Calling all chip-level laptop repair techs !

[usacvlr]

Regarding laptops:
There are NO schematics available like in the old tv repair, radio repair days. It's all SMT crap as well of course which means you need to KNOW how to solder well and have good eyes or a really big magnifier. The most common problems are in the DC/DC converters on the main board. That's the section that takes the 19 or so DC volts from the adapter and splits it up/regulates it to several lower dc voltages on the board. These can be troubleshooted for bad bypass capacitors and 8 pin regulators but good luck. If you're an electrical engineer it might be easier but then again what are you doing wasting your time on laptop repairs if your a true EE with a modern degree in SMT/digital technology? So what you have is no schematics available for troubleshooting and next to no info on the net for research. The mfrs DON'T want this info out. It's not like the old days when you got a schematic with everything you bought,, even computers!

Some of the systems have common problems that can be fixed fairly easily like the battery regulator chips in the toshibas but beyond that I'll replace the occaisional bad fuse or bad cap but most of the time it's not worth my time.

I made a living doing just jack repairs. Mainly B2B for guys like you all over the country. Have done around a thousand of them. Then opened a local computer repair shop as I knew the mail order was going to dry up eventually anyway. usalaptoprepair.com did well for 2 years now it's down to a trickle. Too many cheap laptops on the market. Walmart just had a sale a few weeks back for a wide screen toshiba for 300 bucks... People are gobbling up the acer xp netbooks like crack as well for 300 bucks from costco.

I mainly do a lot of upgrades and virus removals these days.

 

[NYJimbo]

usalaptoprepair.com did well for 2 years now it's down to a trickle. Too many cheap laptops on the market. Walmart just had a sale a few weeks back for a wide screen toshiba for 300 bucks... People are gobbling up the acer xp netbooks like crack as well for 300 bucks from costco.

I mainly do a lot of upgrades and virus removals these days.

That's weird, I do about 3 jack jobs a week and I only advertise locally. It adds about $300 a week to my business and I can do them spread out over the day while also doing the virus/upgrade thing and babysitting the hosting servers. As a matter of fact we have seen quite a few netbooks in for jack jobs and they are the easiest to work on. Kind of feel sorry for people who buy these $350 laptops to only spend $99 a year later on a jack job.

 

[NYJimbo]

Sorry off subject but what netbook models are you seeing the most for jack repair?

Well, I dont know if its the most but I seem to see Acer Aspire One's coming in with broken jacks. I think I we did an Asus EEE pc 1000 but I think it ends up using a compaq jack with a shield. I stock almost all of the jacks so sometimes its matching them up to stock if I cannot find it via a search.

 

[usacvlr]

Yeah I still do quite a few walk in jack repairs but the mail order work has dwindled. Haven't had a single acer netbook in the shop. Lot of the older minis though like the 700m dells and the averatechs are commonplace. As far as jacks go there are basically 15 common jacks which will go in nearly every laptop so it's easy to stock the most common ones. Out of those 15 there are essentially 5 that you use on a daily basis.

Well, I dont know if its the most but I seem to see Acer Aspire One's coming in with broken jacks. I think I we did an Asus EEE pc 1000 but I think it ends up using a compaq jack with a shield. I stock almost all of the jacks so sometimes its matching them up to stock if I cannot find it via a search.

 

[NYJimbo]

As far as jacks go there are basically 15 common jacks which will go in nearly every laptop so it's easy to stock the most common ones. Out of those 15 there are essentially 5 that you use on a daily basis.

Well the "DC Jack Gods" must smile well upon you. Almost every time I think I have all the jacks I need someone walks in with something weird. It got to a point that I would buy 2 of every jack out there, if they didn't move then I at least have two, if they move I will buy larger quantities. I remember one day looking at my jacks and thinking all was well and the next day some clown comes in with a Motion tablet and it was back to ordering them. I know I have some jacks that might never be needed, but having two of them is pocket change and it allows me to be sure I never have to tell a client "I have to order it". Like on Monday a guy came in with a typical Dell 9 pin and he was all worked up because he needed the machine the next morning, well I told him I had the jack in stock but I told him it would be an extra $50 to overnight it (he showed up at 4pm to drop it off). He was happy I could do it and picked it up at 9am before he left for a trip.

So by stocking everything, I can offer same-day, overnight or weekend service and add to the normal fee as if I am doing them some favor with a rush job.

 

[LunchBox]

Man I should pull out my old laptop and start removing and soldering back in the dc jack. I can do it without problems but it takes me freaking hours

I am not sure if my 35 wat crafstman pencil solder is good enough or I still need more practice

 

[Larry Sabo]

As far as jacks go there are basically 15 common jacks which will go in nearly every laptop so it's easy to stock the most common ones. Out of those 15 there are essentially 5 that you use on a daily basis.

It would be helpful for those of us interested in getting into DC jack repair to know what those jacks are, and suppliers where they could probably be ordered all at once, vs a few here and a few there.

 

[14049752]

It would be helpful for those of us interested in getting into DC jack repair to know what those jacks are, and suppliers where they could probably be ordered all at once, vs a few here and a few there.

DCPowerjacks.net
PJ001, PJ011, PJ014, (I guess PJ015, but I always use 11 instead), and PJ030 are all extremely common.

 

[LunchBox]

I like this thread.

So is my pencil soldering iron (crafsman) 35 watt good enough to heat up the solder for mainly DC jacks? or should I get me something else?

 

[14049752]

So is my pencil soldering iron (crafsman) 35 watt good enough to heat up the solder for mainly DC jacks? or should I get me something else?

DEFINITELY something else. You want either a soldering iron with an adjustable temperature, or a hot air rework station.

 

[LunchBox]

DEFINITELY something else. You want either a soldering iron with an adjustable temperature, or a hot air rework station.

I will look at both and see which is best for me Although it seems that the better techs have the station.

What is the preferred temp for melting the solder from the mobo?

 

[14049752]

The temp depends on the type of solder, the amount of heat the parts absorb, how well you clean off the resin, and a few other little factors. Generally, I start mine at 420-430 (F) and turn it up a little, if needed. Since it's that hot, I feel like I should say that it's very smart to use a heatsink on sensitive parts.
Edit: That temp is for a hot air station. The old crap soldering iron I used to use just had a dial with 1-10...heh.

 

[jackz]

DEFINITELY something else. You want either a soldering iron with an adjustable temperature, or a hot air rework station.

Those untis with an iron and hot air are pretty good value arn't they?

The Auoye or something like that.