replacing the power socket in an E6420 or similar generation E?

When I upgraded to a newer laptop, I gave my daughter my E6420. Unfortunately she has damaged the power socket. You have to push on the plug at the right angle to get it to charge, and it's definitely not the charger because tried other chargers including a brand new one.

It seems I can buy a replacement socket for ~~ $10, so not a huge expense.

I had hoped that fitting it would be easy, but a few tear-down guides for this job strip the E6420 down to remove the motherboard to get to the power cable! I'm sure it should be easier than that :-(

Has anyone changed their power socket and can give me an idea of the difficulty before I start? Thanks!

 

I would start by reading the E6420 Service Manual. That will give the full procedure.

John

 

You will have to remove almost everything to get to the power socket (the cable usually runs along the base, below the motherboard). As long as you're careful about following the directions, don't lose any screws, and remember to replace all ribbon cables, you will be fine.

 

I've just done this to my Studio 1749 recently and it's a similar story, with having to get everything out of the base before you can replace it.

As Robin24k says, it's quite involved but with the service manual and a quality screwdriver of the right size on hand it's all pretty easy so long as you take your time, work carefully and follow the service manual's procedure. You're basically just unscrewing things from the chassis. I found the service manual's list of operations made it seem much worse/longer than it actually was.

If something won't come off don't force it- chances are you've missed a screw. Think it took me about an hour the first time to get to the cable.

One thing that I did find very useful was to take photographs of cable routings- my studio has several points where multiple wires run in plastic channels across the machine. Dell service manuals don't show this and they can be a little fiddly.