Console (option R after booting from xp cd)
once at prompt, run: chkdsk /r
if that dont sort it, try ‘fixboot ‘ in recovery console.
happy days
July 22nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Thank you so much for the info….I have been having problems off and on with my power adapter…It finally stopped working today…I just happened to look online for a new battery and came arcoss this….I am going to have my hubby do what you suggested….When the power adapter stopped working it was within minutes that the battery died too….Do you think I need a new battery??? I love how Toshiba tells ppl about this problem…Makes me mad…..And I also see the settlement they are going thru with this same model….I have had that problem since I have owned this laptop…..And looks like it is to late for me to get anything from them…..Again I love how they alert Toshiba owners….Thanks
July 21st, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Ken,
1. Try “Last Known Good Configuration” option from the boot menu
2. Run memory test and hard drive test. Make sure both pass test. Use Memtest86+ for the memory test and Hitachi’s DFT for the hard drive test. You’ll find links to both utilities on the right side of the website in Resources. Replace the faulty device if needed.
3. Backup all personal data from the hard drive and run the recovery process. I will load original factory image on the hard drive.
July 20th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Ken, I have had what sounds like the same problem on my hp. It turned out to be a hard drive failure and I had to replace it…now works like a charm.
July 19th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Actually I needed help to resolved an issue with my Toshiba Satellite Toshiba Satellite A85-S107. It keeps rebooting without loading the operating system. Since it gives me the choice to select safe mode, I did that but again it only reboots and comes to the same point. Any help? Please e-mail your help to my address nkendrich@hotmail.com
Thanks
Ken