Presario 2100 broken power connector

Here's an update from HP Power Connector Hell ...

When last we spoke, children, Uncle Phil had a piece of the old
connector stuck in the motherf%&#&^board. Well, in
desperatation and with not a little good luck, the heated soldering
iron judiciously rammed into the offending piece eventually made it
yield and come free.

I installed the new connector purchased on eBay, did some really ugly
soldering (my first attempt in this life), and everything worked.

And, lo, there was joy in the land!..

... For 10 days.

After 10 days of working just fine, the new connector went on the
fritz. Or at least the HP recognized the power cord being plugged in
less and less. Finally, it didn't recognize it at all. And then
finally the battery drained -- and all was dark in the land, and has
been for several days (and with another mess of work stranded on the
laptop -- I fought furiously against the dying battery to burn a CD
with this new content, but I lost the battle, the CD wouldn't burn).

Now an expert at dismantling a 2100 -- I can almost do it in my sleep
-- I've taken the beast apart two or three times scouting for clues
to the latest dilemma. The new connector is rock solid (held with
solder and Gorilla glue). Don't know what the problem is. Any ideas?

One other thing. When I took the machine apart, an mb component fell
off -- a half inch square by quarter inch gray block below the right
arm of the cooling fan "brace." There are two of these "blocks"
present, with this on them: 1206-OR5 / TMP 336T. Any idea what they
are and how they affect my sorry equation? I Gorilla-glued on the one
that fell off and it held fine.

Also: will it affect start-up if the antenna connectors on the
underside of the mother are not connected. Didn't seem to, but they
were too fiddly, so I left them.

BTW Thanks for everyone's help and advice. And I look forward
appreciately to the next batch in the hope you can help bail me out
of the present mess.

pab1953,

Things "falling off the MB" doesn't sound good. Can you post/link
some pictures? I don't have the 2100 I was repairing anymore (it was
my sister's) to compare with.

SG257

pab1953 wrote:
...
...the HP recognized the power cord being plugged in less and less. Finally, it didn't recognize it at all.
...
When I took the machine apart, an mb component fell off -- a half inch square by quarter inch gray block below the right arm of the cooling fan "brace." There are two of these "blocks" present, with this on them: 1206-OR5 / TMP 336T.
...

An irritant that can also cause loss of power is failure at the DC
cord/plug connection. This occurs when flexing of the cord's wire
strands causes them to fracture inside the insulation, which typically
occurs right where the cord enters the plug that you insert into your
(new!) board receptacle. It usually goes thru an initial intermittent
period, but will work temporarily if you grasp the cord just behind the
plug and push it toward the plug body and see if power is restored. If
so, the cure is to snip off the old plug, get a new one, and solder it
to a "fresh" wire portion an inch or two farther back. While it's
a smaller repair job than you've already accomplished, it requires
more genteel soldering technique compared to the board jack, and
getting the polarity correct (which wire is where) is also essential.
An inexpensive voltmeter would help with this, in addition to seeing if
there's any power present at the existing plug or not.

As for the loose board component, that's particularly disturbing;
they normally don't just fall off! I don't have a 2100, but the
presence of numbers on the stray part suggests that it's not just a
spacer or something, and probably needs to be soldered in place. (If
so, the Gorilla-glue will present a problem.) Speculation: parts with
that shape and size are often small transformer or inductors used in
power supply switching and regulating. Googling reveals that the
letters "TMP" might be "Taipei Multipower Electronics", which
makes such devices. Does the other (?) one apparently still in place
show a solder fillet at each end like the other surface-mounted devices
on the board? With luck, the loose one somehow got karate'd off the
board, and might possibly be soldered back in place, unless the
part's -- or most important, the board's -- solder pads were
damaged. You might surf around in the "products" section of-
http://www.tmpco.com.tw
Do any of those coils or transformers look like the part? These are
usually in series with essential power circuitry, so a missing one
would indeed bring things to a halt. (This may mean your DC power cord
mentioned earlier is not the problem, but that's little solace by
comparison.) Replacing the loose part with the same or a replacement
part is a possibility if the motherboard itself is undamaged, but
things are now officially becoming difficult.

As for the wireless antenna, it hurts nothing if not connected. I'd
connect it the last time you assemble the laptop, just to have the
capability available, though. (And yes, I do know the joke is how to
KNOW when the last time IS!)

is this it? the ones located with one having the blue sticker on it
http://img272.imageshack.us/img272/7699/picture213qn.th.jpg

if so then they indeed to need to be soldered in place and would cause
said problem. And if you are unsure about your soldering skill i would
suggest you not attempt this till you are, find a friend or someone
whom you trust to do the work.

I don't think it's that one. My digital camera's out being fixed or
I'd send a photo. Whatever the piece was, I glued it into place and
it seemed to hold fine. But of course maybe it's connected to the
problems I'm having. Yet everything works okay on the laptop when
it's being powered from the battery. But now the battery's drained.

On reflection, I guess this photo is accurate -- but the piece that
fell off isn't visible -- it's "north" of the blue sticker item,
under the cooling component.

sanmor8wrote:


I HAVE A PRESARIO 2100US AND IN ORDER TO GET POWER TO IT I HAVE TO
BEND CORD

AND IN AC JACK SEEMS A LITTLE LOOSE

DO I NEED TO REPLACE AC JACK AND IF SO IS I CONNECTED TO THE
MOTHERBOARD OR IS IT A SEPERATE PART

WHAT CAN I DO?




Ugh, you described my problem perfectly....i bought 3 new adaptors
like an idiot thinking that was the problem, then i got so irritated
i thoguht about selling it on ebay lol...i do not believe i am that
technically saavy to fix it myself. Is anybody still out there to
help out, maybe fix it for a price?

More than likely, the connector is hard soldered directly on the
motherboard, which will likely need to be pulled from the notebook.
Possdibly it can be made secure with a re-solder.

HH

"spazbam" wrote in message
...
sanmor8wrote:


I HAVE A PRESARIO 2100US AND IN ORDER TO GET POWER TO IT I HAVE TO
BEND CORD

AND IN AC JACK SEEMS A LITTLE LOOSE

DO I NEED TO REPLACE AC JACK AND IF SO IS I CONNECTED TO THE
MOTHERBOARD OR IS IT A SEPERATE PART

WHAT CAN I DO?




Ugh, you described my problem perfectly....i bought 3 new adaptors
like an idiot thinking that was the problem, then i got so irritated
i thoguht about selling it on ebay lol...i do not believe i am that
technically saavy to fix it myself. Is anybody still out there to
help out, maybe fix it for a price?

I have had a similar problem with my Presario 2400. I disassembled the
entire unit (and believe me it is a terribly intricate job). What I found
was that the power plug is on a small board (less than 1" square) which
plugs into the motherboard. I unsoldered the external plug from this small
board, and after playing around with it, I found that the little plastic tip
on the male side of the plug was preventing contact from being made with the
on-board, female side of the plug. I trimmed some of the plastic away from
the tip (sort of made it conical in shape) and it has been working
reasonably well since then. What was the amazing is that I was able to
resolder the plug to the board and completely reassemble the whole laptop
and it worked!! I say the plug has been working "reasonably well". That is
to say, if you aren't careful when you move the machine around, the cord
side (male) part of the connector sort of works itself out of the side of
the unit very easily. This is sure a weak link in this whole setup, but I
don't have a good solution. I suppose you might be able to find a new
on-board connector, but I tried and had a lot of trouble identifying the
correct part.

Good luck
Max Lynn
"HH" wrote in message
...
More than likely, the connector is hard soldered directly on the
motherboard, which will likely need to be pulled from the notebook.
Possdibly it can be made secure with a re-solder.

HH

"spazbam" wrote in message
...
sanmor8wrote:


I HAVE A PRESARIO 2100US AND IN ORDER TO GET POWER TO IT I HAVE TO
BEND CORD

AND IN AC JACK SEEMS A LITTLE LOOSE

DO I NEED TO REPLACE AC JACK AND IF SO IS I CONNECTED TO THE
MOTHERBOARD OR IS IT A SEPERATE PART

WHAT CAN I DO?




Ugh, you described my problem perfectly....i bought 3 new adaptors
like an idiot thinking that was the problem, then i got so irritated
i thoguht about selling it on ebay lol...i do not believe i am that
technically saavy to fix it myself. Is anybody still out there to
help out, maybe fix it for a price?

I am assuming this is something you would not suggest a lay person
doing without much computer background?








HHwrote:
More than likely, the connector is hard soldered directly on the
motherboard, which will likely need to be pulled from the notebook.

Possdibly it can be made secure with a re-solder.

HH

"spazbam" wrote in message
...
sanmor8wrote:


I HAVE A PRESARIO 2100US AND IN ORDER TO GET POWER TO IT I HAVE TO
BEND CORD

AND IN AC JACK SEEMS A LITTLE LOOSE

DO I NEED TO REPLACE AC JACK AND IF SO IS I CONNECTED TO THE
MOTHERBOARD OR IS IT A SEPERATE PART

WHAT CAN I DO?




Ugh, you described my problem perfectly....i bought 3 new adaptors
like an idiot thinking that was the problem, then i got so
irritated
i thoguht about selling it on ebay lol...i do not believe i am that
technically saavy to fix it myself. Is anybody still out there to
help out, maybe fix it for a price?
[/quote:e48267c63c]