Toshiba Satellite model M35X - fixing power connector
Toshiba Satellite M35X model is known for it’s power connector problem. This issue has been covered on this blog a few times before in the following articles.
Toshiba Satellite M35X and Satellite A75 power jack and battery charge problem
Failed power jack workaround (guide for a Satellite A75 notebook similar to Satellite M35X)
Here’s another well written and documented guide submitted by Stephen Macuch. Thank you Stephen for the great pictures and very detailed instructions.
This is a view of the laptop power connector before the repair:
Inside the yellow circle is the main power connection from the connector to the board – note that you can see a dark circle completely around it, indicating that there is no solid metal connection.
Also note that it looks somewhat ‘burnt’ – this is indicative of sparking taking place. This connection carries 3 amps of current. The current then passes through the component labeled PF1 ( literally ‘Power Fuse 1’). It then is supposed to connect to this side of the part circled in red (‘PL1’) – but notice that flexing of the board as the connector was wiggled caused a crack you can see running horizontally under this end of this part.
Same view, after the repair:
The green coating covering the metal leading up to the power connector was scraped off down to the bare copper of the board, in three places – the center pin, circled in yellow here, and the connector pins on both sides (see below). All were resoldered – on the top side of the board first, then touched up on the bottom (which is not where the primary electrical contact is made). The new broader, smoothly-tapered connection will be both physically stronger, and a better electrical connection.
Inside the red circle, you can see this was done for other part (PL1), as well.
Bottom view of connector, before the repair:
Again note that inside the circled areas, you can see dark circles where there should be solid metal, indicating that the original physical connection has been broken, and the parts are only transferring power due to the fact that they are touching . In fact, the only thing even holding the connector to the board is the connection in the bottom middle (between the two lower yellow circles) and it has a crack in it, as well.
Notice, also, the dried flux residue, indicating that this bottom-side soldering was done entirely, or touched up, by hand - and not cleaned afterwards.
The actual metal that conducts the power is actually of the top side of the board, where the connector is mounted, but the fact that the solder that flowed through mounting holes has cracked indicates is was not properly soldered in the first place.
As you can see in the two views below, all solder joints between the connector and the top side copper on the board now look much better. Increasing the size and coverage of the solder joints to the metal sides of the connector will make its mounting to the board physically much stronger as well, and better able to resist any side-to-side or up-and-down forces.
Inside the red circles, you can see that both sides of that part PL1 have been well resoldered.
This bottom view of the board after the repair shows good flow of solder through to the bottom side at the time the joints were resoldered.
Here’s another common problem with this model:
Laptop locks up, freezes up or reboots when you touch the speakers
Entry Filed under: Toshiba Laptop Problems
July 27th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Hi.
I have a Satellite A70 and the Power Jack needs to be soldered as described, but there is one screw that I can’t figure how it comes out to take the laptop apart. It is buried in the assembly and seems to be almost impossible to take apart. Can someone help me on the procedures to take apart the A70?
Thanks
July 26th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Ariel,
I don’t know the specs. Take a closer look at the fuse. Maybe it has value written on it.
July 26th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Thanks for your kind reply.
I think that in my small town it will be a little bit hard find someone that can do it, and i would like to do it myself.
Do you know how to get that fuse? What are the specs? If you have some time, i would like to hear any extra comments or tips.
thanks in advance.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Ariel,
I think you are talking about the power fuse, right? Yes, it’s possible to replace the fuse but you have to have soldering experience.
You can remove the motherboard, take it to a local electronics repair shop and ask them to replace the fuse. It shouldn’t be very expensive.
Be careful. The motherboard is static sensitive. Don’t touch components. Carry the motherboard in an ESD-protective bag.
July 25th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Hello.
I hope that this topic could help me but after dissassebly the lap, i saw that PF1 seems burned, i mean there is a small solder droplet in it. Is it possible to change it? Is there anyway to circumvent this issue? thanks in advance for your time.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Sirat,
Here’s what I did when I had the same problem. I downloaded Active@ Kill Disk - Hard Drive Eraser and erased the hard drive. I didn’t erase the whole drive, just went through 1-2% so the beginning of the drive is clear from Vista files. After that I was able restore XP from scratch, not just install it over Vista.
If your XP recovery files are located on a separate partition on the hard drive, I would STRONGLY suggest creating recovery discs if you can. Just in case if something goes wrong and your recovery partition is erased.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
How to reinstall Window XP over Vista ? ( On Sony VGN100GLaptop )
The problem with this computer is that I booted windows Vista onto it, decided I did not like Vista, and then went to install XP back onto the computer. Here is where the problem comes in…Upon installation of windows XP, I realized that I had just written over Vista instead of replacing it, so then I went back to do a full system recovery, which comes factory standard on the notebook (pressing F10 on the boot screen). Long story short, the recovery did not fully complete itself for whatever reason, and I now get the black screen that says “Error Loading Operating System” whenever booting the computer up.
Thank you.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Rick,
It’s possible that the heat sink is clogged with dust. Try cleaning the heat sink with compressed air. Just spray air inside the air intakes on the bottom and clean the heat sink. It may help.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Great site!
any idea why my toshiba satelite pro runs so hot that the keys are very warm?
it works fine.
Nothing has ever been done to the laptop
thanks
rick
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:30 pm
jason,
You’ll find instructions for taking apart a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 laptop here.
For resoldering the power jack you can use this power jack repair guide.