4PIN power jack broken

hi,
my power jack on my p170em have disintegrated the plastic that holds the metal ring have broke and the connector will come of if you move the laptop,where can i find this jack?have anyone replaced one before they are common on later models as well

 

Have a search for "Kycon 4 pin".

 

Well ... they appear very similar to the Kycon KPPX-4P series, but unfortunately they're not; Clevo sources their connectors from Singatron. The part nr. can be found in the service manual, a '2MJ-3432-*' for the P170EM (and all other 4-pin Clevos). Now, they might just interface with a Kycon part (which is easily obtained), but the specific Singatron models Clevo has chosen suffer from a gender-identity crisis, meaning that when trying to hook up with a Kycon they'll have some mating problems (...).

Shady jokes aside, this is a serious problem for diy repairs; where to obtain Singatron parts?

The same issue applies to the 4-pin female plug. Both @Mr. Fox and @tijgert tried to find them and didn't fare much better than any of the earlier questers. The plug's part nr. is '3MP-3432', btw:

Spoiler: Clevo 4-pin DC connector and alternatives

Mouser does not carry any of their stuff and neither does DigiKey. Some, mostly used, can be found on ebay, but these are all run-of-the-mill types, not the heavy-duty parts we need. If no one has better luck in their search or direct inquiries then it is always possible to switch both jack and plug to the Kycon equivalent. Actually have four of each for that very purpose, but haven't gotten around to installing them.

 

unfortunately its the one on the laptop... :/ on ebay i haven't found a male connector: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-Female-4...hash=item54240ce1f9:m:m3UluLcWbHTmbUZLZkSnmgw
i have staffed a piece of paper and it works for now...

 

If the socket is still firmly soldered to the motherboard then this is a fine rat bike style repair (though some rubber from a bicycle's old inner tube might be a bit more sturdy).

However, if this simply jams a partially-loose socket to its soldering pads then it will not do for permanent use. Chances are only one or two pins make contact at times, doubling draw per pin and pad, potentially overloading the circuit. It'd also arc now and then with serious power loads, which is not healthy for any of the smaller smd components nearby.

For a permanent fix that Kycon part can actually work, but you'd also have to buy the matching male plug and solder it in place of the old, female Singatron plug.

 

The other option is to try and source a dead board and do some salvage.

 

the solder to the board should be fine the socket doesn't move at all,i ordered these two :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222145003719?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/361382076921?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

for when it fails, they should be ok?

 

Yes, a good precaution, especially considering the low cost.

One thing that may stand in our way is that there are no schematics for the Singatron model, so we do not know for certain whether the socket's soldering tabs are identically arranged to the Kycon part. Let me get back to this once I've swapped them on a P37xMx. It needs rather extensive dismantling (mb removal) before you have soldering-access to socket, so haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

alright thanks looking forward
i have also seen this video (45:23) of a guy replacing it with a standard socket on a p177sm(the internal layout is similar to mine) but that would leave a gap and dust could build up

 

Omg, that is seriously wrong on multiple accounts ... and that for a 'specialist' DC jack repair shop, no less .

Apart from uploading a 1h20m (!) instruction video;

1. There's no reason to butcher off the old jack; the outer shield/earth can be removed separately from the inner jack, leaving both intact. Using wire cutters is dangerous too, as it risks detaching the solder pads from the pcb, which very, very hard to fix properly.
2. The 2-pin substitute jack they are using has only half the power rating of the 4-pin jack. Forget sli or overclocking after this 'repair' job.

Good news, btw; checked the board and the substitute Kycon is 1:1 compatible with the Singatron original. The 4+5 soldering leads match perfectly and the voltage and ground pins are arranged identically. Also, the dimensions are the same, so no gap. Will upload some photos and a short step-for-step later, but not the whole 'motherboard removal' part; that crazy-long P175SM video is fine for that and there are probably plenty of other guides already.

 

thanks! (the extreme i7's i remember to be overclockable) i got a 7970m and a 3610qm can i overclock any of that?(it's a bit out of topic ) the gpu if i remember correctly needed a flash?!

 

I would not suggest overclocking a 7970m, people here have their 7970m dying all over the place at stock clocks.

 

If you can undervolt it and tweak the clocks it should not be too bad.

 

i need to flash it?

 

Yes the voltage could be changed by flashing just be careful.

 

any leads where to look ?

 

https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/1329-amd-7970m-modified-vbios/

 

would it be compatible with mine since it is labeled dell?

 

Swapped the jacks, here's some pictures:

Spoiler: Clevo P370SM3 - DC socket 01, Singatron

Spoiler: Clevo P370SM3 - DC socket 02, Singatron vs. Kycon

Spoiler: Clevo P370SM3 - DC socket 03, Singatron desoldered

Spoiler: Clevo P370SM3 - DC socket 04, Singatron shield-ground removed

Spoiler: Clevo P370SM3 - DC socket 07, Singatron vs. Kycon, front

Spoiler: Clevo P370SM3 - DC socket 08, Singatron vs. Kycon, bottom

Soldered the Kycon in place as well, but unfortunately my phone was out of juice by this time, so it refused to use flash. Was late anyway, so will take the pictures of the re-assembled device later.

One potential issue when replicating this; it needs decent soldering equipment. Due to its heavy-power nature, the DC socket has very broad connections to the rest of the board and to the large, high-power ICs, which dissipate lots of thermal watts. Since it is all copper or can soak up heat like nobody's business that means the soldering iron or station has to be jacked up fairly high, considering a good portion of the heat will be lost through the mb.

At any rate, a clean removal is possible. Very much unlike the butchering job shown by that 'professional', dedicated DC-jack repair shop (QED).

It is card+system specific, but you can easily mod the Dell vbios yourself using VBE7. Which vbios does it have? Also, not all Dell cards are compatible with every Clevo system anyway, so ymmv. My W870CU does work fine with a Dell 7970M, but it depends on the revision of the mxm card.

 

Really? We haven't seen a lot come back for RMA. The 6990Ms were the troublesome lot.

 

I think people were very sensitive after the 6990M so they kept it in mind every time a 7970M popped up.

 

Yep, every so often there is a huge influx of dead 7970m posts here.

 

Confirmation bias compared to other cards

 

I like that.

 

thank you very much for all of your help! i will look up for the gpu to get a better idea,thanks again much appreciated.

 

Yeah, @j95 and I both wasted money buying those Kycon parts and finding their gender identity to be goofed up. It's a shame finding the pieces needed for Clevo and MSI AC power jacks is so difficult. It shouldn't be so hard. Kind of makes me angry.

 

Can't edit my prior post due to issues with this forum...

@t456 - Am I correctly understanding, the Kycon jack with the purple box around it is an exact size/fit match for original Clevo and MSI power jacks? So, I could buy a cable terminal like that and replace the tip on my Dell 330W AC adapter to make it a perfect fit for Clevo and MSI original power jacks on the motherboard?

 

Yes, exactly; the Kycon jack's footprint is a perfect match for the original. Got this jack and these plugs, seems they're more commonly used for flatscreen TVs.

To be fair, this job does require a fair amount of heat. The pcb got a little discoloured and was also a little careless, so partially melted the MXM socket as well (made sure to omit that picture ). Just a cosmetic thing, so can't be bothered with that.

 

Thanks. @j95 and I both ordered these parts from Mouser and they absolutely would not work. Kycon KPJX-CM-4S and Kycon KPPX-4P The pins were correct, but the male/female orientation was totally backwards from what it should have been.

 

Just to be clear; you swap both plug and socket, making source + destination Kycon. Mix-and-match between the brands will not work.

 

Yes, unfortunately I discovered that when it was too late and there was no useful information available anywhere (that I could find). I wasted a few bucks on worthless parts from Mouser that I will never be able to use. I did not want to replace the socket on my motherboard, so I sacrificed a 240W Clevo AC adapter that I never use and stole the cord off of that. I used the short pigtail I took off the AC-100 to make a Dell/Alienware-to-Clevo adapter dongle so I could use an Alienware 330W AC adapter with a Clevo or MSI laptop. The round barrel connectors like Dell/Alienware uses are easy to source.

 

Looks great!

Ran into a 48-part universal adapter set. Guess which plug is not included among those 48?

Forty-eight !!!

 

Generally universal adaptors don't really go up to the higher brick ratings.

 

I know the answer! LOL. I've literally torn the web apart looking for them and I'm starting to believe it must be intentional.

 

I'm wondering if I get one of these female parts intended for PCB, would it work as a power supply end? I mean would it fit the original Clevo/MSI male plug at all and if it fits would it be a bit short?

And how about if I buy this part and swap the male end piece with female end(just the black circular part) with my post above? Do you think such a thing is possible?

 

PSA for anyone looking to buy a Clevo 4-pin jack:

 

Oh that's cool