The power jack is broken and I need to replaced it. I have one available now but looks like I need to remove the mother board from the laptop. How is that done?

Most power cord ports are soldered directly to the mother board. Open this one up and see if it is a separate part or not. If it is, you could probably just replace the small part, but my bet is that it would take an entire system board replacement.

Here below are possible causes and troubleshooting steps of laptop that can't power on, hope it may help:

Possible causes:
AC adapter failure.
Power jack failure.
Motherboard failure.

Possible troubleshooting steps and repair solutions:
Test the AC adapter with a digital multimeter. It's possible that you have a failed AC adapter. If you don't have a multimeter, test your laptop with another known good AC adapter.

It's possible that power jack (socket where you plug the AC adapter) is broken. Remove the motherboard and take a closer look at the power jack. In some cases you can fix the jack by resoldering it on the motherboard. In other cases you have to replace the jack with a new one. Using a multimeter, test if the power goes to the motherboard through the jack.

If replacing the AC power adapter and jack on the motherboard doesn't help, most likely you have a bad motherboard. Replace the motherboard.

If this motherboard is a multi-layer motherboard then it is impossible to repair.
You can try to repair the motherboard by glueing the broken piece onto the motherboard with epoxy glue. Then identify the broken power circuit tracks between both parts of the circuit board, and then solder wires across these tracks or to the closest solder connections to re-establish the electrical connections on the motherboard.
If this does not fix the problem then most likely it is a multi-layer motherboard and you cannot bridge the internal connection inside the motherboard.

i have never found dell support any help how did they come to that dissision tell me the the make and model no.

1. Test power adapter for output voltage. Bend the power cable in various directions while doing this to be sure that there is no broken conductors in the cable.
2. If power adapter is Ok, connect it & see if the power LED on the laptop will glow when you jiggle the power connector in various directions. If yes, then the DC jack might be loose or damaged, & need to be either re-soldered or replaced.
3. If not, then disassemble the laptop. Remove any components that attach to the laptop's motherboard first (e.g. battery, hard drive, RAM, wireless card, optical drive, ... etc.)
4. Next, remove the keyboard & the LCD screen.
5. Finally, unscrew all screws that hold the upper cover & lower cover together so that you could gain access to the motherboard.
6. Inspect the solder points connecting the DC jack to the motherboard. Make sure that none of them is loose. If any, re-solder them.
7. Inspect the center pin in the DC jack. Make sure that it is not broken or loose. If it is, then you might need to replace the DC jack.
8. When you are done, re-assemble back the laptop.

Looks like either the power jack of your adapter is experiencing a bad connection. Check if the power adapter's cable near the jack which plugs into the laptop is not severely bent.If this is the case, then you will need to replace the power adapter.

If this is not the case, check the DC socket where you plug the power jack into the laptop. This socket might be loose or broken. If this turns out to be the case, then your laptop needs to be disassembled in order to re-solder or replace this socket, depending on its condition.

You need to take the unit apart down to the system board. Sorry, I do not have the sefrvice manual.

The link below shows how to resolder the connector on the system board.

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/

I’m happy to assist further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/joe_8b8c2cd6ce148309

Hello,

If the jack is just broken loose then you should be able to disassemble the laptop and resolder the jack back onto the motherboard. If the jack is broken then you will need to get a replacement jack and change it out. You can get power jacks from several places on the internet including Ebay.com If you don't want to try the repair yourself we have a repair service and can do it for you. We charge $55 + return shipping. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Buddy
Corporate Computer
www.ccl-la.com

Here is how to disassemble Gateway laptop,

Here is replacement DC socket (needs soldering),

Here is DC board (no need soldering, but expensive).

Hope this helps.

sounds like a mother board replacement,if theres a repair shop in your place,you can ask them if they can replace your DC jack..its hard to replace it since its soldered onto the board..mobo replacement is the fastest way..