Broken AC power jack, no battery power, help

[CSean]

Hi. Im new on this forum, but I have a problem with my Inspiron 1545 laptop from Dell pre-loaded Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (although I did re-install several times with OEM OS restore disc). Money is tight for us now, so my AC power jack on the side of my laptop (or the end which connects to the jack) is damaged. I don't know what it is or how serious it is. Once for a while we had to protect the cord from slipping out using duct tape. The only thing I really know is that the coded white rim on that end of the cord, a very small part of it is chipped. And my battery needs replaced, do I need to still fork over an expensive sum for a brand new one?

 

[SledgeDG]

Hi CSean and welcome to SF
As I understand it, it's not the Laptop-side of the connection that's broken right?
In that case you might find this link helpful:

Amazon.com: Replacement Plug for Dell Inspiron 1525 1526 1545 Laptop Ac Adapter: Computers & Accessories
Granted those aftermarket replacements are not necessarily in the same quality as the original parts.
You often trade off quality for price.
These seem to be original parts (for 3-6x the price as it seems):
https://www.google.com/webhp?source...c4315f54&bpcl=38625945&biw=1600&bih=726&ion=1

Hope it helps you further
-DG

 

[CSean]

No it is the laptop-side of the connection, you must've misread.

 

[bobkn]

No it is the laptop-side of the connection, you must've misread.

"End of the cord" reads like it's on the cord.

You can get a replacement for the socket on ebay:

inspiron 1545 plug | eBay

There are basically two choices:

1) buy just the socket ($4 and up), unsolder the old one from a small printed circuit card ("charger board", Dell calls it), and solder on the new one. I don't think it would require high-level soldering equipment or skills.

2) buy the card with the power socket attached. It has a lot of stuff on it that you don't need to replace, like a couple of USB ports, a VGA port, and an Ethernet port. No soldering, $15-20 shipped.

Dell gives pretty complete instructions on how to replace the charger board:

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...laptop/inspiron-1545_service manual_en-us.pdf

Unfortunately, you pretty much have to take the laptop apart to get to it. That may not be all that difficult, though.

If you're not up to do the repair yourself, I wonder what a tech would charge? You might save time by handing him (or her) the charger board along with the laptop.

As regard the battery, I expect that you may be able to run the laptop off the charger, with the battery uninstalled. I don't know whether that's a good idea or not. Lithium ion batteries vary wildly in price. The Dell replacement is around $100, but you can buy third party ones for $20 from Amazon.

Best of luck.

 

[CSean]

Just an update: My Inspiron Notebook failed on me, but it's only my fault (I messed around with it too much). If the problem continues to persist, I might buy another notebook (maybe even the same model), but luckily we have a Latitude as a backup notebook.

 

[CSean]

Another update: It's possible that it's the jack itself that is broken and not the entire board. I never messed around inside my laptop previously. It appears to be missing that round thing that the end of the cord in the jack fits around. I'm just not sure. I'm worried a replacement doesn't fit. Is it ALWAYS octagonal? The end of the cord that plugs into my laptop is round.