MSI repairs (and laptops warranty in general)

Mercutio

Mercutio

Mercutio

Soldato
Joined
11 Jun 2003
Posts
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Location
Sheffield, UK
Well, after previously having a fair amount of hassle with an MSI laptop repair that took about 5 weeks to complete I'm having issues again.

The laptop came back from repair (motherboard swap in the end) and I found the power plug wasn't THE best fit for the DC socket. It worked tho so let it go.

Now, down the line it seems the poor fit has caused the socket/plug to overheat and melted the plug onto the pin in the middle of the socket.

This ended up with the pin breaking off and the power supply obviously being rendered useless as well.

It's been off to MSI for warranty repair (now covered in the UK by a company called D&J Henry, I think a MASSIVE improvement over it going to Poland like last time) and they are quoting an out of warranty repair needed etc.

Does this seem reasonable?

Some thoughts:

1) The replacement motherboard from the last swap probably didn't have a full term of warranty on it after repair (they are only quoting 3 months on the parts here if I agree to the fix) would that be fair grounds for them to stand on?

2) The power supply thing probably should have been reported so they could claim it was due to customer neglect?

Either way I'm currently being billed either: £176 for motherboard, shipping, handling or £50 to return un-repaired, neither seem that reasonable really?
 
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2 years in March next year. The first repair was around Jan this year.

Considering the relative costs I'm actually tempted to just buy a replacement DC socket and de-solder/re-solder and live with the loss of warranty till March

This:



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Is about the best shot I can find so far of the DC socket. That doesn't look to be surface mounted, anyone any clue how hard the removal/replacement job would be?

Even if they have a leg to stand on regarding parts costs, shouldn't the laptop still have free labour until the end of the warranty?
 
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That looks more like an ethernet or modem socket tbh. What's the model?

Edit: Under the point of the arrow, the 5 solder rings
 
I would call citizens advice or some such advice line.

It could maybe fall under reasonable use (a device must last a reasonable length of time regardless of the warranty offered) or you could claim your PSU or the power socket was broken at manufacture so not your responsibility.
 
Removing the DC socket by desoldering those 5 pins without damaging the board isn't trivial unless you are already skilled at it.

You will likely end up with a broken motherboard if you try it yourself.

To de-solder the pins you probably think you can try just a soldering iron and expect the pins to just come loose but that won't happen as the solder won't melt like you expect. You will probably need to add solder to the pins then you will be able to use flux and a solder sucker to remove the new and old solder but even that requires a lot of patience.

The board is fragile and the DC socket is in the corner where the PCB is very fragile so you would also have to make sure the board doesn't get damaged due to your handling of it.

I think the easiest removal method involves a hot air gun but I have no experience of that.
 
Mercutio said:
The laptop came back from repair (motherboard swap in the end) and I found the power plug was THE best fit for the DC socket. It worked tho so let it go.

Now, down the line it seems the poor fit has caused the socket/plug to overheat and melted the plug onto the pin in the middle of the socket.

This ended up with the pin breaking off and the power supply obviously being rendered useless as well.
Click to expand...
Can you elaborate on the fit? Was it too loose or very tight?

What makes you think the poor fit caused it to overheat and melt the plug onto the pin?

I expect it must have been difficult to remove the plug as the pin will need to be snapped to get it out? How much force did you have to use to yank it out after it melted onto the pin?
 
str said:
Removing the DC socket by desoldering those 5 pins without damaging the board isn't trivial unless you are already skilled at it.

You will likely end up with a broken motherboard if you try it yourself.

To de-solder the pins you probably think you can try just a soldering iron and expect the pins to just come loose but that won't happen as the solder won't melt like you expect. You will probably need to add solder to the pins then you will be able to use flux and a solder sucker to remove the new and old solder but even that requires a lot of patience.

The board is fragile and the DC socket is in the corner where the PCB is very fragile so you would also have to make sure the board doesn't get damaged due to your handling of it.

I think the easiest removal method involves a hot air gun but I have no experience of that.
Click to expand...

Very useful post, thanks. I do have solder sucker and I read up a couple of good guides for the replacement.
I plan on having a practise on a couple of old dc power sockets (on old enclosures etc) and seeing how that goes. I don't have the best tool for the job in the iron I got so if it's looking doubtful I might not risk it. There's repair places that will come in a lot cheaper overall tho.

Then just get the thing blessed or something :D
 
str said:
Can you elaborate on the fit? Was it too loose or very tight?

What makes you think the poor fit caused it to overheat and melt the plug onto the pin?

I expect it must have been difficult to remove the plug as the pin will need to be snapped to get it out? How much force did you have to use to yank it out after it melted onto the pin?
Click to expand...

It was a loose fit. One of those where you have to "hold it right". That was from it coming back from repair. The socket would usually get "warm" when plugged in.

We'd had a warm day, came upstairs and was all fine but when we tried to remove the plug from the dc socket it was stuck and VERY hot. As a result of this the plastic in the plug had melted onto the pin in the dc socket. We eventually got it loose and removed it but of course the pin got busted off removing it. You could kinda charge it by holding the thing "right" and tightly but it got hot quickly.
 
So it would seem originally the plug and pin was 5.5x2.1 or 2.5 but with the new motherboard it required a 5.5x1.5 or 1.7 plug?

I suggest you ask that the repair be done without cost to you or at a discount as the cause of the problem is a result of the pin in the new motherboard's DC socket being a smaller size compared to the old one and until the melted plastic issue occured you had no idea such a problem could happen.
 
The OP could be read two ways R.E. the fit of the DC plug to the socket. I read it as it wasn't THE best fit but yeah I suppose he could have meant it was really snug. Have you ever tried plugging a 2.5mm plug into either a 2.1mm jack? Let alone 1.7 or 1.5mm!
 
str said:
So it would seem originally the plug and pin was 5.5x2.1 or 2.5 but with the new motherboard it required a 5.5x1.5 or 1.7 plug?

I suggest you ask that the repair be done without cost to you or at a discount as the cause of the problem is a result of the pin in the new motherboard's DC socket being a smaller size compared to the old one and until the melted plastic issue occured you had no idea such a problem could happen.
Click to expand...

It seems it was the "right size" but the manufacturing tolerance was WAAAAAY out.
The new motherboard in the laptop when it was repaired had a socket that was SLIGHTLY (like maybe a fraction of a mm) too big. The melt was the result of the poor connection (I'm guessing the warming up issue around the socket and eventual HOT was due to very mild arching/something similar. Not an electrical engineer so I might be off the mark there but something in that direction.)

For an update:

Seems the new RMA was quoted without them being aware of the old RMA. Despite explaining it exactly like I have here.... To be fair last time it went away it ended up in Poland getting fixed. You'd still think they MIGHT be semi aware tho or at least read the notes and understand.
Anyway, couple of snotty mails including one that was genuinely an accident (replied to old rma mail by mistake) to European head office mentioning forum posts/stating rights etc and they're now listening :D
 
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d_brennen said:
The OP could be read two ways R.E. the fit of the DC plug to the socket. I read it as it wasn't THE best fit but yeah I suppose he could have meant it was really snug. Have you ever tried plugging a 2.5mm plug into either a 2.1mm jack? Let alone 1.7 or 1.5mm!
Click to expand...
The 2.5mm is the inside. So if he had a 2.5mm dc plug (large inside hole) and the new jack was 1.7mm (much smaller pin) it would be a loose fit but it would still work if angled appropriately but might not be safe to use long term.
 
Well, it seems they've decided that because there's a crack on the power socket (like, no **** there's going to be SOME damage. Getting the cable out snapped the pin off) it's a mechanical fault and not covered....



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Yup. That crack is a mechanical fault so they can't do the repair under warranty... :rolleyes::p

Obviously not taking it laying down. Anyone care to suggest options? I've sent the mail suggesting legal recourse and offering a middle ground suggestion. Paying £178 for a repair because of that crack is frankly outrageous.
 
Aaand it seems they don't appreciate complains on the their main forum. Post about the issue was locked within seconds. You can't PM the moderators so I raised another (asking nicely) how I could discuss the issue:

Sorry mercutiouk, you are banned from using this forum!
You have already been told not to post bash and you although opened a new topic for the same. Therefor you are banned for three days. Behaving like this again will result in a permanent ban.
This ban is set to expire 14-September-12, 22:50:07.
 
Seems forum posts is about the most useful tool you can use. Throw a few well documented (i.e write them well and send the company links) ones around (here, anandtech, notebook review, tomshardware and on the main MSI forums) and they seem to pay heed.

But yeah, cheers. Glad to have it sorted :)
 
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