In order to replace the power jack in your laptop you’ll have to remove the jack from the motherboard as I explained in the previous post: Replacing DC power jack.
While removing the jack you can accidentally pull out the internal copper coating (I’ll call it a sleeve) from the inside of the “+” terminal as it shown on the picture below.
The internal copper sleeve has been removed and cannot be installed back. If you solder the power jack back on the motherboard without this sleeve it might work but the connection between the “+” lead and motherboard will not be reliable.
In the following guide I explain how to fortify a damaged power jack connection. You can use this repair technique in some laptops with similar power jacks.
You can remove the copper sleeve from the power jack with a soldering guy and through it away. You cannot install this sleeve back into the terminal on the motherboard.
Find a small resistor or capacitor with thin leads. Cut off one of the leads. I’m going to use it to fortify the connection between the power jack and motherboard.
Shape the lead as it shown on the picture below.
Put the lead on the “+” connector on the power jack.
Solder the lead to the power jack.
Now I’m going to modify the “+” terminal on the PCB. Even though on the picture below it looks normal, it’s damaged inside (the internal coating has been removed).
Carefully scrape off green varnish around the whole on the “+” terminal on the PCB. You can use a small flathead screwdriver.
If the whole is not big enough for your modified power jack, you can widen it with an awl.
As you see on the picture below the whole on the terminal has been widened. Apply a fresh coat of solder on the clear area of the trace.
Install the power jack assembly on the motherboard. Make sure there is no gap between the jack and motherboard.
Here’s a view from the top side of the PCB.
Solder all pins except the modified “+” pin.
Now, when the power jack is secured, you can shape the lead as it shown on the picture below.
Solder the lead to the terminal. Remove excessive flux with an old tooth brush soaked in 99% alcohol.
Here’s a view from the bottom side of the motherboard.
Be very careful. Doing this modification you can damage the motherboard and make it unusable. Proceed on your own risk.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
March 10th, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Hey i have searched all over the weeb and cant find an answer….ur giudes r amazing by the way but none of them explain the need for the sleeve. I need to better understand what they r used for cause until this laptop repair i honestly never knew they were even there. I got this msi laptop after a user tried a self repair and the pin on the back of the jack runs into the board hole like yours above but it somehow looked different then i was used to seeing and ya its just shorted out so im pretty sure the previous owner fucked up the repair and failed to mention it but please let me know what the sleeve is ment to do that way i can better find a solution that resolves the board being shorted out. I appreciate everything done so far though! Mainly i need to know does the sleeve allow the traces in the hold to be connected or does it kinda shield them from being connected allowing the + pin to avoide contact with them and only attach to the top and bottom of the pcb and nothing in between?? Please let me know and thanks in advance for your time.
April 2nd, 2012 at 8:36 pm
I was trying to repair the power jack on a Dell Latitude D520 laptop (works off battery; does not recognize power jack when plugged in). I was soldering to make the connection between the power jack box and the motherboard. I ended up using some excess solder, and I used a wick to try to get the excess off, but I may have made a connection I should not have. When I try to boot the computer, it powers up (from battery), enters the “DELL” startup page, startup bar finishes all the way across, lights flicker and shuts off. I want to try to remove the power jack connection, clean up any additional solder, then try to turn it on. My question is will the laptop power up if there is no power jack connection in place? Thank you.
December 30th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
@ Randy,
Maybe this problem is not related to the DC jack?
You said all lights flicker and it means the laptop is getting power through the jack.
I really cannot tell what is wrong without looking at the laptop.
December 29th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I replace dc jack on HP ZD7000 laptop . And now when i hit the power button all the top lights flicker it wont power up . It did power up before I worked on it, This is real what do think went wrong ,,only I did notice one pole didnt have a complete connection so i scrap the green away to see cooper and add more solder to bridge it but that did nothing to improve it the lights all flicker when i press power button. help
December 8th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
[...] normally, when you unsolder the power jack, it stays inside the hole. Now I’ll have to make a modification so traces on both sides of the system board are connected. I’ll have to connect traces with a [...]
November 7th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
@ Bjoern,
Check the video cable connection on the motherboard. It’s possible the video cable not seated correctly. Try reseating the connection.
November 6th, 2011 at 3:19 am
Hello i have a Toshiba m30x laptop, the dc port was broken, i have make a bridge. no is the colore of display not black, the blsck is now red. Can you help me please? Thanks
September 24th, 2011 at 10:43 pm
Hi, i have emachine e525, the “+” terminal and ground show continuity, if i plug in power will this burn motherboard? how can i fix this. thx in advance !
September 13th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Jasmin, your battery is probably dead and unable to take a charge, so try a new one.
cj2600, thanks for the info in your article. I’ve salvaged the connections on a few damaged vias myself but they usually don’t come out looking as good or reliable as yours. The last laptop DC jack I worked on came out well, but you must admit that it’s easy to lift out the vias when the joint won’t heat up with a lower wattage iron, especially when you’re working with ground shields/planes which dissipate the heat too quickly.
May 19th, 2011 at 12:58 am
My compaq presario CQ40 is currently out of warranty. And i found that when i plug in the batteries without AC, it cannot be turn on. Only when i plug in the AC then it can be turn on. But even when i turn on, i doesn’t appear BIOS and everything was blank. One of the thing i could notice is that, the both LED white light keep on blinking after the laptop was switched on. 1st LED light is located on top of “Num lk” key, and 2nd LED light located on the side of “Caps Lock” key.
can u help me figure out this problem.tq