The Problem with the power plug is giving me terrible headaces... pls help

Hello, i have been using my averatec 3200 for three years almost now and recently i started having problems with the power plug. It will barely connect to its power socket in the computer. even if connected as soon as the plug is moved just an 100-th of an inch, it will disconnect and start buzzzzing just like if you are barely touching an electric circuit with some metal object, i can even hear the buzzing. apparently the plug is not making good contact with the power socket. Long ago i remember reading something about that here:

http://www.averatecforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

as much as i remember, at this address, it used to explain in detail and with pictures, how to manually fix this problem... but the forum works no more! if anyone could help me, pls do so, because this thing is driving me crazy... 10x 10x 01x

 

I would wonder whether the power socket has got loose on the mainboard so you are getting a bad connection. Is there any gap around the power socket where it is comes through the casing. If so, it is more vulnerable to damage (this has been a problem with the Fujitsu S series) particularly if you use the computer as a "laptop" with the power cable hanging down.

I would therefore suggest you try to dismantle the computer sufficient to expose the inside of the power socket. If you can see it is loose then you may need a small soldering iron. If you don't have this then will need to find someone who does, but you will have done half the work by identifying the problem.

John

 

i am sure this is the problem, as it behaves exactly as it being loose. the contact is very delicate at all times. just the slightest touch or twist of the power plug disconnects it. sometimes it disconnects just by typing , because of the vibrations. Then, you have to touch and play with it for a few minutes in order to find a position that is making it contact again... very annoying... i am willing to open the laptop up, and to fix it. i will find a soldering iron. i just need some site or source with instructions how to do it... like the site i posted earlier used to have... thanks again

P.S. and the power plug area gets so hot... because of the electric charges that go between the plug and socket when it is not connected properly... sometimes you can't even touch it...

 

This has been the most common problem with the 3200 series. And at one time Averatec was fixing it for free even on out of warranty systems. If you are a good convincer, you can probably still get it done for free. And it is the dc jack that has a loose solder connection. There have been some reports that it gets so hot that the plastic melts and the little dc board gets burnt.

So I would stop using it right away as it will only get worse.

 

so what do u suggest... contact averatec right away... do they have representative office in LA where i can go in person with my laptop under my arm and give it to them ??

P.S. the thing is that i perfectly recall some place on the web that explained how to fix this DIY (do it yourself), i just cant remember, the link doesn't work anymore... . anyone knows of some place like that

 

roise_r....the site your most likely referring to is www.averatecforums.com as you originally linked, but the site has been down for about a month now. They claim to have had a HDD crash, but unless they have a truly lousy ISP they should have been back up and running by now...unfortunately the site probably won't be coming back. I was also a member on that forum...had tons of useful guides for Averatecs.

 

Here's a description that I saved from that forum on how to get at the dc jack. I also have some disassembly pictures that I saved. If you pm me your email address, I will attach them for you. Meanwhile this description should be useful:
=================================================
First remove all the screws from the underside of the laptop. There is one hidden under the sticky foot thing by the power in. Also there is one in the RAM area and one in the CPU area (I think, I might be remembering wrong).

Now it seems the bottom should come away freely, but it will not. Don't pry. Look at the keyboard layer of your laptop. See how the trackpad plastics are seperate from the keyboard plastics? You need to remove the trackpad plastics. There is a small nub underneath where the trackpad plastics mate into the keyboard plastics. Push it a bit and you can free one side, the 2nd side is easy after that.

Now remove the keyboard (Just pull it out and flip it over, you don't need to unplug, but can if it gets in the way). There is a screw to be removed. Do it!

Now you can seperate the top from the bottom (There is some tape in there you'll have to pull away from). Unscrew the power in board and solder it. The iron I used is a terrible one (My better one is at school, I'm home for winter break), but even on a better one it might take FOREVER to heat up the power in jack. Take your time, remember you need this connection to be better than the stock one, so it doesn't happen again.
===================================================
I haven't actually tried this myself. The furthest I've dug into mine is to change the hard drive.

If you search eBay, you should find people who can repair the dc jack. I remember there was a seller who was selling replacement jacks. But this was some time ago. I'm almost sure there was an Averatec repair place in LA and one in Dallas. I googled Averatec repair and came up with this link - might be useful for you: http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_averatec.html

Good luck.

 

Here is a copy of the original link.
http://web.archive.org/web/20070509...-hot-power-connector-battery-wont-charge.html

Sadly the pictures won't show, it took me a while to pull this one out, if any one have the original pictures or anything similar it might help. I am really getting sick of having that website down for so LONG the longer it stays dead the more chances its staying dead. Anyone interested in trying to revive the useful topics and post them at NBR.

 

This is a very simple problem to fix. I've fixed two Averatecs with this very problem.

The first one I was able to fix by reapplying solder to the joints that hold the DC jack onto the board, very easy fix.

The second one, the joints were fried to the point that the only way to fix it was by replacing the DC-in board. The traces were too far gone to salvage the board. I found the board on ebay for, I believe, $14.00. There are tons of them out there.

 

Simple, if you have the necessary skills to do so .... not everyone has.

 

thanks everyone for all the help... i think i got all the info how to dissasamble, i just lack the courage now ... i was looking at the pictures and it looks very complicated... i am scared that i may screw up the hole thing and my unwarranty averatec will go "poopphhh"! is there any chance that it may do that ... or it just looks more comlicated then it is???

P.S. i forgot to ask... if i suceed opening the laptop, what should i be looking for???, if, by some unknown force, i manage to get to the power "black box", what do i do with it... should i buy one from ebay before i open my laptop, and then just pull the old one and stick the new one in its place???

V.P.S. last question: why does it get very hot only when the battery is being recharged and the laptop is working in the same time... if the right position if found while the laptop is off, it will recharge with no problems, or if the battery is full and only AC/DC power is being used by the working laptop still everything looks fine... what is it that makes the problematic part to go so hot only in this one condition - laptop running, battery being charged...?

 

I think it would be better if you got a qualified tech. to do the repair. Did you do a Google search like I suggested? You might just find a competent repair shop in your area.

 

well, i dont know why, but i have this urge to do it my self... it is driving me so crazy that i am willing to take the chance of making it worse, just so i can open it and say to it: "you mother f****er. I got you now...!!!!" in fact, i am opening it right away... as i write this on my desktop computer... i have all the instructions loaded, some of them printed with pictures and all... i am ready to engage

 

I am glad to say that i deassambled my averatec 3200 for only 40 minutes and most importantly i looks as i did it just fine (knock on wood). i have the DC conector right here in my hand, and it is quite clear what is the problem, two out of three of the metal connectors that connect the female power jack - "the black tiny box" to the power board have no solder whatsoever. only the middle one has planty in the expense of the other two the board itself thought looks pretty good, no visible burn marks or anything. it's just that there are these two loose connectors. now i only have to buy a solder device and i will be done... again, thank you all for the help

man, i don't know what kind of search do u use cause all i get is boards for $59,99, $99.99, $119,99. i tried ebay and other laptop parts places and there is nothing even close to $14... maybe it's been a while since you bought this part from ebay...?

 

It was around a year ago that I had to purchase one of these. Prices have changed, and it looks like there aren't nearly as many of them available as there used to be. So, chalk it up to supply and demand.

Do yourself a favor, and just by one of the boards, instead of the "black box". Changing out the board is just a matter of pulling out the bad one and putting the new one in. If you have no experience soldering, dealing with the DC jack could turn in to a pretty messy situation.

Plus, if you can get one for sixty bucks, that's a heck of a lot cheaper than any shop will charge you for the fix.

Here's an ebay link for the board ($70.00 shipped):

Averatec Power Board

Here's an ebay link for the Jack, if you plan to go that route ($7.48 shipped):

Averatec DC Jack

I know the price on the jack will be tempting. Seriously though, there's no guarantee that the jack will fix the problem. The power board is a pretty sure thing.

 

well, actually it sounds tempting to buy the board and not deal with it at all , but i am possitive i can do the soldering as i have done it a couple of times before and it's not such a big deal . and i don't need to by the black box at all as it looks to be fine also so i will just "glue" the broken metal connection thingies if IT dies... the hell with it... it is almost 4 years old anyway

P.S. well actually depends how much costs a soldering iron here in america... if it is more then 40-50$, then yeah... it is not worth it

 

You can pick up a soldering iron at RadioShack for under twenty bucks.

 

Actually should not be more than $10. Try some of the automotive car parts places or even Wal-Mart.

So, roise ... sounds like you had no trouble taking the lappy apart ... no need for any pics. then? Sorry I hadn't sent them to you yet .... life got in the way.

 

huh? i thought you gave me the pictures, and they were very handy. the link you provided: http://repair4laptop.org/disassembly_averatec.html thank you, anyway, i am buying that board though, as i did not do a good job with the soldering, i fixed it to some point where it works fine for some time, like 30 second, 40 sec, or even up to a minute, and then the laptop will unexpectlly turn off, even with the battery installed. so i guessed that i did a short circuit on the board , but the laptop still works, for now

 

Any soldering iron that's under $10.00 isn't worth using.

 

Then I wonder why mine still works even after 5 years of use on the daily job .... musta gotten a "bad" one.

 

Oh, I didn't know if any of those links had pictures or not. Anyway glad you made some headway ... with soldering, both surfaces have to be clean so as to ensure that you do not make what is called a cold soldered joint. Did you clean the "legs" of the jack with fine sandpaper before soldering them?

 

Or, you could be exaggerating.


I'm not going to get into a pissing contest with you over who has more soldering experience. But, I'll say I use a soldering iron daily, and have used a wide variety of irons, from the very cheapest to the very expensive. Personally, I think there's a sweet-spot for soldering irons. I've had worse luck on the high end than on the low end. The cheapo (around $20.00) RadioShack one's are my favorite, because they have variable temperature settings, they warm up quick, and they have quick switch tips.

I've found that the irons on the very low end ($10.00 and under) tend to take too long to warm up, usually have only one temperature setting, and are kind of a pain to switch tips.

Not that any of this matters, at this point. The OP seems to have things under control

 

well... i dont know what actually OP means, but if it's me... then i thought i had things under control... but apprently i did not ... my laptop is useless right now... i ordered the board from eBay yesterday and i espect to arrive soon, maybe today. i relly messed up with the soldering like mick4394 predicted .

So, if you guy have such a experience on soldering, how come i bought the most slim, pencil size soldering iron, and still the made-to-be-melt metal spring-thing, was all over the place. i should have bought just a normal iron, as i have used one, twice before and everything worked fine, but not with electronics though

 

here is an update for those who still recieve email from this thread... i finally managed to fix my laptop, as for now, by installing the brand new power board from eBay. The wierd thing was that even with the new board, the laptop did shutdown on its own?!. i got angry and i deasambled the laptop for the third time , and tested the laptop by connecting one part at a time. then, i ran the laptop without connecting the power board to the rest. everything looked fine, so i connected it back to be sure that this is the problem. when i did, everything was fine aslo, then i assambled the rest, and still it was fine, and now it is still fine as i am posting this... wierd? maybe the board i soldered was fine after all ...

 

One of the things I remember from the now defunct Averatec forum, is that the keyboard ribbon cable was laying over a sharp metal edge of the chassis and on some units, that edge might short some of the wires in the ribbon. If the problem crops up again, and you have to open up the lappy check into that ribbon cable.

 

Ive had this problem with an acer and a compaq, was a pain in the ass, oh well.

 

Averatec 3200 series has been having so many problems with this issue that they are still fixing the power plug. Im thinking of seeing about a class action suit. Anyone know how to contact Averatec Corporate Offices

 

See this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=154132