[COLUG] Need soldering help

[Judd Montgomery]

On 02/16/2008 03:10 PM, jep200404 wrote:
> Judd Montgomery wrote:
> 
> Of course, you run Linux on that laptop. That makes it on-topic. 
> 
It boots to Debian, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Slackware and XP.  It's 
ran Linux in the 3 years since I've had it.

> There are two difficult parts: 
> 
> 1. Getting the right part. It can be harder than you think. 
>    Fudging the wrong conector in, can be even harder. 
> 
I'm going to try to find the right part.  I wanted to make sure I had 
help before I ordered it.  I only have big soldering tools which usually 
don't do too well on the boards I have soldered.

> 2. Disassembling the laptop to get the connector. 
> 
I did that last night.  I have a big pile of parts right here.  Now I'm 
in danger of forgetting how to put it back together.  Dell's website has 
instructions though.

>>From the way you write, it seems that there's a problem in the 
> connector, or near it, but you don't know which. There's also 
> a possibility that the problem is in the power cable. Many people like 
> to bend cables hard, close to either end. This causes many cables 
> to become bad prematurely. 

For the most part I've treated it well.  I read that the CPU can get so 
hot that it will cause the power jack to come loose.  The CPU heat sink 
was full of dust and it was running really hot.  I don't know if that's 
true or not.  First I cleaned the CPU heat sink and it ran very cool and 
quiet like it used to.

> 
> First, I would figure out which half the problem is in. 
> I.e., power supply and cord or laptop. Having another 
> compatible laptop or power supply to swap with can help 
> narrow that down. 
> 
I have another identical laptop and its not the power supply.  The jack 
is really loose and needs replaced anyway.  I can't see the break, but 
its definitely either the jack, or the MB, so replacing it is what needs 
done.

> It's unlikely that the connector itself is bad, 
> unless it absorbed the blow of a fall. 
> 
> A dirty connector can cause much grief. 
> Of course the solution for that is to clean the contacts. 
> 
I cleaned the contacts and bent them a little to make better contact. 
The problem got worse I suspect because I wiggled it around too much 
while doing this.

> Mechanical abuse could damage the connector, its solder joint 
> with the motherboard, or even crack the motherboard itself. 
> Let's hope the motherboard per se is OK. 
> 
I always unplugged the connector before traveling and treated it fairly 
well, so I am going with the extreme heat theory.  The web indicated it 
as being a common problem anyway.

> 
> As far as soldering, I can do that at lunch. 
> But first, do the debugging first (starting with the easier 
> stuff). It sucks to go to the trouble of finding a part, 
> and putting it in only to find that that wasn't really the 
> problem. 
> 

http://www.laptopjacks.com wants $40 for the part!  What do you think 
about re-soldering the jack I have?  I'll look harder to see if I can 
see a break, or a problem.

Judd