Hello everyone, I have a DELL XPS laptop L502X purchased on 2011. I had sent this at least 6 times to the servicing depot as per my warranty due to keyboard matrix failures, tiny dead pixels on my screen and a host of other problems that make me question the Quality Control at Dell's laptop manufacturing sites. There are two things that were never resolved and despite countless phone interactions with their service representatives, I never got them resolved. The first were dead pixels that I'm still able to overlook and ignore, but the other is a very loose power jack fitting on the back of my laptop. The damn power cable just wouldn't stick and even a tiny bit of movement would cause it to fly right out of the jack. At first I thought that perhaps there was a shape contingency, but I was wrong. Both input cable and receiving jack ports are circular. I have heard that many people suggest using Velcro, but that stuff is very expensive and I'm not familiar with how its used. So I'm really stumped here; Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Foxconn in China makes a lot of the systems for Dell. A solution I read elsewhere: use pliers to crimp the male connector end of power cord so it is a bit oval shaped. That will give it more resistance to hold it in place in the laptop. Don't smash it completely. Just gently crimp it a little, then test and crimp a bit more until it fits snugly. There a lot of software apps that try to rejuvenate pixels out of a stuck state. Some I've tried: "Pixel Repair", PixelHealer, DeadPixelBuddy, DeadPixelTester, UndeadPixel. May give one of them a try. But if it's a true dead pixel, nothing will fix it.
Crimping the plug does not work, squeezing it in in one place squeezes it out in another. The problem is in the socket on the motherboard it has 4 spring clips on the inside of the cylinder to grip the outside of the plug and 4 more spring clips on the outside of the center post to grip the inside of the plug After a time these springs get so polished that they lose their grip The proper fix is to buy a new socket $5 and change it that's not a project for the faint of heart I've done that, never again Another fix is to probe the socket with a tiny dental pick with a 1mm right angle point at the end the idea is to lift up the spring clips so they more forcefully contact the plug that works till the spring clips get polished again. I have recently developed another fix which I will post as soon as I take some pictures ...T
@tonto: I have this problem with one of my synthesizers. The power socket is worn out and loose. @Joe C: I wish it was that easy for my synth. I have to desolder and replace the socket itself. @PointZero: I saw this before and thought about chiming in, but I figured I'd let the guys do it. @Hornetzero: If you do not have experience dismantling a laptop, I strongly suggest you try to find the service manual for your laptop and study it carefully. Some laptops are a royal pain to take apart, and can easily be damaged.
I've pulled out a couple boards way back then....about 6 or 7 yrs ago, possibly longer. Soldering the new ports on the motherboard was a piece of cake, de-soldering the old port off the motherboard without damaging anything was a real pain
So here's the problem, two actually, the plug is falling out of the computer and the stress relief on the end of the plug is broken I've been fixing the latter with heat shrink tubing between the two wire warts. Note the wrap around the power supply to keep stress down on those connections. And here's the components all picked up from the local dollar store Adhesive Velcro (the white stuff) Sew on Velcro (the black stuff) A piece of wire or a paper clip A roll of electrical tape
Can't seem to edit that so here's part two Here's the fix assembled the white adhesive Velcro attached to the corner of the computer near the socket and the sew on Velcro wrapped around the cord between the two wire warts and fastened down with the wire wrap and made to look more or less pretty by the electrical tape And here's the final product. The Velcro on the computer does not impede anything, and the Velcro tab on the power plug doesn't make it more unwieldy The adhesive Velcro would look better black The sew on Velcro could be a little longer Oh well next time, I've got several more to do @joe I've got one of those new sockets for this in a bag , but this computer is more miserable to disassemble than a D630, and I know that fix is not going to last forever either getto? ...T
@tonto: "Ghetto" is the wrong colloquialism. I think the term that Joe C was looking for was "Jury Rigged", which is more international. Personally, I think it's really cool ("cool" as in "nice" or "neat")
Hmmm... I shall look into attempting Tonto11's custom and replacement solutions on Friday, when I can sit down and take my time experimenting with hardware. I have replaced my keyboard before and batteries, but I have never attempted replacing main ports or even placing sticking material on the laptop surface (shouldn't be hard, but I don't want to make any mistakes). Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
I have replaced only one power socket on a D630, almost ruined the mobo getting the old socket off , like JoeC said. that's why I developed the Velcro fix Just make sure you trim it around the rubber feet so it will lie flat and will clear alignment holes for the extension alignment holes and latching ports (not an issue on the E series) and don't block the fan. Computers get covered with grease off your fingers, old pizza etc , so clean all the grease off the area where you want to stick the velcro. I've now got it working on e5430, e5520 D630, D610 and even an old I8600 Once the Velcro latches on the power connector never moves till you unlatch it. ...T
Hi...i am a new user here. I will suggest to use pliers to crimp the male connector end of power cord so it is a bit oval shaped. That will give it more resistance to hold it in place in the laptop.Gently crimp it a little, then test and crimp a bit more until it fits snugly.