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    Replacing the power jack on a (2013) AW 17

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by jflax, Nov 5, 2015.

  1. jflax

    jflax Notebook Guru

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    Hi,

    Seems like my trusted companion is getting on a bit and trouble keeps creeping up.

    The latest issue is that the power jack is giving me grief. Sadly my 2 year warranty recently expired.

    As I boot up I get the following message:

    "The AC power adapter voltage and type cannot be determined.
    The battery may not charge.
    The system will adjust the performance to match the power available.

    Please connect a Dell 240W AC adapter or greater for the best system performance."

    It comes as no great surprise though as I've noticed the power jack recently became damaged as you can see from the attached picture. I'm pretty sure the adapter and battery are fine though as they were both recently replaced.

    My i7-4700MQ CPU is downclocking to 0,8 ghz while idle, when it used to be 2,4 ghz.
    Would I need to solder something? Because that seems a bit out of my league.

    So I suppose my options are sending the computer to Dell or going the DIY route, and I would prefer the latter if possible.

    I've found these power jacks on ebay and wonder how easy it would be to install something like that (and if it would be the correct one):

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-DC-POWER...844432?hash=item4adc043a10:g:~0sAAOSwR0JUOz75

    Doesn't look as if it would require soldering? If so I think I would try to do it myself..

    Also I'm wondering if the computer is misinterpreting the amount of power available due to the damaged jack. I've seen there are workarounds in BIOS to these kind of messages, but don't really now how good an idea it would be to mess around with that kind of thing.

    Any advise would really be appreciated.
     

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    Last edited: Nov 5, 2015
    jflax, Nov 5, 2015
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  2. jflax

    jflax Notebook Guru

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    *Shameless bump*

    Hasn't anyone else run into this issue?

    TLDR; Do I have to go to Dell with this or would I be able to replace the power jack myself without soldering.
     
    jflax, Nov 9, 2015
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