HowToFixComputers.com

Maureen · Forum Regular Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 15

KansasUser, thank you so much for your kind post. I did consider that as an option, but for my model, and adding shipping, the cost for Ken to repair it would be around $200. I know some aren't costing that much, but I have a Pavilion zd7310, and he's posted that they're a little more complicated to fix, thus the added expense. This was the cheapest option for me, and I'm hoping it lasts for at least a year. Hopefully, things will be better for me at that time, so that if the meda cable fails, I can send it to Ken for repair without it being such a burden.

Thanks again for your kind words, support and good wishes!!

Maureen

Quizshow · Member Joined: 19 Oct 2006 Posts: 1

Hi all, new to the forum and like everyone else thought I was the only one with a busted power jack. I have a zv5000, that I bought refurbished 2.5yrs ago, the power issue began about 4 months ago. I contacted hp, and they offered their total care service for $298.00, all inclusive.

My question is, has anyone here taken this route and let hp fix their own defect? Also, any updates from those using the media cable, has it fixed the problem?

I'm not that confident in my ability to disassemble, solder, and reassemble. So these are basically my only two options.

Thanks in advance

Maureen · Forum Regular Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 15

Quizshow, I read through this thread, and pored through other sites extensively before making my decision and I can tell you that the people who sent their laptops in to HP had the same problem down the line, usually within 6 months to a year. It's not worth having them put in their typical cheap fix since it's only going to be temporary.

Although I don't know if this will work with your laptop, I got this media cable from this seller on ebay:

http://tinyurl.com/y8au87

Doug Dornbos · Guest

I just had my local repair shop fix mine. I had to take it back right
away because the keyboard didn't work 100% when I got it back. Also, it
isn't COMPLETELY cured, it still clicks off once in awhile. they charged
me $128 and did not need a new jack. It was cheaper than Best Buy was
going to charge me for copying over my hard drive to a new one so I
think it was worth it even if it isn't long term. I'm edgy enough about
it now though that it will probably become basically a desktop.
Doug

Quizshow wrote:

Michael Termini

Here's how I fixed this power jack problem on a ZV5000. First remove the battery so you're not working with power that can short out. Then remove the small plastic caps over the flap hinges. Then remove the small plastic bezel just to the upper side of the keyboard,(this is the small piece that contains, among other things, the power-on button). Now you can see the power jack, but it is covered by a flat piece of black plastic that is part of the top cover. Now take a very hot soldering iron and just melt away the plastic that covers the power jack. You can use the iron to smooth it out if it's a little rough. This will give you access to correct the broken solder joints on the jack. I had to use a small jewelers flat blade scewdriver to pry apart the two case pieces about an eight of an inch to reach the back terminal on the jack. I also used a file to file down the tip of my soldering iron a little smaller so as to reach inside to the terminals easier. I used the thinnest solder I could find at Radio Shack. After I verified it was contacting correctly with the power brick by observing the light on the front panel glow steady, I used a hot melt glue gun to fill the small cavity around and above the jack to prevent movement. It's working fine now and I have cautioned the customer to be gentle, as I could not gaurantee it as a permanent repair. Total time? Maybe an hour or so. Also as a side note this machine came to the shop non booting. I used the win XP disk's recovery feature to run chkdsk, fixboot, and the fixmbr command and it repaired itself. I'm not sure which did the actual repair, I think it was chkdsk, but I ran all three anyway. I'm sure the loss of power prematurely shutting down the system caused that failure as well. I hope I have saved some of you some time and frustration. Good luck. Mike
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Michael Termini

Just and addition to the above detail, when you replace the plastic bezel it totally covers the access hole created by melting through the plastic with the hot iron, making the alteration totally invisible if you're careful not to touch any other case parts. I bumped mine a little but had no complaint about it. Mike
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Maureen · Forum Regular Joined: 26 Sep 2006 Posts: 15

For those who aren't handy and can't afford $200 to have it repaired properly, the media one cable is working very well for me so far, and seems much sturdier than the adaptor ever did.

ikenfixit

Hey Kansas user! Must be its still plugging away? If it quits call and we'll repair.. As far as the media cable, Yes these will work but why would HP Invent a bypass cable for the Input unless they maybe thought there could be a future failure? Its beyond me as my car does not come factory with 2 starters or batterys for that matter. (Commonly failed components and Yes I do work on automobiles as well). Bigger issue is a Schottkey rectifier in the supply line on the Intel based machines. Also the Go150 on the Athlons, And the Nvidia chipset on the Athlons, And the Imbedded controller chips on All of them for the last 5 years.. Its a big list but very well worth talking about. (Weve also seen the media cable connex failing on these machines now too).. Give them a few months..Theyll be the biggest parts unit sale on E-bay. Good luck all!
_________________
Ken LaDere, Owner
www.ikenfixit.com
www.howtofixlaptops.com
postmaster@ikenfixit.com
8750 West Stutsmanville.
Harbor Springs, Michigan.
49740
231.242.1190

ikenfixit

Also another thing.. If you have a shop resolder the same jack? It will most likely fail again.. (Not being durrogatory but weve seen too many of these). Singatron manufactures an upgraded jack and these hold up excellent. Much more substantial pin size and just better quality period. (They also manned the origional pile, Coincidental)? I'd say not.. As the config/size is the same w/upgrade values and consumption capabilities..
_________________
Ken LaDere, Owner
www.ikenfixit.com
www.howtofixlaptops.com
postmaster@ikenfixit.com
8750 West Stutsmanville.
Harbor Springs, Michigan.
49740
231.242.1190

xubomber · PRO Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 59

Update on my current situation, with a fairly cheap fix that seems to work well.

I have a Pavilion ze5270, power jack failed a bit more than a year ago. When I opened it up, the jack itself had cracked in half. I didn't want to go through the trouble of replacing it with another jack that would just fail the same way a few months down the road, so I did the 'pigtail' solution using an inline power jack I got off of mouser, and a bit of speaker wire. I actually wound up drilling out the tabs from the motherboard, since the original jack's connection tabs had snapped off at the level of the motherboard, leaving the tabs themselves attached to it. I basically stuck the ends of the new wire through the drilled holes and soldered it on the underside. This held up well for a good year or so, until now.

Just a bit ago, the power started flickering off again at semi-random intervals, so I opened the notebook up again to see what was going on. It turns out that one of my solder joints was rather poorly done, and the wire had come loose. In any case, I resoldered it, this time hopefully a bit better, and it seems to be working fine.

I'm still having a bit of trouble finding agood way to secure the new pigtail cable to the case rather than relying on the mobo solder joints though. I used hot glue last time, but with constant use and repeated stress it just cracked off. The speaker wire I used is a bit too thick to tie in a knot on the inside. Anyone got any ideas?

ikenfixit

Visit a local radio shack.. They sell a 2.5mm center pin panel mount jack thats compatable w/the factory adapter and this will nut to the case. You'll have to open the hole up a little to install but once you get it installed it cant fail unless it gets ripped out of the back of the laptop. PN is a 274-1583. It has 3 lead connectors on the back and center is positive of course. other 2 can both be connected to Neg. (Ones a NC contact and doesnt really matter). Good luck!
_________________
Ken LaDere, Owner
www.ikenfixit.com
www.howtofixlaptops.com
postmaster@ikenfixit.com
8750 West Stutsmanville.
Harbor Springs, Michigan.
49740
231.242.1190

xubomber · PRO Joined: 19 Feb 2006 Posts: 59

Hmm, I considered that the first time around, but the only RadioShack within walking distance is a mall outlet and doesn't carry it, and I didn't have access to any tools beyond a soldering iron, screwdrivers, a pair of needlenose pliers, and a dremel. ATM I don't have the drill with me, so my options are rather limited. I've got another 3 weeks until I get out for winter break, so I suppose I can just wait to get home and work on it then.

As far as 'opening up the hole' to install goes, do you mean that I just need to enlarge the hole, or what exactly? I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing how much of the jack will extend through the case. Does the threaded end alone extend through the hole, with a nut securing it from the outside?

seanmcmills · Member Joined: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 1

This is exactly what happened to me, TWICE! I know this sounds nuts, but would you believe I bought another HP after this happened the first time? Ah yes, the triumph of hope over experience...

When this happened to my first HP Pavilion, I thought that maybe it was just a fluke. I went through the motions of going to two shops to see if I could get it fixed. The first was a non-HP certified one, the second was. They both said the same thing, something to the tune of (keep in mind I don't fix computers for a living) "the power connector is connected to the motherboard (?) and you'll need to replace that." They said this would cost at least $250 and it made sense to buy a new computer instead, especially considering it would take significant time to repair.

So what did I buy? Like a fool I bought another HP Pavilion. The salesman said it was the best and all he ever purchased, so I chalked it up as a fluke.

My first Pavilion cost about $2200 at the time. I think I paid $800 for this one, suddenly less trusting.

So here is the real kick in the pants. I'VE OWNED THIS COMPUTER JUST UNDER FOUR MONTHS! Day after day I see it going the exact same direction as my old. Every day I have to gently manipulate the power connector to get the computer to charge. Everything has transpired exactly as the good person who started this thread has described.

I thought it was insane that this happened to me twice so it COULDN'T be the computer, but after having the first issue I treated my connector with such kid gloves it's embarrassing, so I know it has nothing to do with the connector being knocked about, unless even the lightest moving of the cord and/or connecting reconnecting could cause this issue. I actually started asking friends whether there could be some wiring issue in my house that was causing this.

If you are having this problem, you need to go buy a new computer soon. The computer will eventually refuse to start up, once the good battery is depleted and the lousy connector won't charge it. Let's hope you get your files onto another machine (non-HP of course) before this happens.

Today I have to go buy another computer. I will never buy another HP anything.

Thanks a lot to HP for wasting my time, energy, and a whole lot of my money. Luckily I am one who can afford to buy another computer. I really feel for the lot of you who bought an HP and don't have the money to easily afford another.

I can't help but wonder if the posts on this website that contest this issue arises from manhandling the connector are HP public relations folks determined to pass blame. I have extremely careful with my computers.

What a sad story for many of us!

KansasUser · Forum Regular Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 14

Seanmcmills,

I totally understand your post, and more importantly, your frustration. HP has destroyed a significant segment of its pc customer base with this shoddy power jack. This will ultimately cost them a fortune, what with lost business not just for laptops, but also for copiers, pc's and other products. Once burned, twice shy. Bad management has led to a bad reputation, no question. I used to think HP had some of the best computer products in the world. NO MORE!

However, you now have a problem (if you have not already sold your HP). Which problem is: what to do with it.

If you cannot fix or sell it reasonably, then you will take a significant hit. That is not really necessary in my view. Take a look at some of the solutions identified throughout the board. My favorite is to use IKENFIXIT. For somewhere around $160 plus shipping, Ken will be able to fix your power jack (so that it lasts). And he does a good job. You can also buy a media cable, although I am also hearing stories about the media cable jacks failing also with use over time.

In any case, I wish you well. You are not alone.

KansasUser · Forum Regular Joined: 29 Oct 2005 Posts: 14

Ken,

In your message, what you said is right. My HP Pavillion ZD7000 just keeps on plugging away since you fixed the power jack. It has been over a year now and not a hint of a problem. I still like my HP a lot with the 17 inch screen and lots of utilities etc. (My only problem now is I cannot find my WIN XP cd. Pretty foolish, but I seem to have lost it.) If you ever run across an HP Win XP cd, please let me know. I might buy it. big grin

If I ever have a problem, I will contact you. But right now, the HP is running just fine.

KansasUser