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I recently noticed that the plastic around the DC-in jack of my laptop was warped (melted) a little bit. Since I noticed, I have done some experiments, and saw that the metal tip of the charger heats up very much when I am gaming, or performing CPU-intensive work (it's so hot that i can't hold it between my fingers). When I am using Windows normally (web browsing, music, video), the tip is not hot. I tried using another charger from a compatible laptop, but its metal tip overheated as well, so the problem is not caused by the charger.

I have been using this laptop for gaming for 1.5 years and I never had this problem. When gaming I always use a laptop cooler. Dust is not the problem (i cleaned out the dust), and the CPU and GPU temperatures are not higher than when I got the laptop. The only thing that is excessively hot is the charger tip.

Because I bought my laptop from the USA, sending it to warranty and back would cost more than the laptop's value, so I need to fix it myself. I have googled around, and I saw that the problem might be the DC-in jack that is located on the motherboard of the laptop. I plan to take the laptop apart and see if it has become loose, and soldering it in place if it has.

My questions for you are:

  • Did anyone deal with this problem in the past? Did anyone manage to fix it?
  • Is the DC-in jack the culprit in this case? Or is it possible for the problem to be caused by another part on the motherboard?
  • Is there any way I can check the DC-in jack with a multimeter? What should I measure (resistance, etc)?

EDIT: My laptop is a Sager NP5135 (aka Clevo B5130M). I also posted on NBR, including some pictures: link

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I have seen this issue on HP and others, usually means the dc jack or power cord connector is damaged, not making good electrical contact causing resistance which translates to heat, melting the plastic. replacement of the dc jack usually cures the problem, but check the power cord connector for damage also, depends on design which one actually fails to make proper contact.

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  • I have tried another power adapter, and I get the same problem. It looks like the dc jack inside the laptop is broken. I didn't even think those things could break like that. Now I have to replace it and I can't find a similar jack anywhere :(
    – Ove
    Sep 12, 2012 at 8:28
  • You might contact this company see what they say about that models dc jack....laptopjacks.com/product/Sager-Laptop-DC-Power-Jacks.html
    – Moab
    Sep 12, 2012 at 20:55
  • I ordered a jack from laptopjacks.com and managed to successfully disassemble the laptop and replace the jack. It works perfectly now. The jack I ordered wasn't 100% compatible with the old jack, but I managed to make it work. (The pins lined up, but the original jack fed the negative current trough the shielding and the new one did not - it fed the negative trough a pin. I linked the shielding and the negative pin together and now it works perfectly)
    – Ove
    Nov 4, 2012 at 8:21
  • That is so awesome! Another laptop saved from the clutches of the recycler.
    – Moab
    Nov 4, 2012 at 19:36
  • Speaking of the recycler: my wireless mouse (2 years old) was acting up, not registering clicks sometimes (you needed to press hard for it to register the right click and the scroll wheel click). I took it apart 2 days ago, bought switches from a local electronics store for around $2, and replaced the switches in the mouse. Now it works like new :). I hate planned obsolescence.
    – Ove
    Nov 5, 2012 at 12:26

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