Laptop Repair Guy points out that Toshiba has issued a warranty extension resulting from a class action lawsuit. As far as I can tell (I’m not a lawyer so better check for yourself) I’m out of luck since I’m in Canada but definitely better to have Toshiba fix it for free than try yourself.
After I put up a post about repairing my laptop power connector, Laptop Freak left a informative comment:
As you see on the photo above, the positive connector oxidized and almost black. If you put a fresh solder on the connector like this, the power jack problem will reappear very soon. I usually remove the power jack from the system board (with iron gun and solder sucker), clean oxidized pins on the power jack and pads on the motherboard and only after that resolder the power jack.
It turns out, unsurprisingly, that he was right. The power jack started coming loose again after about a month and a half. I was in the middle of a bunch of things so I didn’t really feel like messing with it so I just opened up the computer and threw some more solder on it. When the power jack started jiggling again a few weeks later, I knew I had to do something better to fix it. So I picked up a desoldering sucker and some desoldering wick.
It was kind of fun to melt the solder and suck it up until I started thinking about how much money I was messing with. Anyway I had pretty good luck heating up the solder with the soldering iron, sucking with the sucker (it appears the technical term is desoldering pump), and then getting the remainder with the copper desoldering braid. This left only tiny bit of solder so I pulled on each joint separately while heating them with the soldering iron. MAKE just put up a nice soldering and desoldering video tutorial. Would have been handy to have watched that before doing all this.
After all that, I was left with the separated power jack. Laptop Freak wasn’t kidding about oxidation. It looks like someone left the connectors in the Dead Sea. I’m no electrician but I’m guessing black crud covering electrical contacts can not be a good thing. So I scraped off all the gunk with a screwdriver and polished them until they were nice and shiny.
Then I tried to clean the contacts on the board with an eraser to remove any oxidation on the copper, stuck the jack back in its holes and soldered it back on. So far I haven’t had any problems, we’ll see if it last this time. If it breaks again (knock on wood), I’m definitely trying the external power jack workaround.
In case you didn’t read my old post about fixing this, here’s links for how to dismantle a Toshiba Satellite A70 (and tons of other laptops) and the common Toshiba power jack problems.
Update:Laptop Repair Guy now has a great step by step guide (complete with many pictures) to repairing the power jack.
Barb | 11-Mar-07 at 3:31 pm | Permalink
Thanx Jim,
I am most positive I have the same problem as you. I appreciate you posting these instructions. I was about to buy a new A/C adapter and or a new battery. This cord wiggling thing was driving me crazy!
Thanx so much, just hope I can get fix this myself.
ScottS-M | 11-Mar-07 at 9:15 pm | Permalink
@Barb
I hope it works for you. Let me know how it goes. If you’re not a good solderer, definitely practice soldering cheap things together first.
Laptop Repair Guy | 26-Apr-07 at 11:12 pm | Permalink
Hi ScottS-M,
I moved my site to a new domain name, here’s a new link for the power jack workaround instructions.
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/05/27/failed-laptop-power-jack-workaround/
Just in case.
Thank you.
ScottS-M | 26-Apr-07 at 11:40 pm | Permalink
@Laptop Repair Guy
I changed the links. Good luck with the new domain name and thanks for all the great info.
Laptop Repair Guy | 28-Apr-07 at 1:18 am | Permalink
Here’s an update for all Toshiba Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 and A75 notebooks purchased in the United States. Before you take it apart for repair, call you local Toshiba authorized repair center and ask them about warranty extension. Toshiba extended warranty on all above mentioned units and you should get a free repair. Good luck!
ScottS-M | 28-Apr-07 at 9:58 am | Permalink
@Laptop Repair Guy
Thanks for the update. Hopefully that’ll save people some trouble. I think I’m out of luck since I’m in Canada but it does look like some Canadian lawyers are trying too.
John C Seguin | 04-May-07 at 11:45 am | Permalink
Does ANYONE know where I can buy a DC power jack for the blasted Toshiba A70 near Toronto?
Thank you.
ScottS-M | 04-May-07 at 12:27 pm | Permalink
@John
I got lucky and could just clean mine. But it looks like you can get jacks on Ebay (search for “Toshiba A70 power jack”) for less than $10. Or you could look for one of the big electronic catalogs like Digikey and find the appropriate power jack for around $2 (unfortunately I’m not exactly sure which of the many jacks has the correct arrangement of connectors). Make also has a post about Toronto stores.
v | 12-May-07 at 9:16 pm | Permalink
Good thing that there is some smart/thinking people around.
My A70 just developed same “syndrom”
Thanks
v
Anil Kumar | 16-Jul-07 at 1:18 pm | Permalink
So what tool do i need to get this done
(1) obviously tools to open the laptop
(2) ESD wrist flap and esd mat ?? for esd protection (I am not sure)
(3)soldering iron and desoldering pump
(4) magnifying glass to see the circuit break
is there anything else guys.
ScottS-M | 16-Jul-07 at 3:46 pm | Permalink
That sounds about right to me. I got away without static protection (luckily) but I’ve never felt any static where I was working and it certainly seems like a good idea to have some. Some kind of guitar pick-like thing to pry open the top cover might be useful too if I remember correctly. You may need a new power connector too depending on whether the solder or the pin itself broke. Also don’t forget the warranty extension above if you’re in the US. You might be able to get it fixed for free.
Michael | 23-Jul-07 at 12:03 am | Permalink
Dear John C Seguin, laptop repair centre is in the toronto gta just go on the site and see if you find the things you need and good luck. go to http://www.laptoprepaircenter.ca
ScottS-M | 23-Jul-07 at 12:27 am | Permalink
Good suggestion Michael. That URL isn’t working for me though. Did you mean http://laptopcentre.ca? Looks like they’re at:
1485 Eglinton Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario M6E 2G6
JohnP | 23-Sep-07 at 7:47 pm | Permalink
I’m working with the same problem, and going to do the external workaround (except the above site doesn’t work any more). On the jack, there are four pins: one in the middle, one in the middle rear, and two on the sides (extending down from the metal cover). Are the two on the sides ground connections, or are they simply to hold the jack in place? in otherwords, do I need to connect the ground wire to them, or are they pointless if the jack is run outside the body? thanks!
ScottS-M | 23-Sep-07 at 8:09 pm | Permalink
@JohnP
This workaround site wasn’t working for you? It’s working for me now so maybe it was a temporary outage. Anyway the important bit from there seems like:
He’s only got two pins on the terminal he’s using so I’d guess the extra two aren’t necessary although you had better make sure they’re insulated. I guess you already know this but be very careful you don’t invert the polarity. Motherboards don’t like that much at all.
ozmoses | 07-Oct-07 at 5:46 am | Permalink
Static, (ESD) you don’t need to feel the static discharge to do damage to electronics. To feel and hear a static discharge it needs to be a quite high voltage (over 1000 Volts, yes I mean one thousand volts). Discharges in the vicinity of 50 to 75 volts can cause enough damage to degrade components sufficiently to lead to either poor performance or premature failure.
Using antistatic procedures is always worthwhile when working on electronics and should be the first thing you think of when you are working in the internals of ANY computer.
HP (and other computer companies) will dismiss an engineer instantly if they do not follow their static discharge mitigation processes.
ScottS-M | 07-Oct-07 at 9:50 am | Permalink
@ozmoses
Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely have to be more careful with static in the future.
Saint Pi | 07-Oct-07 at 2:10 pm | Permalink
Having fixed the DCIN jack problem, the laptop does not boot. Lights up and fan swirls. Anyone with a solution to this?
ScottS-M | 08-Oct-07 at 2:57 am | Permalink
@Saint Pi
That doesn’t sound too good. Do you get any boot screen?
omar | 12-Nov-07 at 9:43 am | Permalink
Well i did wat i could with soldering it back in there but i got a problem!! everytime i plug in the power cord in the two fans turn on and no lights turn on at all and the screens off thats wat happens all the time so i don’t know should i unsolder it again and clean it and solder it again or wat do u guys suggest???
ScottS-M | 13-Nov-07 at 4:06 pm | Permalink
@omar
I’m not sure. I never ran into something like that. Maybe someone else reading knows?
raul | 10-May-08 at 3:46 am | Permalink
OK here is some Battery Usage Tips for you
1. A new battery usually comes in a discharged condition and with a very low capacity. It is generally recommended to discharge the TOSHIBA laptop battery first and then charge the battery. Refer to the users’ guide of your electronic device for charging instructions.
2. A new battery pack needs to be circled (fully discharged and recharged) theree to five times to reach its optimum performance.
3. Rechargeable TOSHIBA laptop battery will undergo self-discharging when left unused for a long period of time. Thus, it should always be stored in a fully charged state and kept in a cool, dry and clean place.
4. To maintain the optimum performance of a TOSHIBA laptop battery pack, it is highly recommended to circle(fully discharging and recharging) it at least once a month.
5. It is normal if a new TOSHIBA laptop attery gets warm when being charged or used. However, close attention should be paid if the battery pack becomes excessively hot. This may indicate there is a problem with the charging circuit of the electronic device. So, it is necessary to have it checked by a qualified technician.
6. New TOSHIBA laptop batteries are hard to be charged. Sometimes, your electronic device may indicate a fully charged condition about 10 to 15 minutes when the new battery pack is being charged for the first time. When this happens, remove the battery pack and let it cool down for about 10 to 15 minutes then repeat the charging procedure. Sometimes, a new battery will suddently refuse to be charged. If this happens, it is then suggested to remove the battery from the device and reinsert it.