SF315-52laptop won't charge unless the charging cable connected to the port in just the right way

swiftbutterfly

I have an Acer Swift SF315-52 laptop (i5-8250U). It's 5 years old and I've been facing an issue for the past 2 years where my laptop simply won't charge unless the pin is connected in just the right way. If I move the laptop or the cable ever so slightly, it'd stop charging. What's the right way? I'm yet to figure that out - there does not seem to be a pattern. I keep rotating or moving the pin until my laptop charges steadily and very carefully leave it the same way.

I've gone to repair centers but their focus is usually on the charging cable and that does not seem to fix the issue. I believe the issue could be with the connector on the laptop itself but no service center has been able to give me a solution.

Some other symptoms: my HDMI port's functioning is somehow weirdly connected to the charging port. It usually works well. But sometimes when I'm charging my external monitor starts flickering. When I remove the charger, it instantly stabilizes. Which means I can either charge my laptop (unreliably) or use my external monitor.

What gives?

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/697206/my-acer-laptop-wont-charge-unless-the-charging-cable-is-connected-to-the-port-in-just-the-right-way

Bad contacts and bad DC charging port, I recommend bringing the laptop and power adapter to Acer Services in your country to replace the DC port and check the HDMI port too. Not an expensive repair job. If you haven't replaced the battery after 5 years this would be a good time to do that. 😉

AnhEZ28

@swiftbutterfly

You can go to other PC repair shops or local Acer to replace the charging port. But I'm afraid that Acer will tell you to replace the whole motherboard instead since they don't do board repair as it is unreliable.

billsey

Yes, on your model the DC-In jack is soldered directly to the motherboard, so if it's what's acting up the solution is to replace the motherboard. You can tell a bit about it's function by inspecting it, if the center electrode is bent or broken that's an issue, as is if the spring that presses against the barrel of the plug isn't making good enough contact. A decent repair technician could potentially replace just the jack, but it's not a job for the run of the mill type since you are dealing with surface mount components. Unfortunately the model is just old enough that it doesn't support charging via the USB-C port and newer models do.