Loose power plug on 3 month old Z61t...fix myself or send it in?

I just noticed this morning that the power plug is really loose. Not sure if something got loose, or if something broke. Has anyone been into the back of their laptop and seen what the connection is like o the inside? I'd much rather not be w/o my laptop for a week or two as it's getting fixed. I'm an electrical engineer, so am familiar with working on electronics...that doesn't really worry me. I've taken off the keyboard to swap in a warranty replacement about a month ago, but didn't look around to see if the power plug is accessible from there. Just trying to get a feel for it if anyone has done this. Thanks.

 

Thats a pretty common problem on a lot of cheaply installed power connectors, it most likely just needs alittle soldering.

 

It's probably a solder point failure due to the jack being cheap and moving around inside the case. I had these problems all the time in my old ThinkPads; it's quite easy to fix the problem (if indeed it is a solder point failure) by removing the Mobo from the case and checking out the underside near where the power jack makes contact; use a wee bit of solder (and a LOW WATTAGE iron, you probably know this) and re-solder whichever contact looks loose (or both, just to make sure). If you want to prevent this from happening again, you can use my solution; after re-soldering, I used a solidifying epoxy to mount the power jack to where it contacts the inside of the case. It doesn't move anymore!

I forgot to mention; you'll probably have to really gut the laptop to get to the power jack, and especially if you want to get to the bottom of the MoBo. This wont be an issue of take-the-back-off, it'll be more like.... remove keyboard, screen, top case, hard drive, optical drives.... for an EE, though, it shouldn't be hard; also there's probably a service manual available for your specific laptop model online that explains how to take it apart without breaking anything.

 

I am having this problem, too (admittedly, my z61t is older at 6 months), but while it's loose, it hasn't caused any problems with the actual power connection...

 

I guess I'll get to it down the road. As mentioned, the "looseness" is most likely due to poorly soldered support posts. If you have extended warranty, I'd really not rush to get it fixed until it's convenient for you. But if not up to the tasks as described, you should just let them do it while under warranty.

I'd assume those looses posts are grounding posts as well, but there are probably other ground connections along with these mechanical/electrical support points. Having it loose might eventually have a problem, but with the replies I've seen, it's just a job for me to take care of in an hour or 2 when I'm free. Thanks for the help.

 

I guess if you're handy with soldering a laptop motherboard, it would be alright to try to fix the problem yourself. However, it MAY void the warranty if you screw it up.

I recently had a repair issue with a Thinkpad under warranty. I call IBM service, told them what the problem was and they said I was covered. Next they sent me a box with a prepaid shipping label. I called them on Friday and I received the shipping box on Saturday (too late to return it that day.) On Monday, I did ship it back overnight (Seattle to Atlanta.) So they got it Tuesday, fixed the problem either Tuesday or perhaps early Wednesday, and then shipped it back to me overnight, arriving at my home early Thursday.

Needless to say, I was VERY impressed with their service. Didn't cost me a nickel.