This Article describes laptop DC Jack types and repair process, to book a repair @ $175 flat fee including pickup and return courier, please click here or call us at 02 8081 2555.
What is a DC jack and how is it repaired
A DC jack is the plug that provides power the the laptop and battery through an AC Adapter / charger, it is where the charger plugs in. image below:
What causes a DC Jack to die
A DC jack can become faulty or it breaks due to sudden movement of the charger tip. For example, if you trip on the cord or drop the laptop while it is plugged in power.
When a laptop battery is no longer charging* or the DC jack is wobbly that you have to fiddle around with the plug to get power. It is a symptom that it needs to be replaced.
Types of DC jacks
There are 3 types of DC Jacks:
- Soldered
- Cable / Harness
- On separate board
1. Soldered DC jack
As the image (below) shows, and as the name suggests this DC Jack is soldered directly onto the motherboard. When replacing a technician is required to strip the laptop apart to the last screw, to be able to access the DC Jack. Un-solder the broken / faulty DC Jack, Clean the board then solder a new DC Jack.
This is the hard form of replacing a DC Jack. The difficulty of this task is around 8 out of 10 and require some solid knowledge in soldering and laptop repair work. If you are looking to purchase a DC jack please check our partner website www.laptopparts.com.au
2. DC Jack with Harness / Cable
This type of DC Jack (Image below) plugs into the motherboard through a cable. This is the easiest form of DC jack repair. The repairer has to remove the base of the laptop where sometimes the DC Jack connector is exposed so it can be unplugged and new DC Jack is plugged in. Other times the DC
Jack connector is facing the back of the keyboard and the motherboard has to be removed to reach the connector.
Regardless if the connector is facing the back of the keyboard of base of laptop, no soldering is required on most of DC Jacks with cable. There are one Samsung and one Toshiba Laptop models I have seen where the DC Jack has a connector and the connectors solders to the board (image below)
3. DC jack soldered on board
You don’t see this on many laptops, however it exists. I have seen this on one Asus model (N53 Series) and other laptops I can’t recall. Similar to dc jack with harness
Once the base / palm rest of the laptop is removed the daughter board is exposed. It is an unplug and plugin task, very simple. To save on this kind of DC jack, you can buy the DC Jack only and solder it onto the board. A DC Jack can cost less than $25, a daughter board can cost around $90.
How much does a DC Jack repair cost?
As a general guide and not specific to any model, a DC jack repair can cost anywhere between $100 – $250 depending on the price of the DC jack, some DC jacks can cost up to $150 for parts only.
*If the laptop battery is no longer charging it could also be a motherboard problem
To book in your laptop for a DC Jack repair or to get a quote, please call 02 8081 2555 or click here to book online.
