Asus Laptop Power Port

[Stokkolm]

My Asus G73SW is just over 2 years old and I'm having problems with the power port. I thought it might be a bad power supply, so I ordered a new one on Amazon, but that didn't fix the issue. When I have it plugged in it is constantly detecting and then not detecting power and will not charge unless I hold the adapter in. I'm pretty sure the solder holding the power port has become damaged. Does anyone know if it is possible for me to repair the solder myself or if I should pick up a new port and remove the old one completely. I found them on Amazon for about $1.20 and I can solder well enough, but I've never soldered anything onto a motherboard before. Should it be as simple as it sounds?

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

You  need to look at where it is broken to make that assessment. The power port could be on a separate daughter board, it may not be. It really depends on the setup and where exactly it is damaged.

[episode]

Yes, the power connector is pretty easy to solder on. 

 

Biggest pain in the ass is taking the whole thing apart to get to that point.

[Aergan]

I would buy a replacement port / board if less than $5. Mine went on my Dell last year and the replacement port / board has stopped the amount of lateral movement with it completely (so far).

[Marshall Veteran]

Are you sure it is soldered to the board? It being 2 years old, it might just clip in. Here is one I took out of a 2-year old Toshiba laptop a few days ago.

 

[Astra.Xtreme]

Yes, the power connector is pretty easy to solder on. 

 

Biggest pain in the ass is taking the whole thing apart to get to that point.

This.  Sometimes you can access that point by just taking the keyboard off.  And sometimes you have to rip the whole shell apart.

Be careful not to pinch the wires for the display.  That would be a very expensive accident.  :pinch:

[Hum]

There are some Asus repair videos and guides on the internet.

 

I have also downloaded Repair manuals.

 

http://www.nodevice.com/manual/g73sw/get83292.html#.UyOLysq0IxE

 

[Stokkolm]

It looks like it is definitely soldered directly onto the motherboard. Youtube will definitely help. Thanks for all the comments!

[Stokkolm]

Just wanted to post an update. I finally took the computer apart and I found that the solder on the bottom of the power port was pretty much all gone. I was able to just add more solder to it without replacing the port itself and it seems to be working great now! I don't know how long this fix will last, but I put a healthy amount of solder on both contact points, so hopefully I won't have any further trouble. Also, prior to this fix the power port/adapter end would get VERY hot while the adapter was plugged in. Now it stays nice and cool.

[AnotherITguy]

I have a 1 year old ASUS X401 that its power port blew out, it is indeed in a daughter board. My suggestion, go on ebay and if yours is in a daughterboard, buy the complete daughterboard. Personally, for me it fixed my problem.

[Stokkolm]

I have a 1 year old ASUS X401 that its power port blew out, it is indeed in a daughter board. My suggestion, go on ebay and if yours is in a daughterboard, buy the complete daughterboard. Personally, for me it fixed my problem.

Mine is directly on the motherboard. It is fixed for now though, hopefully it lasts for the life of the computer now...I put more solder on than it needed, it should be good to go.

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

As long as your joints aren't cold, it should last just fine. The heat issues make sense given the circumstances, you may be lucky it didn't melt down. It probably would have had issues eventually if you had kept up using it with the defective port.

[AnotherITguy]

Glad to hear that worked for ya, I do wish Asus would do a better job of it with the DC Ports, its amazing considering that on Desktop motherboards, they are rock solid, in the mobile space, I'm not so sure.

[Stokkolm]

Glad to hear that worked for ya, I do wish Asus would do a better job of it with the DC Ports, its amazing considering that on Desktop motherboards, they are rock solid, in the mobile space, I'm not so sure.

Yeah, looking at the board when I had it apart, it looks like they had a third party manufacture it for them.