Acer Aspire E5-575G power jack is loose, won't maintain connection

Hello,
I think over time my power jack has gotten loose. I just recently bought a brand new power cord and plug for it... and it's still having trouble. Which narrows the problem down to the jack or some of the wiring on the motherboard. I'm hesitant to open up the laptop because it seems difficult and I don't want to damage my computer further... but I think it's come to that. Will probably go to Fry's today to buy a soldering kit and will start this project myself as I can't afford to have it repaired somewhere. Another thing worth noting is that I believe the computer has been having electrical problems as some of the keys on my keyboard just randomly stopped working and there has been other goofy behavior like that. If anybody has good advice on how I should proceed - as carefully as possible - please share with me. I've attached a picture I took of the jack. The center prong seems to be centered okay... but one of the outer sleeves seems to not come out as much as the other sleeve. So I'm thinking the problem begins there.

Thanks so much for your help! My laptop is super important in my life right now!

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JackE

What trouble is the jack causing other than feeling loose? The keyboard key mechanisms usually get hygroscopic debris (like food crumbs) trapped under the key covers that cause problems especially in warm humid conditions. Get a soft bristle facial blush brush to gently loosen this debris under the key covers while blowing air from a vacuum clean or compressed air to dislodge it. Jack E/NJ

StevenGen

Firstly, the DC Power Jack (see caption) are not hard to change, they are a PnP (plug and play) type of a thing and are not expensive US $6.59. First you have to make sure that it’s the DC Power Jack that is causing this problem? You don’t need a soldering iron as and if you ever get to a soldering iron stage I wouldn’t touch the mainboard as you need expert knowledge and tools!

As far as the keyboard that is US $16.00 and what "JackE" has advised you, which is a common problem with Acer laptops of that vintage and because the Aspire E5-575G is getting sort old, you should seriously consider replacing your old keyboard for a new one. A keyboard that misses keys and does not respond to a cleanup should be replaced as trying to fix certain keys is not advisable and getting a new keyboard will fix the keyboard issues. I’ve done many keyboard replacements with the same problems as you are talking about and new keyboard fixed all those problems.

Btw, here is just one guide of how to disassemble the E5 575G laptop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kkzymbRQGw as there are lots of other guides to do this!

PnP DC Power Jack replacement for the Aspire E5-575G

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/xz/q1ojryhomz9m.jpg

Aspire E5-575G keyboard

AClunie

Thanks for that link. To clarify, the keyboard isn't giving me really any problems today. I think a couple of the buttons may not work here and there but it's hardly noticeable. The problem is that my laptop isn't getting charged. I have to get it in just the right position in order for it to start charging. Right now I've taped the jack to the laptop, trying to make it tight in the position that it currently requires. This situation will deteriorate over time until one day I won't be able to charge my laptop up at all. So, I'm looking to repair it in such a fashion that it fits tightly (the DC plug into the jack) and maintains a constant connection. I think I'm not making contact on one of the outer pins. Thanks for any expert advice or tips on how to align everything perfectly or how to deal with this particular plug. I'm not worried about soldering on the motherboard, I'm confident that it would be a successful project and I'm able to purchase all the tools I need. As of right now my plan is to order a soldering kit off Amazon and make sure the housing for the power jack is soldered to the motherboard at the + and - terminals.

JackE

Good luck with soldering. If it was my machine, I'd probably stay with the tape or possibly a 2-part epoxy like JBWeld. Jack E/NJ

AClunie

update... sometimes now when the plug is pulled out of the laptop, the device turns off. which it shouldn't do as it has a battery in it. maybe now i also need to include the battery in my project

JackE

Go to the elevated command prompt. Enter 'powercfg /batteryreport'. Then return to the desktop. Open file explorer. Then search for' battery-report.html' in the c:\windows\system32\ sub-folder. Double-click to open it in the browser. Compare design capacity with full charge capacity. Post screenshot of the beginning section of the report if possible. Jack E/NJ

AClunie

Thanks Jack E. Here's the screen shot...

JackE

Seems OK. But if you routinely let battery charge drop below about 10%, strange things can happen. Open DeviceManager. Click 'batteries' folder. Right click on each device driver you find in this folder and uninstall it. Then exit DeviceManager without trying to re-install anything. The shut Windows down normally. Make sure the charger is plugged in. Then turn the machine back on again and let Windows auto re-detect and auto re-install all the battery device drivers. Jack E/NJ

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