Laptop DC Power Jack Repair

A laptop DC power jack endures a great deal of wear and tear during the life of the laptop. With frequent plugging and unplugging, as well as the motions of every day use, all that shimmying will take its toll on the laptop's DC jack. Eventually, the metal connectors that hold the laptop DC jack in place will break loose.

When the laptop DC power jack becomes temperamental, your laptop's power can cut off at any time. This can be annoying, but more so if you suddenly lose power after completing a lot of unsaved work that can be lost. Losing external power can also drain your laptop's battery, if you're not paying attention.

Repairing your laptop DC power jack is a pretty tricky task. It involves taking your laptop completely apart and working directly with the laptop's motherboard. It is possible to do the laptop repair yourself, if you'd like to save some money on laptop repair service and fancy yourself as a skilled electronics technician.

For first-timers, here are some quick tips to get you started:

The first thing to do is to troubleshoot to make absolutely sure that it's not actually the AC adapter that's causing your power outages. Many laptop models have an indicator light to show when the laptop is using external power. If the light is on, then the AC adapter is working properly.


If you don't have an indicator light (or even if you want to make extra sure) you can connect a voltmeter to the AC adapter in order to test it. Plug the power cord into a wall outlet. Then carefully connect one lead from the voltmeter to the inside of the DC plug and one to the outside of the plug. If the voltmeter shows a power connection (usually between 14-19volts), then the AC adapter is in the clear and you can now set your sights on the laptop DC power jack.

When you begin to work on your laptop, the first thing you need to do is make sure that the laptop's AC adapter is unplugged and the laptop battery is removed. The last thing you want to do is give yourself a nasty shock!

Use a large working space. Clear off a large, open table to work on so that you can spread your laptop's parts out. Also, keep a few small cups or bowls near by to hold all the screws and other tiny parts that you may need to remove.


Use a fine soldering tip for your soldering gun. Computer connections are very close together on a motherboard. If the hot iron burns the motherboard or if any stray solder accidentally touches other circuits, the motherboard could be fried. You'll need a very fine tip and a steady hand to perform like a surgeon around all those components.

Apply solder to all connector pins. The break in the DC jack's connections may not be completely visible and it may be more than one connector that's damaged. To insure that all potentially damaged connector pins are solid, reinforce all of them while avoiding accidentally touching surrounding components.

As you can see, repairing the laptop power jack is very risky. One wrong move with the soldering gun and your laptop is toast. For this reason, it's usually recommended that you have your laptop serviced by experienced professionals.

Triangle Laptops is happy to offer our own laptop repair expertise through our new laptop repair service. Our staff has years of hands-on experience with careful computer repair. We're especially knowledgeable in more delicate repairs, like laptop DC power jack repair and replacement.

If you have any questions about our laptop repair service or request service for your laptop, please contact Triangle Laptops by email or call 919-620-6886.