Dell laptop DC power jack pinout

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Hi,
I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original broke
and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new
motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather
straight forward project. The size N coaxial power jacks available at
Radio Shack will fit nicely in the chassis in place of the original. As
I was determining voltages and polarity of the power plug I was
surprised to find a second voltage present. I have voltages of
approximately 8VDC and 20VDC present with one common lead. On the plug
end the 8 volts is from the center pin to center barrel and 20 volts
from center barrel to outer sleeve (which I assumed was just an RF
shield). Can any one enlighten me what's going on with the second
voltage? Any one care to share their story of a successful resolution
to a broken power connector on this model (third party replacement jacks
are available for other models)?

By the way, I've heard the same jack is found on Inspiron 5150, 8500,
500m, 600m, and Latitude D500,
D600, D800.

Thanks,
Al T
Spokane, WA

--
-- All incoming and outgoing mail is checked with Norton AntiVirus
2005 --

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Al T." <itspersonal@comcast.net> wrote:
>I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original broke
>and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new
>motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather
>straight forward project.

You've discovered the third power supply connector for modern Dell
laptops. This third lead is used for communications between the power
supply and the laptop, so that the laptop can ensure it's got a valid,
legal, OEM Dell power supply, and what it's power capacity is.

I have no idea what the communications protocol between the two is,
but I know Dell laptops will reduce charging current (and extend
charge time) when operated with 65W instead of 90W power supplies,
will refuse to charge if operated from a non Dell supply, etc.

Let us know if you find out anything else!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

<William P. N. Smith> wrote in message
news:1hfpi11mu7i44650nf4ff1fv5eie8u09nk@4ax.com...
> "Al T." <itspersonal@comcast.net> wrote:
>>I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original
>>broke
>>and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new
>>motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather
>>straight forward project.
>
> You've discovered the third power supply connector for modern Dell
> laptops. This third lead is used for communications between the power
> supply and the laptop, so that the laptop can ensure it's got a valid,
> legal, OEM Dell power supply, and what it's power capacity is.
>
> I have no idea what the communications protocol between the two is,
> but I know Dell laptops will reduce charging current (and extend
> charge time) when operated with 65W instead of 90W power supplies,
> will refuse to charge if operated from a non Dell supply, etc.
>
> Let us know if you find out anything else!

Thanks for the reply, William. Now I have conflicting stories as to
whether or not it will charge with the center pin broken or not
connected. I read a post of an instance on an 800D where the center pin
completely broke off and yet the AC adapter continued to function,
albeit with "Unrecognized Power Adapter" messages. I also had a reply
this evening on a Dell sponsored forum that one can disable such
messages in the BIOS 'Adapter Warnings: Enable/Disable' option. Leading
me to hope that I can get by without tying in that odd pin and just
using the 20 volts. As a last resort I can always hardwire the adapter
to the MB or use an ungainly external 3 lead connector wired to the MB
but of course would rather not. Guess I'll try the coaxial connector
without the center pin and see if it'll work since it fits so well and
looks like it belongs there. I'll drop a note with the end results but
it may be a couple of weeks before it gets reassembled and tested.

Thanks,
Al T.
Spokane,WA

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Al T." <itspersonal@comcast.net> wrote:
>I read a post of an instance on an 800D where the center pin
>completely broke off and yet the AC adapter continued to function,
>albeit with "Unrecognized Power Adapter" messages.

Let us know how it works, and if it will charge the battery in that
state. IME it will operate, but refuse to charge the battery with a
non-Dell supply.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

You can get a kit that converts your laptop and your adapter to a different
jack here: http://www.computekinc.us/dell_project.htm

I have ordered jacks from them and they have good service.


"Al T." <itspersonal@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:QvudnT1mOsBs7LHenZ2dnUVZ_sudnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Hi,
> I'm attempting to wire in a different DC power jack (the original broke
> and direct replacements are not available except by purchasing a new
> motherboard) on an Inspiron 8600 and thought that it would be a rather
> straight forward project. The size N coaxial power jacks available at
> Radio Shack will fit nicely in the chassis in place of the original. As I
> was determining voltages and polarity of the power plug I was surprised to
> find a second voltage present. I have voltages of approximately 8VDC and
> 20VDC present with one common lead. On the plug end the 8 volts is from
> the center pin to center barrel and 20 volts from center barrel to outer
> sleeve (which I assumed was just an RF shield). Can any one enlighten me
> what's going on with the second voltage? Any one care to share their
> story of a successful resolution to a broken power connector on this model
> (third party replacement jacks are available for other models)?
>
> By the way, I've heard the same jack is found on Inspiron 5150, 8500,
> 500m, 600m, and Latitude D500,
> D600, D800.
>
> Thanks,
> Al T
> Spokane, WA
>
> --
> -- All incoming and outgoing mail is checked with Norton AntiVirus 2005 --
>
>

 

[KevinP]

I've got the same exact part from www.laptopjacks.com
Here is the direct link: http://www.laptopjacks.com/view_part.php?id=DL111500

Worked for me, hope it would do the same for you guys.

 

[Nick-K]

You've discovered the third power supply connector for modern Dell
laptops. This third lead is used for communications between the power
supply and the laptop, so that the laptop can ensure it's got a valid,
legal, OEM Dell power supply, and what it's power capacity is.

I have no idea what the communications protocol between the two is,
but I know Dell laptops will reduce charging current (and extend
charge time) when operated with 65W instead of 90W power supplies,
will refuse to charge if operated from a non Dell supply, etc.

Let us know if you find out anything else!

I want to use my Inspiron 8200 on a boat. I have a 70W DC/DC converter but without the 3 pin connector. Has anybody learnt anything new since the posts above about how the 3rd pin is used and whether it is possible to make a non-Dell supply work?

 

[brunes]

I have a simmilar problem with my D600 in that the power jack is toast. I however, do not want to attempt to de-solder and re-solder this jack - I am not a soldering export and would be afraid I would damage the board.

I do know, however, that the four large contacts on the bottom of the laptop are for charging the battery as well - this i show the docking station connects to the laptop. Does anyone know the "pinout" of these contacts? As in, which is positive, negative, ground, and signal? If I knew which was which I could rig up a little adaptor device myself.

 

[Amall]

Has anybody found success? I also have this identical problem with my inspiron 8600. A power dock station sort of thing seems easy enough to build, but does anyone know how?

Thanks!

 

[valacme]

I do have an open Dell D600 and see that the 4 contacts are grounded to a shield for the MB. You cannot use them to power the laptop.

 

[sfpcservice]

Please see http://www.notebookpowerjacks.com They have a pinout of the 9-pin dell jack with an explanation of what each pin does. Hope this helps!

 

[timothybrockwell]

I am an electronic technician and after checking this power supply out I found that the barrel connector has 3 parts. The inside wall is positive (19volts) the outside is negative and the center pin is not even a volt but does send the signal to tell the laptop to start charging. I disconnected the center pin and the laptop will work while plugged into the wall but will not charge the battery. I normally use a radio shack N connector but since that only has positive and neg. it wont work for these.

If it were my personal laptop I would simply use an external 3 prong connector and let it hang out the back of the laptop and plug it in when I needed to charge it. But since this is a customers PC I will simply resolder the loose jack and return the PC to him. Problem is, this is the 2nd time Ive done it. Im sure it will come loose again. (he has kids and pets that knock the unit around)

There really is no other solution except to find a 3 prong connector that will mound flush to the back of the laptop and cut the cord and fabricate a new 3 prong connector. I am going to look into parts that may be feasable.

Hope this helps.

If you live in Maryland and need your laptops power jack repaired/replaced, please email me at timothybrockwell@yahoo.com

 

[jkljkl01]

Check out the following links:

http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop_7.htm

http://www.laptopjacks.com/view_part/Plugs-for-Laptop-DC-Power-Jack-PL7450.html

 

[bmmach]

i've tried to desolder my old power jack but seems to be really hard to get the 4 shield connectors to come off the motherboard - could anyone who has tried it please advise on how to do it - am using a solder gun with the temp set at 790 F and still having issues with this.

thanks

BB

 

[Guest]

i've tried to desolder my old power jack but seems to be really hard to get the 4 shield connectors to come off the motherboard - could anyone who has tried it please advise on how to do it - am using a solder gun with the temp set at 790 F and still having issues with this.

thanks

BB

Hey Dude, is your cutting tourch out of gas?? 790 is a bit high to be working on a multi-layer pc board. If you can find one, use something like a soldapult(sic), kind of a small hand held vacuum pump. If not get your wife's favorite table lamp, cut the power cord off (disconnection from wall highly reccomended first) strip out the copper wire and use it as a solder wick. You can also buy wick braid for the same purpose. Or just take it to a tv repair shop, and let them do it; cause if you mess up one of the internal traces on the board, your gonna have one b---h of a time trying to add a flywire(s) to the board without a schematic and pc board layout.

Yours Truly,
Dave from Slime Hole Mississippi

 

[vancouver604]

Best to avoid all the hassles with Dell power supplies by avoiding Dell Vostro in the first place. My Dell is just over 12 months old and Dell can't even tell me what the power adapter pinout is! They say "it't not a Dell, it's made by someone else".

What?? This is the power supply stamped "Dell" that came with the Dell laptop. I went through 4 different department until the last one said "you are out of warranty, we'll have to charge you for this call".

Dell laptop reviews: Horrid. Don't buy well.

Did my own research and came up with the following (took apart the connector and got the laptop going but it won't charge).

The silly power supply has three pins. The outer and inner portions provide the 19V, the inner pin just let's the laptop know "time to charge". Why can't they do it like all other laptops?? You can't easily use a third party adapter.

I'm selling this pile of garbage and going back to Toshiba or something else that doesn't break just after 12 months. Dell is the K cars of computer companies and they will suffer the same fate as GM in a few years. Why buy American?? It's pure garbage.

 

[Guest]

I have been trying to adapt a stock 65W (2-Wire) Sony power adapter to replace a dead 65W (3-Wire) Dell adapter. All your posts were helpful and then I found a site which describes in detail the 3rd wire power adapter I.D. circuit. The following site is a must read before you will understand the rest of my post:

http://www.laptop-junction.com/toast/content/inside-dell-ac-power-adapter-mystery-revealed

Using this information, I was able to identify the power adapter I.D. circuit in the dead power adapter. In my case it was three components on a 3/8" x 5/8" 'perf' board. (one 330 Ohm resistor, one diode looking device across the single line memory I/O port (probably surge suppression) and the single line memory device in a plastic transistor case, with only two wires connected to anything. I removed that circuit assembly from the dead adapter, and moved it from between the third wire and the minus power supply reference in the old adapter to the place in the d.c. cable where I spliced the Sony 2 wire cable into the 3-wire plug-tail from the old Dell cable, (on the adapter side of the ferrite RFI suppressor).

As has been told by others, without this adapter I.D. circuit, the two-wire adapter would power and run the laptop fine, but the error message indicated there was trouble with the adapter. After the I.D. circuit was added to the cable, the error message concerning the power adapter cleared and the battery charges.

 

[fixstuff]

I have been trying to adapt a stock 65W (2-Wire) Sony power adapter to replace a dead 65W (3-Wire) Dell adapter. All your posts were helpful and then I found a site which describes in detail the 3rd wire power adapter I.D. circuit. The following site is a must read before you will understand the rest of my post:

http://www.laptop-junction.com/toast/content/inside-dell-ac-power-adapter-mystery-revealed

Using this information, I was able to identify the power adapter I.D. circuit in the dead power adapter. In my case it was three components on a 3/8" x 5/8" 'perf' board. (one 330 Ohm resistor, one diode looking device across the single line memory I/O port (probably surge suppression) and the single line memory device in a plastic transistor case, with only two wires connected to anything. I removed that circuit assembly from the dead adapter, and moved it from between the third wire and the minus power supply reference in the old adapter to the place in the d.c. cable where I spliced the Sony 2 wire cable into the 3-wire plug-tail from the old Dell cable, (on the adapter side of the ferrite RFI suppressor).

As has been told by others, without this adapter I.D. circuit, the two-wire adapter would power and run the laptop fine, but the error message indicated there was trouble with the adapter. After the I.D. circuit was added to the cable, the error message concerning the power adapter cleared and the battery charges.

Great reply. I had the same problem. My old Dell power supply went bad, and I knew it was simply a dead power supply (no output voltage). Since I just so happened to have an old adjustable 3-50V, 6A power supply laying around, I cut off the old Dell power cord, wired that into the new power supply, and promptly got the message that the power supply was not a recognized Dell adapter, even though I knew the power supply was exactly 19.5V. It worked, but wouldn't charge.

Since I didn't really care about the looks (I was using this at home temporarily until I got a new one) I took the old bad Dell power supply, trimmed back to the black and the green wire (black is the V-, green is the 1 wire data line) and tied those 2 wires into the cord that I had pulled off previously. The laptop now recognizes this as a "good" power supply, and charging now works fine.

 

[Jimbotime17]

OK, I'm a newbie and I see this post/problem is a bit old, but here you go:

Any advice that I post here is NOT to be taken lightly. I am NOT a professional. I AM pitbull when it comes to "Getting it done" So use CAUTION with anything I post here! Use my advice at your own risk! I will not be held responsible for anything that may go wrong when using my suggestions!

Dell uses a logic circut in their chargers. If your charger is defective or you try to purchase a cheap aftermarket charger, it will not charge the battery. If you disable the adapter warnings in the system bios, it still will not charge the battery, it will just shut off the warning.

Every laptop battery I have ever seen has an EPROM chip inside to turn the battery off after a predetermined time. They do this to protect themselves against law suits, if the laptop bursts in flames or whatever, from an overheated , defective battery. I read on the web that some guy in Russia or somewhere, will sell you the plans to make an EPROM reader/reprogrammer, but honestly, who's got the time? And is it worth the risk of burning your house down? C series batteries are going for 50 bucks on Ebay, NOT 150.00

You can get the exact replacment DC jack on Ebay for like 6 bucks. [D series, C series whatever] Dell DC jacks are a pain to replace, because they have like 6 or 8 pins. You CAN do it, but it's rough. I use a liquid flux that comes in a magic marker looking pen, with a dabber on the end. This stuff makes ALL soldering and desoldering a LOT easier. [I use it on ALL soldering jobs] You will say to yourself "Why didn't I start using this stuff years ago?" You will think you just purchased a new soldering iron, it works that well. It's made by Kester and the PN is #186.

Dealing with the multiple pins: I do use a solder wick to get started. Flux the wick and get off as much solder as you can. Then I prop the mainboard on the bench so the jack overhangs the edge. I put a weight on the mainboard to hold it. I grab the jack from underneath with a pair of pliers. Flux the pins and move the iron around the pins and you will see the solder start to flow. Pull down on the jack [with the pliers of course] I try to work the outside edge first. Get the main two tabs flowing. [the heavier tabs] If you can get those to loosen, you can then insert a flat screwdriver beween the jack and the board. You can then keep pressure there and continue to heat. You should be able to pop the jack off. The PC board is resilient. It may even bend a little from the heat. But you have to be a little careful not to dislodge any small chips near where you are working.

Just a note: I exploded a brand new Weller soldering gun,doing these repairs. I held the switch on for so long trying to heat everything, it literally blew up right in my hand! Well not explode exactly, but a loud pop and sparks flew out and everything. USE CAUTION! If you can't get it at first, let everything cool off before continuing.

Another option is to cut the jack off with a pair of diagonal cutters. I ground a pair down the be thinner at the tip. You are not reusing the jack anyway. This way you can heat each pin seperately and pull them out. Then wick out the holes, install the new jack, apply some flux and resolder.

If you do a lot of this type of work, invest in an SMD soldering station. I picked mine up for like a hundred bucks. It uses hot air, just like they do at the factory. It allows you to heat ALL of the pins at once and the jack pops right off. And it's great for refloating video chips and whatnot. Just saying.

Hope this helps or at least keeps you thinking!

 

[bobo_ 00]

i have latitude d600 but it can't turn ON and i have check the RAM and other removable components they are ok. using battery or AC i found out that the switch have a voltage of 5volt. Pls can anyone tell me why it is not powering up or what might be wrong?

 

[Jimbotime17]

i have latitude d600 but it can't turn ON and i have check the RAM and other removable components they are ok. using battery or AC i found out that the switch have a voltage of 5volt. Pls can anyone tell me why it is not powering up or what might be wrong?

The Dell D600 has a known motherboard issue. It has a chip somewhere on it, that comes loose over time. I've yet to discover the exact chip. I can however give you a "Test" to check it.

If you hold pressure on the bottom of the laptop near the docking port while powering on, it may boot up. Press there pretty firmly, but not so hard as to break the plastic or anything. It will probably boot up and work one or two times afterward without pressing it there. Then it will fail again.

I currently have 3 or 4 boards with this condition and I'm trying to figure out a permanent fix. I came up with a crazy idea. If it works I will post it here in a few weeks. If it works, I will have discovered an answer that so far, Dell can't figure out. They KNOW it's a common defect, but they refuse to admit it. This model is too old now for them to warranty it it anyway. Good luck - Jimbo

 

[tjcooper]

I wish I had read Jimbotime17's post earlier because I did EXACTLY the same thing to get the DC jack off of a D600. Another thing that helps (I did not use his magic liquid flux) is to put new solder on each of the 9 posts. This helps the solder flow better when you use solder wick to remove it. A solder puller did nothing to help because the two rear pins that flank the signal center pin have a huge amount of solder on the component side of the board. I had to use solder wick on that side for those two pins as well. Put unit in a rubber vice and used the pliers to gentle work the whole assembly side to side to get it free. The use of the small flat blade screw driver is imperative to get the center two pins in the middle of the jack loose. It appears that DELL crimps the 4 outer shield case pins inward before they solder. This makes removing it a BXXXXH to get free. But if you go slowly and use a pin tip at 750 deg and work quickly, you can visit all the shield pins and start to move the whole jack to the inside of the board. The 3 pins at the opposite end where the mating plug goes in are the last to come free. Be very gentle with them.

I found that the center signal pin has no direct connection to the MB!!!!!! It has no plating in the via and the top and bottom surfaces have a stand-off radius from the pin. My guess is that they use rf transmit to other surfaces in the board to take that 1-wire bus to a chip somewhere on the MB. I used fine needles on a multimeter can could never find a connection to any of the chips or 2pin parts anywhere in the 2" neighboorhood of the DC jack. If someone has a schematic and/or a layout of the MB, it would be wonderful to post here where the center wire goes to. Hopefully I did not remove the center-signal trace, but examination under a good traveling microscope showed nothing in the via where it connects to the MB.

I bought the DC jack on eBay for $3.60 and should be here tomorrow. I am going to "double" my chances of getting the new jack to work. I am going to put three silicon wire leads that connect to the ground, +19.2DC, and the center signal pin in parallel with the jack when I install it. I will drill a small hole in the back plastic cover and route these to the outside. When I reassemble, I can monitor the signal line looking for the signal that "laptop-junction" so well described in his post. My only fear is that the center signal line may not get to the receiving chip to get the Power Supply ID information. I will let you know how it turns out.

Ted Cooper

 

[ladygreenwitch]

Please see http://www.notebookpowerjacks.com They have a pinout of the 9-pin dell jack with an explanation of what each pin does. Hope this helps!

This site shows nothing of the sort. There is only a bunch of ads and popups. I strongly advise NOT using this site. Attempts at using their search engine only resulted in more pop-up ads, no content. I am not sure when this tip was posted, perhaps the site has changed since then, my experience was on 4/9/10. I am still looking for such a diagram in order to determine if our 1510 jack is broken, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ladygreenwitch]

OK, I probably should have read to the end before posting. Sorry about that.
I have a Vostro 1510, it works great, we don't have any real problems with it, so I did not renew the extended warranty. Just about that time (of course ;D ) , the power adapter became so loose, that it has become almost impossible to charge because the power cord keeps falling out.

I realize that this is a known problem, from researching the issue on some other sites, that Dell handles by sending out new power supplies like they were candy, but the power supply isn't the problem. In looking more closely at the jack, it is apparent that the problem is a design flaw in the jack. It has several small metal pieces around the inside that used to stick out slightly and hold the power cord in place, over time they have become flat, and no longer hold the cord in.

I am assuming that means that I am going to need a new jack if I don't want to make myself crazy keeping track of how charged the battery is. I wanted to find a diagram of the pins in order to make sure that the jack and power supply are both in good condition, and that there aren't any broken pins in hopes that I could find a way to actually fix the problem, before going to the next step and figuring out how to replace it.

So far the only advice that I have seen on fixing this problem is to stick some tape onto the tip of the power cord, but that didn't work. I would be very greatful for any guidance that you may have.

Thanks, LGW

 

[tjcooper]

LGW,
If your only problem is that the power supply is intermittent and that by applying pressure that you can get it to charge the battery and keep the notebook powered, then you only need to "beef up" the the "inside" ring of the power supply. Some people do this with very thin shim tapes (like.001 inch berylium foil). This is risky because it could come loose and short to ground. Another way is to put flux on the inside ring, then very lightly put a thin coat of solder to the inside ring (this is the one that applies +19.6 volts to the system). The center pin is only to bring in a signal on a "one wire bus" that tells the maker and amperage of the power supply during bootup. Hope this helps. Replacing the DC jack is a real pain if you are not skilled in soldering.
Ted Cooper