BleepingComputer.com: dell inspiron n5010. dc jack broken

I have a dell inspiron n5010. The dc jack on it does not work, the middle pin is broken off. I have a new dc jack for my laptop , but I am not sure how to solder it on. I looked on the internet to see if I could get instructions on how to do it for my laptop, but I couldnt find any. Can any of you give me some instructions, or maybe point me to a video of how to do it?

Hi

This is kind of a heavy duty repair. Do not attempt unless you are prepared to replace the board it is on if things go wrong. If you don't have a lot of experience with soldering on modern day circuit boards, you are going to have a heck of a time removing the broken one.

First make sure the power jack is replaceable on the Inspiron n5010. Is it on the motherboard or is it on a separate board? If it is on a separate board, make sure a replacement is available for purchase before attempting.

I once had a customer with the jack broken on a Toshiba Satellite and fortunately found out ahead of time that replacing it was very risky because of the connections with one of the pins had to be perfect on a microscopic level.

Alternatives

Charge the battery in another Inspiron n5010 laptop with a functioning power jack

Purchase an external battery charger for that model that plugs directly into the battery. (usually less than $50)

Repair the jack (what I did for the toshiba was carefully reattach the pin with tweezers and solder while wearing magnifying glasses. This did not last. The Toshiba owner had 4 small kids and 2 large dogs that repeatedly tripped over the cord causing the damage LOL)

Modify the broken jack and solder a new jack to it externally with wires and then shrink wrapping it, then loosen the springing piece of metal in the new jack so the plug slides out easily. (my final solution for the Toshiba that works to this day)

If you decide to go for it, here is a good general guide.

http://defectivekit.com/2007/02/15/guide-to-fixing-a-laptop-power-jack-a-do-it-yourselfer/

James

Never say die,

I have replaced the power jacks on other computers, but this is the first n5010 Im doing it on. Do I just desolder all the connections on the old jack/circuit assembly and then solder the new one in the same spots after replacing it. The reason Im asking is that this dc jack looks different.

 shashman, on 05 February 2012 - 01:56 PM, said:

Okay, it's a repair that looks deceptively simple so I didn't know if you knew what you were getting into.

You do

Looked up a pic and wow, does it go on the mobo or does it go on a separate power board attached to the motherboard? If it goes directly on the motherboard, I don't know what to say. That looks like it would be really hard to remove without a needle sharp iron and some precision flux placement. If it goes on a second board, then give it a try at least for practice as long as the power boards are available for a decent price.

James

To start you can download the service manual from Dell for most Dell laptops.

The new jack should look like the old one.

I have done Dell DC jacks in the past. Pain in the neck. I ended up using a hacksaw blade and a gentle touch to break the old jack down onto manageable pieces to unsolder.

Some have 9 different pins to unsolder in Dells.
I used a prefluxed desoldering wick to clean the holes.

I have seen tutorials on unsoldering capacitors over on www.badcaps.net in one of the forums that a user created. Unsoldering the DC jack is similar.

When it is ready to be installed all the holes in the circuit board should be clean from the old solder using the wick.

The New jack should be sitting flat against the circuit board if not you need to figure out why not and correct the problem.

As you disassemble the laptop to remove the motherboard be very careful not to break the connectors for the Keyboard, Touchpad, Speakers, Power switch etc.

If you are not sure take good sharp pictures of the connector and post them to get help on how to do it. Some flip up, Some a little bar slides etc.
Do not just pull them from the connector if the are the flat ribbon type.

Ive taken some pictures of the dc jack. Should I just desolder all the connection points to the dc jack only the bottom, shown in picture 1, or should i also desolder the same connection points on the top, shown in pic 2?

Top and bottom and carefully wick away. I would not use a sucker. Make sure not to damage the traces around the pins. I'm happy to see that it's a power board and not on the motherboard. You can probably find one for less than $50.

Rotor123 is very wise

Quote

That is how I would gain access to those thin pins as removing those cleanly will be the most risky part of the job.

The fact that it is a separate power board means there is a good chance that the quality control is not the same as for a motherboard. That's why you need to be really careful not to damage the traces where the pins plug in.

James

EDIT: Looking closely at your pics, I see that it is in a notch in the board and not on it. I would use a Dremel to cut the three thin pins as close to the adapter as possible then unsolder and remove the jack. Then work on getting the three cut pins out cleanly.

This post has been edited by NeverSayDie: 06 February 2012 - 11:11 AM