electrical connection problem

iwilldoitthistime

Hi

My laptop electrical connection is a bit dodgy - i think its a problem with the socket on the laptop. My battery is dead ( and a new one is around £50) so i rely on it.

Is it possible to repair this, and any idea of price? Ive got a compaq laptop.

thanks

totalsolutions

The socket may need to re re-soldered to the motherboard. This is a simple task. Sometimes the motherboard needs a little time to access the socket and moderate soldering skills. A new socket is a few pounds or less, try Maplins, Farnell or Radio Spares.

macman

Unfortunately although the job is simple soldering, it usually involves stripping the laptop down to the chassis (and then reassembly afterwards of course). This is the time-consuming aspect of the repair, and a dedicated laptop repair shop will probably charge you around £100 to do it.

Hammyman

I usually charge around £30. There's someone on Ebay charging £35 plus the return postage and whatever it costs to send it. £100 is quite frankly double what it should be. Usually no need to buy a new socket.

macman

That's incredibly cheap (at least it is for London). If mine goes I'll be sure to contact you!

Hammyman

I have no shop to pay for and I've been doing them so long it usually only takes an hour even with a strip down job. There are a couple though that are more expensive. This is because the power socket is connected to a multilayer PCB daughterboard and its the tracks in the middle layer that burn out, rather than it being a dry joint, and the only way to resolve it is to buy a new unit from the manufacturer.