PCA Forums

I have an e-Machine laptop with 2 physically broken USB ports. The laptop only has 2 ports, and it does not have pcmcia slot. I don't have any problem taking apart a laptop (done it before), but I never had to replace or solder in this case, USB ports that are on the motherboard. I can buy them on e-bay for ~$6 each.

In the mean time, I'm getting my wife a new used laptop, but would like to see if I could repair the e-Machine so I can sell it in a garage sale.

It's doable.. Not the easiest thing in the world to solder, but doable.. Just be patient.. Some solder wick will help you out a lot..

eGo

I'm good at soldering. Back in the 80's when I worked for General Dynamics, I spent an entire week training on how to properly solder and inspect for soldering since my title was Electro-Mechanical Inspector. I have a solder sucker and a Weller soldering iron that has different size tips.

You should be good to go.

eGo

It's 4 pins and the two ends on the shield that get soldered to the board. Shouldn't be too bad if you have access to a good solder sucker and are good with a low power iron and solder wick.

I wouldn't do it for a client but I'd do it for myself.

I took a closer look at the ports after I got home from work. I thought that the black piece inside the port was broken off, but it was simply bent downward on both ports. So I carefully moved them to the center of the port and installed a USB hub. Told the wife NOT to use those ports and only use the hub.