Help - I need to take apart my Sony VAIO laptop.

[Lance]

Ok so i have a Sony Vaio VGN-FW14OD laptop, and just last week it broke. The problem was it wasn’t receiving power when i plugged it in. At first i thought it was the AC Adapter cause the wires looked a little damaged so i opened it (broke it open more like) and fixed the wires.. plugged it into my laptop.. and it still didn’t turn on. I used a voltmeter and discovered that problem wasn’t with the ac adapter =/

I looked at the power jack thingy (the part where the power chord plugs into the laptop and now I’m pretty sure that one of the wires there must have broken. I tried to remove screws on my laptop to take the back off, but its still stuck on. I then googled how to pull apart a Sony Vaio FW series laptop and couldn’t find anything at all.

I’m losing heart and thinking maybe i should just send it into sony, but it would probably take them a few weeks to fix it and send it back. But if any of you computer savvy people know of any websites where i could download a manual on how to take apart this laptop it would be very appreciated.

[rogeruk]

http://esupport.sony.com/CA/perl/model-documents.pl?mdl=VGNFW140D

You will find that there are hidden screws, normally under warranty stickers. You will have to remove the sticker to get to the screws. Problem is it voids your warranty.

[Boreas]

Yea those jacks break fairly often. Good news: you can get heavy duty replacement jacks at radio shack cheap. Bad news: you need a really fine point soldering iron and quite a bit of soldering experience to fix it. If it's under warranty, send it out. If not, bring it to an experienced pc repair tech that has done many laptop dc jack replacements. I know a lot of techs, many of them very smart and generally know what they are doing, but not all of them have done this type of repair (myself included), as it requires certain equipment and skill, so ask and make sure first.

If you really want to do it yourself, and you are prepared for the large possibility of having to buy a whole new motherboard (which will cost more than bringing it to someone), then you can post pics and I can walk you through opening it, and then you can follow a guide like this (http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/) to repair the jack.

[Lance]

thanks both of you, and boreas your amasing offering to walk me through it :D
and yeah i would be realy afraid of dammaging the motherboard.. i didnt realize it would be that dangerous playing around with it. I think ill just see if my warenty is up and if so, find something else to do to pass my time a while without a computer =/ it sucks i cant script. life is so boreing xD

[Boreas]

Is it in warranty?

[tarajunky]

I've done this before on an HP laptop. Several times, actually, since the jack kept acting up every 6 months or so. Once you find all the screws, it should be reasonably easy to take apart. I had previous experience with soldering monitor boards, though, so I wasn't a novice.

You just need to find a "service manual" online that contains disassembly instructions. To repair the jack, you will need a soldering iron, solder, some wicking material to remove the old solder, and probably a new jack.

[Lance]

yeah it is under warenty. And i found the problem, it would be a very simple fix. the one of the wires that connected to the jack broke off the welding, all id have to do is get alittle more wire to extend it abit and re-weld it. But im afraid if i mess around with any of the actual laptop and later on something bigger happens sony might not want to fix it because they would be able to see that ive taken the computer apart =/ so yeah im just gonna bring it into the sony store tommaro :P