MSI GX660R not charging

TommyV · 1 Sep 2013 at 14:23

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone could help.

My brothers MSI GX660R has stopped charging, unless the power cord is very forcefully held into the charging socket.

We've done a bit of research and we're under the impression that something called the 'DC Harness' has come loose and may need re-soldering. Of which, my brother and I have absolutely no experience in doing.

Does anyone know much about this, how to fix (on the cheap preferably), or better yet has had the same issue themselves on this model?

The laptop is 2.5 years old.

My brother (after ignoring my advice, as I was the one who sold it to him), has been using the laptop whilst it's on his lap for the past 9 months, although we've no idea if this combined with not looking after the machine properly has played it's part in the issue.

We've tried a second laptop charge in the same machine and we're seeing the same issue, so it's not the power block.

Any help appreciated

Cheers,
Tommy

nightmare99 · 1 Sep 2013 at 15:32

The DC jack is probably damaged this is easily done with a tug of the power cable. The jacks themselves are inexpensive but like you say you need somebody that can handle a soldering iron.

TommyV · 1 Sep 2013 at 20:19

Thanks nightmare,

Do you know of any retailer who distribute these, are they done on a model by model basis, or fairly generic? I'd imagine it's a fairly niche market!

cbdatabases · 25 Jan 2014 at 14:39

Hi TommyV, This is a few months late but I hope it is helpful to you or someone else. The power port can be got on ebay it costs under £3. The seller is http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/uk.laptop.repairs .

What can go wrong is that over time one of the terminals fractures and the hairline crack breaks the circuit. Wiggling the power cord or holding it in forcefully moves the terminal back and makes the connection, this works until the crack becomes so bad that the connection is well and truly broken. I have attached a picture that shows the fault and what the new port looks like. Even a solder job only lasts a few days of solid use, best to get the whole port replaced.

It is sad but the least expensive part on this high quality laptop seems the one most prone to fail and requires virtually a full laptop dismantle in order to replace.