What are the signs of a bad DC Jack?

There are several signs that your laptop will display if you do in fact have a bad jack. If you are unsure, bring the laptop to our shop and we'll diagnose for you free of charge.


You have to hold the AC adapter plug in a certain position in order for it to charge.
The light that indicates charging with turn on and off as you wiggle the AC adapter.


The laptop shuts down randomly when the AC adapter is moved or plugged in.
You notice that even when the laptop is plugged in with AC, it is still running on battery.
Smoke or the smell of burning plastic.
Excessive temperature from the area of the DC jack.
Loose or sloppy connection when plugging in the AC adapter.
The plastic pieces around the area of the DC jack are falling apart.
DC jack just fell out of the computer.


We will take a look at your laptop and determine if the jack is bad before we have to take it apart. We will test your AC Adapter to make sure it is putting out the correct voltage and to make sure it is not the cause of the bad DC jack, or just bad itself.


How does the DC jack on my laptop go bad?

There are certain a few things that can cause the DC jack to break or come loose over time. One of the most common things to happen is when a laptop is dropped of a desk with the AC adapter connected to it. If the computer lands on the AC adapter this can push the DC jack into the laptop causing it to break. Another is if the AC adapter is accidentally ripped out of the laptop (usually someone trips over the cord while it is plugged in) breaking the DC jack. Here are a few other examples of how they can break:


Poor overall design of the DC jack and its placement. Some of these jacks are held on by just a couple small connections.
Bad AC adapters. They can overheat the solder points causing the jack to come loose over time.
Incorrect AC Adapter used. If you use an oversized one, smaller one, or completely incorrect one, you can damage the jack and even the motherboard!


The average repair time for a DC jack is 24 hours if we have the jack in stock. If we do not have the jack in stock or if it is a special order it could take up to three days. Most jacks we can get sent to us overnight. We currently stock a large assortment of DC jacks that cover almost 90% of laptops out there.


We service DC Jack Repair - Power Jack Repair - AC Plug Repair for the following models:

  • Dell
  • Toshiba
  • Acer
  • IBM ThinkPad
  • Lenovo
  • Sony
  • HP
  • Compaq
  • Gateway
  • Fujitsu
  • Apple
  • LG
  • And More…