Laptop will not stay powered after replacing dc jack

A) AC adapter (Charger) is bad.
Use a multimeter, and check it out.

[ DC Voltage.
Test plug of cable that plugs into laptop.
Positive (Red) probe lead of multimeter, to Center Hole of plug on AC adapter.
Negative (Black) probe lead touches outside cylindrical metal shell.
You should read close to 19.5 Volts (DC) ]

AC adapter checks out OK?

B) DC Power Jack is bad

[The DC Power Jack is the port on the laptop, that the AC adapter plugs into. On laptop may be marked DC_IN ]

Damage to DC Power Jack prevents laptop from charging, or running strictly off of the AC adapter.

Battery removed take a No.2 pencil's eraser, and see if you can gently move the Center Pin, of the DC Power Jack.
ANY perceptible movement means replacement of the DC Power Jack.

The pin itself may not move, and the entire jack moves.
The good news is the DC Power Jack is not soldered to the motherboard.
It is soldered to a separate, therefore replaceable, small circuit board,

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=3698

Click to enlarge. In the photo the DC Power Jack is at the back on the right.
This is is what the DC Power Jack, looks like not installed on that small circuit board,

http://www.elept.com/dc-power-jack-for-dell-inspiron-xps-m140-m1710-m1210-m2010_p2971.html

Looking at the view on the right, note the pins sticking out.
You are looking at the back view, and the jack is laying on it's side.
The pins go through the laptop's motherboard, and are soldered to the motherboard.

Where the pins are soldered to the motherboard is a solder connection. Commonly referred to as a Solder Joint.

Plugging in, and missing the hole of the jack, can cause the AC adapter plug to damage the DC Power Jack, by bumping into it.

Bumping into the plug of the AC adapter, while plugged into the DC Power jack, can cause damage to the jack.

Can cause cracking of the above mentioned solder joints. This leads to an intermittent contact, and eventually no contact, of the DC Power Jack TO the motherboard.

In this case the solder joints are just re-soldered.

Damage to the body of the jack itself means replacement of the DC Power Jack, or replacement of the USB/DC Power Jack circuit board, itself.

(Unless you, or an acquaintance can un-solder, and solder real well, the option may be to just replace the USB/DC Power Jack circuit board)

DC Power Jack proves to be OK?

Problem is one, or more Power MOSFETs on the motherboard.
These determine if the Battery needs a trickle charge, or a full charge, or no charge at all.
Also determines if the laptop is to just run off of the AC adapter, and not the Battery.

This example is for HP Pavilion dv6000 and Pavilion dv9000 series of Notebook PC's. You can use it for cross-reference information.
(Location of the Power MOSFETs on your laptop's motherboard. General idea of what they look like ),

http://mayohardware.blogspot.com/2010/04/important-parts-on-dv6000-and-dv9000.html

What? Looks like motherboard replacement to you?
OK
Let's price a Fairchild Semiconductor International - FDS6679 - Power MOSFET,

http://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=FDS6679

If you buy one the cost is $1.01 USD

Look to see if the Power MOSFET/s are burned. Blackened, bubbled, or blistered.

There is one more small component, that if bad will produce the same results;
Ceramic Capacitors.

Look back at the Mayohardware blog. Look at the second photo down with the AO4407 Power MOSFET circled in Yellow.

Note the small rectangular shape to the immediate right, that has the wide dark band on it. There is one above it, one above that, and one to the right of the top one.

See if any of these, (No matter what the size. Look at all of them), are burned. Blackened, bubbled, or blistered.

http://www.mouser.com/Passive-Components/Capacitors/Ceramic-Capacitors/Multilayer-Ceramic-Capacitors-MLCC-SMD-SMT/_/N-b2cj?P=1z0wquyZ1z0t6fg

NOT stating these are ones to use. Just showing average cost.
.42 to .76 cents USD. Approximately a half dollar to three-quarters of a dollar.

Motherboard?

Average example,

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-M140-Motherboard-HC425/dp/B001155N0U

$200 USD

Average example of the -> package type of the Power MOSFETs used,

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:oER5NNz8cwcJ:www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/FD/FDS6675BZ.pdf+Fairchild+FDS6675BZ&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShOhWPjm_M-ROHme4iEMrztCTOd-28jNiy1hVLQQh_VOyv8zcXEVDB_iTQA6MuZO88UmRkDgjyW9j4CP2aIJ-4DS-h6JNM3lvxldeApQeecmz_DADCw1s7tmNLxfPknqX14SZP6&sig=AHIEtbS_rYUAeo_8rB9YHkW05ZjLqeH4Jg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uiroWBkdFY&feature=fvwrel

You don't need a Soldering Station. A low Wattage soldering iron, and that tip.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps140M/en/sm/index.htm

Regards,
joecoolvette

LOL, sounds like your tablet has seen it's better days. See why HP got out of the Tablet business? They are nothing but trouble.

DC Power Jacks for the most part are soldered onto the motherboard. There are some models where the DC Power Jack and the cable harness just sits in a slot on the motherboard. And there are some models where the DC Power Jack is soldered on a little circuit board that is secured by screws to hold it into place. In any case to get to the Internal DC Power Jack you have to disassemble the laptop. And if it's soldered onto the motherboard, you will spend time unsoldering the old broken Jack before you can install the new one. Get a quote from a local repair shop, then check the guys out at: http://www.generalsystemsconsulting.com They will repair it and ship it back to you via Fedex or UPS cheaper than most quotes you get including the shipping charge.

1) Check the AC adapter. Use a multimeter set to DC Voltage, (Symbol is a dotted line over a solid line)

You aren't checking for voltage output, so much, as you are checking for an intermittent break.

AC adapter plugged into power, and probe leads of the multimeter touching the plug of the AC adapter going to the laptop, have an assistant gently wiggle;

1) First the power cord going to the AC adapter.
2) Then the cable from the AC adapter TO the laptop.

If you get an intermittent reading on the multimeter, you have a broken wire in the AC adapter cable, or power cord.

2) If the AC adapter shows VERY close, to the voltage it's supposed to be putting out, AND there is no intermittent break, go to the DC Power Jack.

[ A economical multimeter can be purchased for around $8 to $12.
Available in a multitude of stores. An auto parts store is but one example.

Analog, (Meter with needle), or digital is fine.

Multimeter's vary in style.
It will have a Function knob in the center. This is turned to DC Voltage.
As stated, if just a symbol, it is a dotted line over a solid line.
IF, there is more than one DC Voltage scale, set it to the 0 - 50 Volt scale.

The red probe lead is the Positive lead.
The black probe lead is the Negative probe lead.
You are testing DC Voltage. There is a Positive, and a Negative.

The plug of the AC adapter, that plugs into the DC Power Jack on the laptop, will have a Positive connection, and a Negative connection.

Plugs vary. The most common is a plug with a center hole, and a surrounding metal cylindrical shell.

The Center hole is Positive.
The outer cylindrical metal shell is Negative.

Need more advice post in a Comment ]

Depending on what laptop we are discussing here, the DC Power Jack can be soldered directly to the motherboard, OR it has a cable attached to it, and the cable plugs into the motherboard.
(DC Power Harness)

IF, it is the solder to the motherboard type, it has prongs, or pins, that come out of the bottom of the DC Power Jack, and goes through the motherboard. Then the prongs, or pins, are soldered to the motherboard.

With this style, if the DC Power Jack is bumped, the solder joints of those pins, may be cracked. Makes a bad contact.

Could also be bad enough to make a Short. (Laptop turns off when AC adapter is plugged in)

The DC Power Jack itself may be in bad repair.
Using as an example of the style that has a Center hole, and a surrounding cylindrical metal shell, (Inside), if the two parts touch, you can have a Short.

The diagnoses is to start with removing ALL power, AC adapter ('Natch), and Battery.
See with a small wooden object, if you can gently wiggle the DC Power Jack.

ANY perceptible movement means a bad DC Power Jack.
You will also have to partially disassemble the laptop, to check the DC Power Jack solder connections, to the motherboard.

3) DC Power Jack checks out, the problem has gone serious.

Mounted to the laptop motherboard is a power controller chipset.
It is a power MOSFET,

[ Chip and Chipset are slang terms for I.C.
Integrated Circuit,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Circuit

The power MOSFET is a type of I.C.,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_MOSFET ]

If you open the laptop, and view the motherboard, this problem will be readily apparent. This chipset usually burns, and turns blackish.

Problem is when it does, the manufacturer's ID numbers are hard to read, in order to obtain a replacement ]

This is one power controller chipset that is used in a LOT of laptops,

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:oER5NNz8cwcJ:www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/FD/FDS6675BZ.pdf+Fairchild+FDS6675BZ&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShOhWPjm_M-ROHme4iEMrztCTOd-28jNiy1hVLQQh_VOyv8zcXEVDB_iTQA6MuZO88UmRkDgjyW9j4CP2aIJ-4DS-h6JNM3lvxldeApQeecmz_DADCw1s7tmNLxfPknqX14SZP6&sig=AHIEtbS_rYUAeo_8rB9YHkW05ZjLqeH4Jg

This is another one,

http://html.alldatasheet.com/html-pdf/85156/VISHAY/SI4925BDY/183/1/SI4925BDY.html

Both of these chipsets uses a D2PAK surface mount.
The leads are bent into a J shape. ( J Lead)

The 'foot' of the J lead is soldered to a copper pad on the motherboard.
(Copper Pad has a thin gold plating on it)

Simple de-soldering/soldering techniques, are used to Remove the chipset.
HOWEVER, use a Heatsink on EACH J lead, when soldering the new chipset in.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103242

(The power MOSFET has transistor/s inside )

OR, replace the motherboard.

For additional questions please post in a Comment.

Regards,
joecoolvette

Hi

After the battery and AC cord replacement and still not getting power there's only once culprit there and that is the motherboard of the laptop. I recommend you call Acer and have them replace it for you. Thanks

I concur with what Diegotech stated.

To iterate further;

1) The DC Power Jack (DC IN), may have cracked solder joint/s on the motherboard connector, (Female), where the DC Power Jack plugs in.

Resolder

2) The DC Power Jack may be broken.
Center Pin mount, and/or body of DC Power Jack, and/or Outer Shell mount.

Replace DC Power Jack.

3) Wires from the DC Power jack plug to the female connector on the motherboard, may be bad.

Replace DC Power Jack.

Two examples, of a place to buy an IBM ThinkPad T41 DC Power Jack,

1) http://www.buy.com/prod/dc-power-jack-connector-socket-for-ibm-thinkpad-t40-t41-t42-r50-r51-r52/q/sellerid/23962916/loc/101/215782035.html

2) http://www.machinaelectronics.com/store/buypart/IBM_Thinkpad_T41/DC-P001

Past this point it's a bad DC sensor on the motherboard.

Replace motherboard.

IBM ThinkPad T41 Service Manual, (Free),

http://www.tim.id.au/blog/tims-laptop-service-manuals/#toc-ibmlenovo

On this page go down to the 8th line.
The one that starts with > ThinkPad T20.

Go across, and click on > T41

Takes approximately 2 seconds to see the first page, and additional time to fully download.

Page 142 for 14.1 inch LCD screen
Page 151 for 15 inch LCD screen

(PDF file page number box at top)

1. Test power adapter for output voltage. Bend the power cable in various directions while doing this to be sure that there is no broken conductors in the cable.
2. If power adapter is Ok, connect it & see if the power LED on the laptop will glow when you jiggle the power connector in various directions. If yes, then the DC jack might be loose or damaged, & need to be either re-soldered or replaced.
3. If not, then disassemble the laptop. Remove any components that attach to the laptop's motherboard first (e.g. battery, hard drive, RAM, wireless card, optical drive, ... etc.)
4. Next, remove the keyboard & the LCD screen.
5. Finally, unscrew all screws that hold the upper cover & lower cover together so that you could gain access to the motherboard.
6. Inspect the solder points connecting the DC jack to the motherboard. Make sure that none of them is loose. If any, re-solder them.
7. Inspect the center pin in the DC jack. Make sure that it is not broken or loose. If it is, then you might need to replace the DC jack.
8. When you are done, re-assemble back the laptop.

Motherboard or harddrive? I'm betting it's more towards the motherboard. The DC Power Jack to be more specific. This is the port where the AC adapter, (Charger), plug is plugged into.

The DC Power Jack is not much bigger, than the plug for the AC adapter that plugs into it. There are small pin leads that are on the bottom of this jack, and they go through the motherboard, and are soldered to the motherboard.

Accidental bumping of the AC adapter plug, while plugged into the DC Power Jack, can damage the jack. It can break the connections for the adapter plug, and/or can crack the solder joints for those small pin leads.

[Laptops use DC electricity. A flashlight battery, and a laptop battery, are examples of stored DC electricity. DC electricity has two poles. Positive and Negative. The DC Power Jack has two connections. Positive and Negative. {Even if the DC Power Jack has multiple holes in it]

There is also another known problem associated with DC Power Jacks. It may stem from a bad motherboard design.

More to the point, the area where the DC Power Jack mounts on the motherboard. In this design, the DC Power Jack motherboard area, is almost a separate part of the motherboard. It's shaped like a Peninsula. (Think of an island, with one side connected to the mainland)

This peninsula shape, has the tendency to crack away from the main body of the motherboard. Circuit traces are broken.

When the AC adapter plug is setting in a certain position, it presses the two broken halves of the circuit traces together, for a momentary contact. As the AC adapter plug is moved from this position, the circuit trace halves are moved apart, and there is no contact.

(No distribution of electricity from one circuit trace half, to the other circuit trace half. Think of a circuit trace as a very, thin, flat copper wire. When a circuit trace is broken, there is essentially a wire that is broken into two parts)

Solution?
See if the DC Power Jack can be repaired, (Solder joint connections re-soldered), or replaced.
If the DC Power Jack motherboard area is the aforementioned peninsula shape, it may require replacement of the motherboard.

There are very FEW, computer repair shops that have the technical expertise to replace a DC Power Jack. Easy fix is to simply replace the motherboard. (More $$$$$ too)

However, some laptops DO require replacement of the motherboard for this repair.
Bad motherboard design, for the DC Power Jack area on the motherboard.

Re-solder DC Power Jack solder joints? (IF, this is the problem) Average is $50 to $75 (US)
Replace DC Power Jack? Average is $125 to $150. (US)
Replace motherboard? Depends on the Gateway model. Could be $225 to $400 (US)

[Yes, most of the time the cost warrants just replacing the laptop itself, as the cost of replacing, is close to the repair cost)

Just to SHOW you ab average DC Power Jack, and the repair involved of replacing. (Doesn't show you, that the entire laptop needs to be disassembled, down to the bare motherboard in hand)

This is NOT a recommendation to replace the DC Power Jack yourself! It is just for knowledge of what is partially involved. (You can accidentally burn the motherboard when desoldering, or soldering, rendering the motherboard useless)

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/

Your DC Power Jack is bad, or the area of the motherboard where the DC power jack attaches to, is bad.

The DC Power Jack, is the small port where your AC adapter,(Charger), plugs into.
This is an example of an average DC Power Jack, for an HP Pavilion laptop, not installed in a laptop yet,
http://www.megaemarket.com/dc-power-jack-hp-pavilion-ze4200-zt117420011721182125.html
If you click on the photo it will enlarge.

The DC Power Jack in the photo is upside down, in relation to how it sits on your laptop's motherboard.
Those flat metal pins shown on top, go down through the motherboard, and are soldered on the other side.

1.Sometimes when the 'charger' plug is in the jack, and is bumped, it can crack the solder joints for the DC Power Jack's flat pins. This makes an intermittent contact. Eventually there is no contact at all.

2.Sometimes it's a bad design of the DC jack, and just from ordinary usage of the user plugging in the charger, and removing it, this can crack the solder joints.

3.Sometimes the small area of the motherboard where the DC power jack is mounted, can crack away from the main body of the motherboard.
To explain:
Crude example;
Envision a laptop's motherboard as having a 1 foot square shape. (It isn't. It's irregular shaped) Now on one side attach a 2 inch square. This 2 inch square, represents the area that the DC power jack is attached to. A 'Peninsula', if you will. There are circuit traces that go along a motherboard. Think of them as Very, flat, thin, strips of copper wire. These 'wires' become stretched, and break as the 'peninsula' cracks away from the main body of the motherboard.

Solution?
Have the DC Power Jack replaced, or the motherboard.
DC Power Jack cost? About $6 to $8 dollars.
Labor? $100 to $150.
The tech has to completely disassemble the laptop, to just the bare motherboard in hand. Then unsolder the DC power jack, resolder a new one in, and reassemble the laptop.
Motherboard cost? About $150 on up. Depends on where you obtain it. (Ebay?)
Labor? $100 to $200.

hi there,

you can follow this instruction and try to your laptop to resolved the problem.

A bad connection between DC-IN power jack on the system board and the system board is a very common problem with Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 notebooks. If your laptop is out of warranty, then you can fix the problem by resoldering DC-IN jack on the system board. If it’s still under warranty, it would be fixed at no charge to you.
Problem symptoms:

1. Laptop randomly shuts down without any warning.
2. Power LED and battery charge LED start flickering when you wiggle the power cord or the AC adapter tip on the back or your laptop.
3. The battery will not get charged.
4. When you plug AC adapter, the laptop appears to be dead and there is no LED activity at all (DC-IN jack on the system board is broken).

To fix the problem, you have to take your laptop apart, remove the system board to resoleder or replace the DC-IN jack. Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 disassembly guides will help you to remove the system board. Take a closer look at the power jack on the system board with a magnifying glass. In most cases you get the power problem because of a bad connection between the DC jack and the system board, you’ll see a crack between the DC jack connector and the system board.
Here is an example of Toshiba Satellite M35X power jack. The crack occurs between the DC jack pin and the system board.
In some cases the connection is good, but the DC jack is bad itself. You can find a new DC jack for Toshiba Satellite M35X and Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptops here. Search for DC jack M35X or DC jack A75.
How to resolder laptop power jack yourself.
UPDATE:
Sometimes, after you replace the jack, you can see that the system board doesn’t get power at all. The battery will not charge and the power LED will not light when you plug in the AC adapter. So, here’s a possible explanation.
When a connection between the positive pin and the motherboard breaks (cracks), the power jack gets loose. You can feel it when you plug in the adapter plug. A loose power jack can damage the trace inside the hole in the system board. Take a look at the picture.
As you see, the positive pin goes through the hole in the system board and you solder it on the top side. Right? What if the trace between the top side and the bottom side is broken somewhere inside the hole? I’ve seen it before a few times. In this case everything looks nice and clean on the top side. When you plug in the AC adapter, you get normal voltage readings between “+” and “-“ pins on the top side, but the power DOESN’T go to the motherboard at all, because there is no connection between the top and bottom sides. Test with a multimeter if there is a connection between the top and the bottom.
If the trace inside the hole is broken you still can fix it. You can run a wire to connect the top and the bottom sides. Be careful not to short something on the board.
Update:
Here’s another solution to fix the power jack problem, it shows how to relocate the power jack outside the laptop base. Check it out here: Toshiba Satellite A75 failed power jack workaround.
When you repair a loose power jack, it’s a good idea to check the jack on both sides of the motherboard. When you remove the top cover from a Toshiba Satellite A70/A75 laptop you can see only points where the jack is soldered to the motherboard as it shown on the second picture in this post, but you cannot see the jack itself as it shown on the first picture.
Removing the motherboard from Satellite A70/A75 laptop is a good idea because the jack itself might has a broken “+” pin, as it shown on the picture below. If the “+” broke off the base, you’ll have to replace the jack.