Sager power connector

I purchased a Sager (Clevo M570U) October 2006, and have had zero problems with the laptop itself until now. I purchased it from DiscountLaptops.

The laptop has been randomly losing the power connection while it's plugged in. In order to restore power, I have to unplug and replug the power. If I plug it in just the right way and adjust the power cable slighty then it sometimes stays connected for a longer time.

Apparently the extended warranty I purchased is no longer valid due to a lawsuit, which has been posted on the their webpage. I will be contacting the business probably tomorrow and see if anything can be done to fix the power problem despite the warranty reneging (and lost money).

My question, does any one have a suggestion as to how this can be fixed, provided the warranty issue does not have a positive result? One potential solution I found on this webpage, which would also have the benefit of decreasing the reoccurance factor. Yes I know the laptop in the link is a different model, however the concept is sound.

-- Proxis

 

That is a pretty scary workaround. If you decided to try desoldering the connector from the motherboard and wiring it outside the laptop like that, I'd use some heavy gauge wire, a lot of electrical tape, and maybe enclose the jack inside a non-conductive casing so you couldn't even accidentally uncover some electrical tape and touch your solder point while the AC was plugged in.

These problems are usually either a crimped or broken wire in the actual power cord or a bent pin/cracked solder point/loose connector on the motherboard. You might try a replacement adapter first, to see if that helps. Match the power requirements for your adapter from its label, then buy a universal adapter to see the same problem occurs with it and then return the adapter to the store if it makes no difference. If it's the connector, in some cases the factory would replace the whole motherboard just to correct that. You could call Sager directly to see if they can give you an estimate on the cost of out of warranty repair. Honestly, I'd push hard to get a warrantied repair covered by your reseller before doing anything else.

One of the people who commented on that page said he purchased a generic replacement jack from Radio Shack and retrofit it to his laptop. It really depends on your level of confidence in dealing with a project like this. I'd caution you to be very careful if you do decide to go the route the article or comment suggests, since the power connector is the most dangerous thing you could work on in the laptop due to the risks of elecric shock and fire. I don't know your level of expertise in these matters, but if you don't feel 100% confident in trying it I wouldn't do it. Conceivably, you could wire the power adapter directly to the motherboard, but that doesn't mean it's a safe thing to do. I'd push for the warrantied repair first, and consider the DIY options a last resort.