Tips on desoldering DC Jack

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n64man120

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Jan 11, 2004
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I've got a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop, and the DC Jack broke on it. I got a new jack off eBay to replace the old one with. Last night I stripped down to the motherboard, and got to work desoldering the old jack, which is where I'm having trouble.

I'm using some desoldering braid, and a 15W Iron from radio shack. I'm slowly getting bits of solder off the 6 pins, but it's very difficult. The solder resists melting, and i have to concentrate the tip in an exact spot for 30 seconds or so, for it to liquefy at all.

Any suggestions for removing this component from the motherboard? I'm getting some of the surface solder off, but theres probably some within the holes as well that I wont be able to get to. Would using a higher wattage iron (30W?) be of more use, as it could melt the highly resistant solder better? I don't want to go too high, and risk damaging other components on the board.

Thanks
 
Yeah, I'd pickup a higher wattage iron. I have a 15 and 40 for situations like this. Don't let it sit on the board for too long and you should be ok.
 
I think your issue is heat, you need more of it. You should a 30W for this, I assume it's lead-free solder, and also, try to find a desoldering pump, that will work much better than a wicke
 
I'm an experienced tech and even for me this is a difficult job.

The desoldering braid will not work. I have a "solder sucker" which is a spring loaded vacuum pump to pull the molten solder out of the holes but it's still extremely difficult.

The problem is indeed not enough heat, but it's not as simple as just getting a hotter iron.

The heat that you are applying gets pulled away (heatsinked) by the tin cover on the jack, and also by the large amount of copper foil on the power planes that the jack is connected to. It's hard to get the pins on the jack hot without damaging other components on the board. There are a ton of tiny surface mount parts in the area that will get very hot as you try to heat the jack pins.

Here's what I had to do:

I had to destroy the jack (without hurting the board) so I could remove it a piece at a time. You need to cut the tin box away on the jack as much as you can, and then heat each of the tin pins to remove them. Even with the solder sucker I was not able to get the last hole opened up. I had to hold the new jack in place and heat that hole as I pressed the new jack down. With more than one hole clogged I don't think that would have worked.

I used to be able to desolder a 40 pin chip, install a 40 pin socket, and install a new chip in the socket in less than 5 minutes.

This friggin jack took me HOURS.

Get a tech with experience to do it for you if you can. Somebody who has done board work for a living, not a kid that said he fixed a radio one time.

If you insist on doing it yourself, get a solder sucker and take your time. You don't want to destroy the mobo in trying to save money.

EDIT: Just saw the link on the sucker that Barney linked. Those are better than wick, but they don't have much suck power, they are too small.

Here's the one I have ("Soldapullt" model DS017):

http://www.elexp.com/sdr_0822.htm

Fixed link.
 
Motherboards use a high-silver/low-lead based soldier that requires more heat to melt than average. Furthermore, the joints might be coated with a protective lacquer that you'll have to scratch off. Get yourself 35 - 75 watt soldering iron with a flat tip. Also, pick up a solder pull (as linked above). The quicker you heat up and remove the solder, the less damage you will do to the plug. Despite what some people think, prolong heating is much more damaging to components than excessive (instant) heat. That's why I never recommend wicks. Obviously you'll need to use a little common sense too...
 
I know most places replace the mobos instead of putting a new jack on because it would cost more to pay some one to desolder the old jack and resolder a new one on. Which tells you it isnt easy.

Good luck man, oh and yeah use a solder pump
 
Ended up having a buddy do it, who's on co-op right now in college. Used their soldering station and got it taken care of.
 
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