Broken connection - is it hopeless?

[Deleted User]

I have an 3 year old laptop - a Dell - which is pretty big and heavy (it has a 17" screen) but is useful when I'm working at home. But then I accidentally dropped it (I tripped whilst carrying it). Unfortunately, the drop damaged the connetion where the charger plugs in - the plastic in the connection has actually shattered so I can't plug the charger in at all now. (The laptop is fine - there's still some charge left so I know it's working and I really can't afford to replace it at the moment).

Is it hopeless? Would I be able to find the part? I don't even know what it's called ! Can anyone help?

Thanks.

Fightsback

1 ) Can you post a picture of the damage ?

2 ) What is the exact model ?

MrWillyWonka

Big and heavy, is it an Inspiron or XPS?

If you are willing to take apart the laptop it is easily fixable with a part off ebay.

If anyone mentions a docking station, ignore as a damaged power socket triggers a failsafe which also disables the docking station power connector.

[Deleted User]

Yes, it is an Inspiron N5110.

It's basically the plastic inside the round socket that's shattered so only the metal connectors are visible.

I have taken a photo of the socket but it's only on hubby's laptop now - not on a website where I can post a URL - any suggestions of one I can use on a one off basis ?

DCFC79

Use something like flikr or photobucket to post a link for the photo.

[Deleted User]

Hope this works ...

MrWillyWonka

You can take it to a computer repair shop but it may not be worth the labour charge.

If you are confident you can do it yourself quite easily, plenty of guides on YouTube such as this. However if you have not done this type of thing before then you risk causing further, irreparable damage.

Part available here.

getmore4less

I fixed my old 1300 that had a similar issue.

plenty of guide on line and dell have their service guides with full instructions for a complete dismantle and rebuild.

Soldering in the new socket was quite a fiddly task,

I had a couple of screws left over when rebuilding so take plenty of photos and notes when you dismantle.

edit
looks like your bit may be a bolt in

cookie365

Service manual for your laptop

https://archive.org/details/dell-manual-inspiron-15r-n5110service-manual

MrWillyWonka

getmore4less wrote: »

Soldering in the new socket was quite a fiddly task,

Wouldn't bother with soldering and just replace the whole component tbh.

grumpycrab

If you cannot do it yourself, Dell will repair it (a 10 minute job). Get a quote from them.