The Acer Aspire 5 laptop can fall victim to the classic power jack failure like any other. The most common symptom is a loose connection where you plug in the power cord. The connection will switch back and forth from battery to AC power and will be significantly more loose than when you first purchased it.
The power jack it uses is soldered directly to the motherboard and the laptop needs to be taken completely apart to access it. In the video below, I have shown a step-by-step guide to the complete disassembly process, de-soldering, and soldering of a new plug back onto the motherboard.
If this type of repair is out of you tech comfort level we offer mail in repair services starting at $69. Visit the homepage and get started with a free diagnostic.
What tools and parts do you use in the video?
Links to Parts and Tools:
Hakko FX888D Soldering Iron – https://amzn.to/3StZkF6
Video of Pomeroy Computing replacing a power jack on an Acer Swift 3 laptop.
How do I know if my Acer Swift has a bad charge port?
I’ve repaired multiple Acer Swift series laptops and the big problem I find with them is that the power jack is very small and delicate. This makes for a fragile and weak design which leads to a broken jack. If the socket connection is loose where you plug in the ac adapter, you most likely have a broken plug.
What does the dc jack look like?
Close up view of a Acer Swift 3 with a broken charge port.Broken Acer Swift 3 power jack.Charge light flickers back and forth from AC to battery power.
What symptoms will it have?
Loose connection where you plug in the power cord.
Intermittently switch back and forth from Ac power to battery.
Power cord doesn’t fit snug like when it was new.
Can I fix this myself?
The video above is a step by step guide in how to fix the Acer Swift 3 laptop. This is board level repair that requires complete disassembly of the notebook. Once the computer is disassembled to the motherboard you will need to de-solder the old broken charge port and solder a new one back on. This will require proficient soldering skills and tools to successfully complete this repair.
What is the cost of replacing the jack?
At Pomeroy Computing we provide nation wide mail-in laptop power jack repair. We do this service for $69 parts and labor to replace the socket on a Acer Swift 3 notebook. Visit the homepage of our website to get started.
This video goes from start to finish on a typical power jack replacement.
What is a power jack?
First, you might be wondering, what exactly is a power jack? Here at Pomeroy Computing, we are experts in these types of repairs and offer guides and tutorials to fix it yourself or we offer our $69 parts and labor mail in repair services. We are here to help!
The power port is a socket that is soldered directly to the motherboard or a cable connection that plugs in it. People tend to find out about this information when they are experiencing power problems themselves.
Power enters through your ac adapter cord and into the laptop to power it and charge the battery through this power jack port. It doesn’t regulate your battery or do anything special. It’s just the physical gateway for power to come into your laptop. If the connection is bad, then your laptop won’t properly power on and charge the battery.
This information might be relevant to you because you’re having power problems with your laptop and are seeking solutions. There are ways you can do this repair yourself but sometimes it is better left to an expert in laptop repairs and soldering due to the complexity of the disassembly and reassembly along with safely removing the bad socket.
New power jack for a Dell 15 3000 laptop.New power jack for Asus Republic of Gamers laptop.Power jack used by many Toshiba and Lenovo models.
What symptoms does a failing charge port have?
A laptop that is experiencing power problems has distinct symptoms. They tend to go bad over time because of stress on the cord and heat going through the solder points. That leads to a weakening of those points and a slow loosening of the dc jack from the motherboard. Another reason you might be experiencing these symptoms is because the computer took a fall, or the cord was tripped over. This results in the port becoming physically damaged and broken off the motherboard. Laptops with power jack problems start to exhibit signs such as:
Loose or broken connection where you plug in the power cord
Intermittent switching of the laptop going back and forth from power to battery
Sparks or heat buildup near the charge port area
Battery won’t charge
Typical bad power jack. You can wiggle the connector to make the laptop power on and charge.
How can I be sure my port is bad?
If you’re not sure whether your laptop has a bad charge port or not, then start with testing your ac adapter. It is a common cause of dc jack like symptoms and can be tested and ruled out as the problem before you take it anywhere. You can use a multimeter to check the integrity of your power cord or try another known working cord to rule out this problem. The most common way to know if you have a bad power socket is the very distinct symptom of the connection being very loose when you plug it in. The ac adapter will feel extremely loose when you plug it in versus very snug when you first bought it. This is the telltale sign of a bad power jack. Sometimes, the loose feeling can start small but get worse over time. You might start to wiggle the tip of the power cord at a certain angle to get it to work. This can cause potential damage to the motherboard and will never get better until the charge port is replaced.
It is important to note that there are two different kinds of power jacks. The first is a plug that is soldered directly to the motherboard with as little as three pins and as much as nine. They are a through hole solder connection and can be de-soldered when it needs to be replaced and a new jack soldered back on. The other type is a cable with wires that plugs directly into the motherboard. Like the soldered-on types, they come in many different shapes, sizes and configurations. These are much easier to replace because they are a “plug and play” situation that doesn’t require any type of soldering unless you solder a new jack on the tip of the cable. They can usually be purchased in the full cable form, so soldering isn’t needed.
This is important for many reasons because when you’re diagnosing a bad power plug, a cable type jack will usually have some play in it to begin with. It can be misleading when you’re trying to diagnose it because it’s wiggling around in the laptop a little. The cable sockets usually become detached from their housing and flop around inside the laptop a lot when they are bad. You should feel a noticeable change of how the laptop feels plugging it in after experiencing power problems. The soldered-on jacks have very little play in them, so they feel distinctly different and loose when they are going bad.
What does a broken dc jack look like?
Below are some pictures of what a bad dc jack looks like. You will notice physical damage to many of the jacks. This is usually a result of tripping over the cord, dropping the jack on the plugged spot and stress on the power cord over time finally breaking the connection. If it is a soldered connection, those tend to be completely or partially detached and broken from the motherboard. Sometimes, if you look at the solder points closely, you will see an oxidation of the power pin or pins. This is usually accompanied by the symptoms of the wiggling of the cord to find the sweet spot to get it to charge.
DC Jack pushed inside the laptopInternal view of the broken plug.Old jack after it is removed.
Can I fix the power jack myself?
Yes and no. If your computer uses cable type ports that plug directly into the motherboard and you are tech savvy and can follow a guide on YouTube, you might be able to replace the jack yourself. No soldering is required with these cable jacks, and they simply plug and unplug into the motherboard. Your biggest challenge will most likely be the disassembly and reassembly of the laptop.
The other type is the soldered in power jacks. The most challenging part beyond taking the laptop apart and getting it back together properly is the de-soldering process. You will need to have a quality soldering iron, soldering skills, and the necessary tools associated with it. I would not recommend trying to learn this on your laptop that has power problems. I see many laptops that have had an attempt at the de-soldering process that are now damaged beyond repair. If you’re in doubt of your abilities, that is a good sign it’s better to leave it to an experienced professional.
Conclusion
A power jack provides power to your computer but are a common weakness to laptops. Both types of solder and cable can go bad but can be repaired. When trying to properly diagnose a jack make sure it has the distinct power failure symptoms and test it out with the information in this article. If you have any questions, contact us!
If you’re thinking about shipping in your laptop for a dc jack repair you have a few different good options. First, I highly recommend buying a Fed Ex laptop shipping box from their brick-and-mortar store. They have removable foam cutouts that will snugly fit small and larger laptops (see picture below). They are high quality, very protective, and reusable. At the time of this writing, they are $23 usd.
Fed Ex laptop shipping box.Foam cut outs for protection.
Second, the original manufacturer box is a great way to ship a laptop. Most have similar foam cut outs that were made to stand up to regular shipping conditions. If you’re like me, you have that old laptop box laying around so it can be put to good use.
The third option is buying or reusing traditional packing materials. Buying a roll of bubble wrap and a custom box can work great too. I suggest you try and think overpack vs. putting just a little thin bubble wrap around the laptop and then using a box that the laptop barely fits into.
Lastly, don’t skimp out on a shipping solution. Using old amazon boxes, small boxes that you get for free at the brick-and-mortar shipping stores, and similar ideas can lead to a damaged laptop. It’s not worth trying save a few bucks when it comes to shipping a notebook.
The reason this topic relates to dc jack repair is sometimes when you think you have a broken charge port you might just simply have a bad power cord. This is the first thing you want to check before sending the laptop in or taking it to a repair shop. Over the years I’ve seen many cords go bad when the power jack goes bad too due to the stress people put on the tip of the power cord to try and find that sweet spot to keep their laptop running. I’ve also seen a laptop not powering on simply because the ac adapter is bad and is giving dc jack like symptoms.
The first and best way to test your cord is to use a multimeter. You can find these on amazon and ebay with a quick search and they run around $10 usd. You will use this device to see if the cord is giving off voltage. Power cords are typically rated from 18.5-20 volts when powering laptops. You need to make sure your ac adapter is giving power to the laptop before you start diagnosing anything further or replacing hardware. In the picture below you will see a typical multimeter test on a power cord. The multimeter is set to 20 VDC because that is the normal range for a laptop power cord. In the case of the picture, this was a 19.5v cord giving off 19.55 volts, so the power cord is working properly. To test it you place the ground lead on the outer part of the tip of the power cord and the red lead inside the tip as seen in the picture. You will need to make sure your multimeter is set to VDC.
Testing a laptop ac adapter with a multimeter.
If you don’t have a multimeter, you can try checking the light in the ac adapter box and see if it is lighting up. This is not an accurate way to test because the break could be at the tip of the cord or the led in the charge box can be working but the power cord is not giving off any voltage. This needs further testing to be 100% accurate but can give you an indication of a bad cord if that light if off.
If you have another power cord lying around or know someone who has one that will work with your laptop this is an obvious way to cross check your ac adapter with a known working one. You need to make sure it has the correct power requirements and tip size, so it powers the laptop and fits properly.
If you look at the next picture below you will see an hp laptop with the ac adapter plugged in and a led light coming on orange indicating it’s charging. If you have a laptop that won’t power on but the light shows that it is charging the cord is working and the laptop has a different power problem than just a bad cord.
Dc Power Jack repair being performed by Pomeroy Computing on a dell 15 3000 notebook.
I’m having power problems with my Dell Inspiron laptop, what do I do?
Pomeroy Computing is a laptop repair company that specializes in power jack repair. You may need a charge port repair if your laptop has one or more of the following symptoms. We perform the dc jack repair service for $69 parts and labor. This is a nation wide, mail in repair service. Common symptoms are listed below:
Loose connection where you plug in the ac adapter
Laptop switches back and forth from power to battery
Heat build in the area where you plug in the power cord
Holding the power cord at just the right angle to get it to work.
Can I fix a dc jack myself?
Yes and no. It is difficult to take apart a laptop, replace the dc jack and then get everything back together correctly. If you are very tech savvy it’s not impossible. The biggest problem I see people run into is the intricate ribbon cables that can get damaged and knowing where to pry and apply force to get it apart. To save you the hassle of tearing apart your laptop all weekend and risk damaging it, we perform the charging port replacement on most dell inspiron laptops for $69 parts and labor. Visit our homepage to get started.
What does a broken power jack look like?
In the picture below you can see a dell inspiron 15 5000 laptop with a broken dc jack. The plastic cable style port plugs into the motherboard and is screwed onto the case. The part where you screw the jack in directly to the chassis of the computer has broken so the whole dc jack needs to be replaced. The notebook will need to be completely taken apart to access it. We have video guides in our youtube channel
For the last year Pomeroy Computing has been repairing the micro usb ports on tablets of all makes and models. A common and popular tablet I repair is the Asus Nexus 7, both the first and second generation (2012&2013). I think it’s worth it to revive your dead nexus 7 device
Most of the time the symptoms of a bad charge port are physical damage to the usb port (plugged in upside down) dropped, tripped over, or just yanked hard when it’s plugged in. They can also go bad with time and have a loose, wiggle effect having to hold the tip of the power cord in just the right angle to get it to charge.
I do the Nexus 7 usb port replacement for my standard $29 parts and labor rate with $10 return shipping. If you’d like to get a hold us for a repair inquiry you can do it here https://www.pcrepairhelp.net/contact/.
The Asus Zenbook UX51vz is the 15.4″ equivalent to the 13.3″ UX31 series ultrabooks. It uses acompletely different new dc jack I haven’t come across yet and is hard to find. At the time if this writing someone is selling these jacks for $44.99 on ebay. I typically pay $1.50-$3 for jacks so this is pretty high.
The jack itself uses a circular style barrel unlike the solid center pin most plugs traditionally use. In this case the plastic circular barrel had physically broken off leaving the inner wires exposed (See picture). This is a 7 pin socket that’s soldered directly to the motherboard. The notebook needs to be completely taken apart to the main board to correctly fix and replace the jack.
We perform the power jack replacement services for $99 parts and labor on the UX51 series and the tear down guide is featured below.
Psychically broken power socket on an Asus Zenbook UX51vz.
These pills assist you to increase your blood flow as a result this also increases your semen viagra pills for sale volume, it gives you the effects of natural product without any unwanted side effects. Such stores not only make buying cheap cialis convenient for the users. On the other hand, consumers can buy one 60-ct package of ProSolution pills for $78.95, or a three-month supply for $188.95. https://pdxcommercial.com/property/11051-sw-barbur-blvd-portland-oregon-97219/11051-sw-barbur-main-floor-164397-1/ best price cialis Being generic version of tablets viagra, kamagra tablets contain sildenafil citrate, which is a chemical that treats erectile dysfunction like no other thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HJCCvgcEuM
I do quite a few Asus Zenbook ultrabook laptops these days. Thin seems to be in and this rival to the apple air notebooks is a nice PC based alternative. With making a laptop so thin everything needs to get slimmed down including the power port. The small, thin dc jack on these is kind of frail and can get broken easily. It’s fine under normal conditions but almost no one keeps there ultrabook on a table with no mobile use.
This UX31a came in like many do with a physically broken and cracked plug. The center pin is also missing and was stuck inside the ac adapter. Sometimes you can push the broken pin back inside the charger tip with a bent paper clip but that’s no guarantee it will fix it.
The UX31A like the UX32A uses a 7 pin socket that’s soldered directly to the motherboard. You need to take the laptop completely apart to the main board to access it. This includes removing the battery and disconnecting the keyboard, fan and other connections and ribbon cables. We replace the broken power jacks on these models for $69 parts and labor.
De-soldered power plug from the motherboard and ready for a new jack.
New power jack installed on UX31A ultrabook.
7 pin plug used on UX31A Asus.
Therefore, before you buy online buy cheap cialis thought about that, you should find out if erectile dysfunction is caused due to physical or psychological factors. Online pharmacies have been around for long time now and they do serve their purpose when it comes to reliable source for prescription medication. levitra india Kamagra oral jelly is the most effective and popular treatment for erectile dysfunction is of lowest prices on viagra . Types of treatment provided by chiropractors: Physical therapies Migraine Sports and repetitive strain injuries Knee, neck, lower back, hip, foot pain TMJ disorder Whiplash Carpal tunnel syndrome Arthritis Sciatica cialis prices in australia Shoulder and rotator cuff injuries If you are really suffering from such problems are privately consulting to illegal or superstitious people who are running unauthorised centres and clinics.
Buy the dc jack here http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-UX31A-AC-DC-Power-Jack-Input-Fast-US-Ship-/151252676314?rd=1.
This Alienware M15X gaming laptop came in with a loose power connection. The user reported positioning the power cord at just the right angle to get the notebook to charge. Eventually this stopped working completely. If this is happening to your laptop I would highly suggest you stop wiggling and get it fixed. Putting pressure on the port like that can further damage the motherboard beyond repair.
The M15X uses a nine pin plug that’s soldered directly to the motherboard. You need to take the laptop completely apart to the main board to access it. You can see in the pictures below the two voltage solder points have degraded and oxidized. This is a tell tale sign of what a bad power jack looks like. We perform the jack repair services for this model for our standard $69 parts and labor.
