Intermittent Laptop Charger Problems

[chillie]

I am having huge problems with my laptop charger - the connection has gotten very loose, but I am not sure if the problem is with the cord or the laptop pin that the cord connects with. I need to jiggle the charging cord around to find a spot where the laptop will charge (these spots have become increasingly difficult to find) and I seem to have to hold my hand there if there is to be any chance that it will continue charging...

If I move my hand away, the charging stops and whereas over the last few weeks I could at least run off AC power and not have it charging, the chances are much more likely now that a strange noise emits, and the laptop completely shorts out and dies, even when the battery is not low.

even worse: now, as of very recently, when I insert the charger into my laptop whenn the laptop is on, it seems to always short it out and cause it to instantly turn off.

As such, the only way I can get the laptop to charge now is by having it off, insert the charger (which is the original Compaq charger), jiggle it around to find the right spot, and then hold my hand at that exact point to hold it in that position.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

[DMR]

What you describe is quite common, and is usually due to a fault with the DC power receptacle in the laptop. The receptacle is soldered to the motherboard, and the solder leads are often the only thing securing it to the motherboard, so they can get damaged or broken from taking the stress of plugging/unplugging/jiggling/jarring the connection. When this happens, the first visible indication will be an intermittent ability to engage the charger, but eventually overheating and shorting will occur at the broken solder joints, and this can lead to serious motherboard damge. The fact that you say you hear "a strange noise" means that you are already at this point.

If you are not comfortable with disassebling your laptop, you need to take it to a repair shop ASAP. Replacing the DC connector isn't difficult or time-consuming for an experienced tech, and the part itself only costs a few dollars. If you catch the problem before it gets too severe, simply replacing the connector will totally fix the problem. However, if you let it go and continue to jiggle the connection around, you will eventually destroy circuitry on the motherboard, which will obviously be a Very Bad Thing.

[JackHoward27]

I have a similar problem, except its not the receptacle, because my mums charger works fine with my laptop, there seems to be no power going into the laptop, but its going through the adapter (because the light is on). So the problem must be in the charger, but I don't actually see a problem :S

[Emzee]

I have the same problem, gonna mention it to my dad and see what he says, I have been jiggling the connection around and it seems to work, for now, but its very unreliable!