Laptop power issue?

[Flying Toilet]

Hi all,

I have a Fugitau-Siemens laptop.

The power cable is not a problem but the actual pin it connects to in the laptop. It has become loose.
Is there any easy way for me to fix it myself? Someone wants £135 to do it.

Are advice? Suggestions.

PS. It is 18 months old.

Dan

[TheLearner]

First of all. Go and check with Fujitsu-Seimens as to the length of waranty on your machine. Next, depending on where you brought it from, check their documentation... again it might be a 2 year.

Now assuming it's not under waranty (do not read this section until you've checked your documentation!!!) you can go one of three ways: New laptop. Big n' brave. Pay £135.

Big n' Brave, is the way forward, get your screw drivers out and start disassembling the laptop; it's held together by screws and plastic clips, so be gentle with it but it was assembled, it will come apart. You'll probably need to take the panel off to get inside.

Now, warm up the soldering iron and reattach the power socket to the board. Give it a try, make sure it's solid and then reassemble the laptop.

Call it 45min - 1hr to repair.

[ginettag27]

Even if it's not under warranty surely the power connector should last longer than 18 months? Could this not be discussed with their Customer Relatiopnships Dept?

[TheLearner]

By rights it should, but, much like the hinges failing it can be written off as "reasonable wear and tear". It's annoying. But such is the way of consumer electronics.

[Flying Toilet]

Thanks for your help.

I will check my warranty.

Dan

[joeyxe]

Common fault with Fujitsu Siemens laptops. I'm using one right now and it had the exact same fault as yours. I had repaired it a couple of times but it would always break again. Then by chance i came across the plastic power components on eBay. They cost about £5 for two and took about an hour to fit. Hasn't broken since....

[Morningside]

I have done quite a few of these. They are too not hard to repair and you may find that a replacement socket (or similar) can be found at RS or Farnell. I find its a common fault with laptops. Sometimes you can get away with a small dab of solder on the motherboard where it connects (dry joint) or re-solder the center pin.

The biggest problems is finding a way into the laptop. Sometimes they are clipped round the sides as well as the screws. One of the main problems can be screws hiding under rubber feet or the name label.
As suggested I would look at the warranty 1st before any dismantling. Remember that the motherboard will be a multilayer board so be very, very careful with soldering. IF you are intending on keeping the laptop I have (in the past) put an external socket on a short piece of wire at the back of some older machines.

Edited by Morningside on Saturday 29th September 20:59