Tablet power jack repair

kkelly77

Looking at a 9.7" Bauhn Android tablet belonging to a friend of mine that was bought in Aldi.

I was told the power jack was not working, so opened it up to have a look. I assumed it would just need re-soldering back on to the PCB. However, when I took it apart, I spotted that not only had the power jack come loose, it also took part of the PCB with it. I've attached some photos.

I'm guessing this motherboard is a goner as the solder pads that were lifted off were connected to extremely narrow connection tracks to other components on the circuit board.

Johnboy1951

Not really sufficient info in the pics, but it looks repairable to me.

I doubt it would be financially viable to have it commercially repaired.

Maybe it is still in warranty? Aldi purchase?

kkelly77

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Not really sufficient info in the pics, but it looks repairable to me.

I doubt it would be financially viable to have it commercially repaired.

Maybe it is still in warranty? Aldi purchase?

It's out of warranty. Bought over 2 years ago I think.

What more do you need to see that's not in the photos?

Johnboy1951

kkelly77 wrote: »

It's out of warranty. Bought over 2 years ago I think.

What more do you need to see that's not in the photos?

You reported

when I took it apart, I spotted that not only had the power jack come loose, it also took part of the PCB with it.

Apparently the PCB (the structural board) is not broken that I can see from the pics, so it seems to be just the copper tracks that are broken because the connector broke off.

Also the underside of the board would need to be examined to be sure.

If all is wrong is that the tracks are broken, then there might be some means of reattaching the connector to the board and then hard wiring the broken tracks to the connector.

Without physical examination it would be difficult to tell, TBH.

Also, if the connector was broken due to misuse then any repair is unlikely to survive similar abuse.

It might be worth checking the purchase terms ...... lots of items carry a 3 year warranty these days

kkelly77

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

You reported


Apparently the PCB (the structural board) is not broken that I can see from the pics, so it seems to be just the copper tracks that are broken because the connector broke off.

Also the underside of the board would need to be examined to be sure.

If all is wrong is that the tracks are broken, then there might be some means of reattaching the connector to the board and then hard wiring the broken tracks to the connector.

Without physical examination it would be difficult to tell, TBH.

Also, if the connector was broken due to misuse then any repair is unlikely to survive similar abuse.

It might be worth checking the purchase terms ...... lots of items carry a 3 year warranty these days

I'll inspect the underside of the PCB and get some more photos.

Technically the PCB structure is intact. Only the tracks/solder pads have come off. However, due to the size of the connection tracks, it is quite difficult to see where the 5 solder points of the power jack should attach to if I use a hard wiring solution.

TBH, I only want to get power to the tablet to get the owner's photos etc off it. I doubt it will be used again.

kkelly77

kkelly77 wrote: »

it is quite difficult to see where the 5 solder points of the power jack should attach to if I use a hard wiring solution.

There's only 2 lines +ive and -ive, possibly two of the solder connections aren't wired they're just mechanical holders for the port.

-ive will be common to many components. Onboard battery, polarised capacitors, USB port.

You can solder a tail to the component the power jack was feeding, just follow the trace. Conventionally those connections are centre positive but not always.

If it has a battery just use a bench power supply to power it from the battery terminals.