infamous HP powerjack malfunction

For the second time since Ive had it, my Pavillion ZD7000 has had a
powerjack malfunction. The first time happened under warrenty, and HP
replaced the board for free. The second time was last month, after the
warrenty had expired. This time HP offered to repair it for 300 bucks
or so PLUS the price of the part. Everyone and their mama who owns a
Pavillion notebook knows these things are notorious for melting out.
No, it didnt break cus I yanked on it, it just kinda gets real hot and
gets wiggly. I have a few questions regarding this. First off, have
they corrected this problem in new models? Second, why is it so
difficult to simply replace the power jack in these things? The first
place I went to said they just replace the board cus the jack repairs
never last. The guys I actually ended up using did the jack repair, and
booted the machine up to a blue screen. Something killed it. Now THEY
are replacing the board. So whats so complicated? I wouldnt buy
another HP product. Just as I would never buy another Sager. ( ask me
about that horror show sometime). I heard Apple uses a magnetic
connector for their power supplies, just pops off. Now THATS a good
idea!

If misery loves company, keep in mind that HP is not the only brand-name with
the power jack problem. But theirs has been publicized the most, and I seem to
recall something about an HP power jack class action lawsuit to make the lawyers
wealthy. I've run into the identical problem with Dell and Toshiba laptops with
some frequency. HP and Dell seem to be the worst only because they sell greater
numbers of laptops than the others.

If you take apart a failed laptop and remove the motherboard, you will see that
the power jack is usually "mounted" on the motherboard held only by the soldered
wire leads. Two things can happen here. A poorly engineered design creates a
hot spot the eventually melts the solder. Or the regular, even careful and
gentle, plugging and unplugging of the A/C adapter eventually fractures the soft
solder and the copper wires. This is absolutely an epidemic in the computer
industry. AFAIK, every laptop manufacturer uses the same flimsy attachment of
power jack to motherboard. It would add maybe a dollar to the overall
manufacturing cost to secure the power jack with some more sturdy metal, and
longer average life of a laptop would be ensured. Oh, I get it now. This is
all by design, to make sure that laptops break down and need replacement more
often... Ben Myers

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:46:00 -0600, Winter <>
wrote:

>
>For the second time since Ive had it, my Pavillion ZD7000 has had a
>powerjack malfunction. The first time happened under warrenty, and HP
>replaced the board for free. The second time was last month, after the
>warrenty had expired. This time HP offered to repair it for 300 bucks
>or so PLUS the price of the part. Everyone and their mama who owns a
>Pavillion notebook knows these things are notorious for melting out.
>No, it didnt break cus I yanked on it, it just kinda gets real hot and
>gets wiggly. I have a few questions regarding this. First off, have
>they corrected this problem in new models? Second, why is it so
>difficult to simply replace the power jack in these things? The first
>place I went to said they just replace the board cus the jack repairs
>never last. The guys I actually ended up using did the jack repair, and
>booted the machine up to a blue screen. Something killed it. Now THEY
>are replacing the board. So whats so complicated? I wouldnt buy
>another HP product. Just as I would never buy another Sager. ( ask me
>about that horror show sometime). I heard Apple uses a magnetic
>connector for their power supplies, just pops off. Now THATS a good
>idea!
>

> I heard Apple uses a magnetic connector for their power supplies, just
> pops off. Now THATS a good idea!

IIRC they're also prone to their own problems, and some have been
reported melting in use...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abscond...7594321443109/

Hi, Ben. Is there some sort of preventative measure that can be taken to
strengthen the power jack? Something like duct tape or a bent paper clip
(plastic coated, of course.) ;-) My notebook sits on a cart and is plugged
in all the time except for rare occasions when I travel but my daughter's is
on the go daily... Dean

Ben Myers wrote:
> If misery loves company, keep in mind that HP is not the only
> brand-name with the power jack problem. But theirs has been
> publicized the most, and I seem to recall something about an HP power
> jack class action lawsuit to make the lawyers wealthy. I've run into
> the identical problem with Dell and Toshiba laptops with some
> frequency. HP and Dell seem to be the worst only because they sell
> greater numbers of laptops than the others.
>
> If you take apart a failed laptop and remove the motherboard, you
> will see that the power jack is usually "mounted" on the motherboard
> held only by the soldered wire leads. Two things can happen here.
> A poorly engineered design creates a hot spot the eventually melts
> the solder. Or the regular, even careful and gentle, plugging and
> unplugging of the A/C adapter eventually fractures the soft solder
> and the copper wires. This is absolutely an epidemic in the
> computer industry. AFAIK, every laptop manufacturer uses the same
> flimsy attachment of power jack to motherboard. It would add maybe a
> dollar to the overall manufacturing cost to secure the power jack
> with some more sturdy metal, and longer average life of a laptop
> would be ensured. Oh, I get it now. This is all by design, to make
> sure that laptops break down and need replacement more often... Ben
> Myers
>
> On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:46:00 -0600, Winter
> <> wrote:
>
>>
>> For the second time since Ive had it, my Pavillion ZD7000 has had a
>> powerjack malfunction. The first time happened under warrenty, and
>> HP replaced the board for free. The second time was last month,
>> after the warrenty had expired. This time HP offered to repair it
>> for 300 bucks or so PLUS the price of the part. Everyone and their
>> mama who owns a Pavillion notebook knows these things are notorious
>> for melting out. No, it didnt break cus I yanked on it, it just
>> kinda gets real hot and gets wiggly. I have a few questions
>> regarding this. First off, have they corrected this problem in new
>> models? Second, why is it so difficult to simply replace the power
>> jack in these things? The first place I went to said they just
>> replace the board cus the jack repairs never last. The guys I
>> actually ended up using did the jack repair, and booted the machine
>> up to a blue screen. Something killed it. Now THEY are replacing
>> the board. So whats so complicated? I wouldnt buy another HP
>> product. Just as I would never buy another Sager. ( ask me about
>> that horror show sometime). I heard Apple uses a magnetic connector
>> for their power supplies, just pops off. Now THATS a good idea!

People more clever than I have disassembled a notebook computer, fashioned
something out of metal to go around the power jack, then anchored it more
securely to the motherbpard. I know of no good way to strengthen a power jack
otherwise. Notebooks simply need lots of TLC when plugging and unplugging the
A/C power... Ben Myers

On Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:24:11 -0600, "Dean-MN" <> wrote:

>Hi, Ben. Is there some sort of preventative measure that can be taken to
>strengthen the power jack? Something like duct tape or a bent paper clip
>(plastic coated, of course.) ;-) My notebook sits on a cart and is plugged
>in all the time except for rare occasions when I travel but my daughter's is
>on the go daily... Dean
>

For HP Notebook Power Problems visit 'Brothers v. Hewlett-Packard
Company Power Plug Settlement web site'
(http://www.hpnotebooksettlement.com) to get a class action claim form -
claims must be filed no later than 2/8/08. Spread the Word - zd7000
owner with same problem and obviously many others.