I have a Toshiba Satellite that I bought about a year ago. Today when I tried to plug in the DC power jack, the jack wouldn't plug into the laptop port because the pin was bent. I bent the pin back and now the laptop won't charge up. The pin is probably broken or cracked or something like that.

I called Best Buy (where I bought the laptop) and not only is this not covered under manufacturer warranty, but it will cost over $100 to send it away to be fixed. I found instructions online to replace the jack (which only costs $3). I have never soldered or done anything like this before. What do you guys think I should do? I can borrow a soldering iron from a co-worker so that's no problem.

2/6/2012 6:04:51 PM

PS the laptop model is a C650

2/6/2012 6:33:06 PM

I would do this:

http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/Toshiba-Satellite-C650-C655/disassemble-toshiba-laptop-1.htm

And buy this:

http://www.ipadpartsshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=4427

however i just saw this in the last step

Quote :

"In Toshiba Satellite C655/C655D laptop the DC jack is not soldered to the motherboard. The DC jack attached to the harness. If the DC jack fails, you simply unplug the old DC-IN harness and replace it with a new DC-IN harness."

To me that says that on the C650 the DC jack is soldered to the motherboard

In which case you probably would need to solder it in...have you used a soldering iron before? its pretty easy, just takes a little time to let it heat then cool afterwards, some good video tutorials online

[Edited on February 6, 2012 at 6:58 PM. Reason : .]

2/6/2012 6:49:29 PM

I'm not sure I'd want this to be my first soldering project.

I'm sure there's no less than a dozen folks on here that will do it for a few bucks, or a beer.

Myself included, if you wanted to drive to RTP to get it done.

[Edited on February 6, 2012 at 10:18 PM. Reason : .]

2/6/2012 10:18:06 PM

^Yes. Fregac does this sort of repair as well. And as a distant last resort, me.

2/6/2012 10:39:11 PM

Have you tried calling Toshiba? This seems like something that WOULD be covered under warranty...

2/6/2012 11:49:50 PM

Physical damage is not generally warrantied. If the jack spontaneously failed in normal operation it might be covered, but it was clearly not a manufacturing defect. I'd be happy if they did cover it, but I certainly wouldn't expect it.

Go ahead and do the teardown, get the board out, and order the new connector. Actually swapping it is maybe a 5 minute job, tops. I've done several small soldering jobs for others on here for $free to $beer, depending on complexity, so if you don't live anywhere really remote, I can stop by on my way home from work and pop the new one in there for you.

Actually, I just looked for the jack on eBay, and it appears that the C650 also uses a harness, so no soldering necessary. Tear it down and verify, but I think you can just swap it right out.

2/7/2012 7:54:26 AM

C650 indeed uses detachable jack on a cable. I've repaired at least one recently, the most common problem is the plastic around the jack that holds it steady breaks and it becomes loose (but still works fine).

If you tried to bend the pin back to normal after it got bent somehow (which takes quite a bit of force, btw) you probably broke it internally or shorted it. Only tool you need to do the swap is a screwdriver. Be sure to test your power adapter with a multimeter to make sure its not dead too!

2/10/2012 7:59:06 PM