G53 SX Power jack - LOOSE PART - Help, please!

[Phate18]

Hello!

Just now, when I pulled out the power jack out of my G53 SX A1, it started wildly changing from AC mode to battery mode and when I looked at the power jack (the cable part), it contained a golden piece of metal, kind of bullet-shaped. It's just stuck in it and it won't charge, as one would expect when a part comes loose from the port.

Any ideas on what I should do? Can I have this repaired somewhere, replaced, RMA'd, anything else?

Thank you in advance, I really appreciate your help!

EDIT: After RMA, backlit keyboard no longer backlit and illumination control keys (F3 F4) no longer work. Any solutions? Thanks!

[fuzon1337]

Hi there

This sounds like the power pin that is on the MB is stuck inside the charger.
The best you can do is to RMA your notebook. Call the Asus Support in your country and start a case.
If I'm not wrong this is covered by your warranty to get it fixed.

How old is your notebook?

[Phate18]

That would be wonderful if it was RMA-able! I'll only be staying in this country (UK) for about a month and it was purchased in the States, is that a problem?

It was bought in September 2011, so it should still be covered, I think.

[fuzon1337]

As far as I know, all notebooks from Asus have 2 years warranty (unless you have bought a refurbished notebook, that gives 1 year warranty instead)

But how it would be with RMA your situation in another country when you bought it in the states, I don't know.
Perhaps one of the members here know how that works

[BrodyBoy]

That's definitely something that will be covered under warranty. It's really frustrating to see how often this seems to happen with G53s....I wonder if the assembling factory is just using a crappy DC jack.

Anyway, if you bought it in the U.S., you should have the "Asus 360" international warranty coverage, as well as "Asus ADP," one year accidental damage coverage, both with free shipping. (Note that units purchased from certain retailers, like BB and Staples, are excluded.).

They claim that they aim for 3-day turnaround on damage repair, so hopefully, you can get a quick fix at an Asus service center there in the U.K. But considering that you're only going to be there for a month, you should try to get some assurance that you'll get it back before you leave.

[Phate18]

Thanks a lot, I got my RMA number and they say it takes 7 days at most. How about the hardware mods that the reseller installed? The SSD, keyboard lighting etc., will they be left as they are? And will they do anything to my system, or anything software wise at all? Thanks!

[fuzon1337]

They will replace your MB (I think) so your system will be as good as new!

If you would run into any issues after the RMA let us know, and we will help you out

And since you have the oppertunity to do some modification on these laptops, I don't think they would do anything with it

[Phate18]

That's a relief... but they probably won't need to touch my second drive, i.e. the HDD with all my data, right? They'll just wipe the boot drive after installing a new motherboard?

Thanks for the replies, it's calmed me down a bit from my original state of sheer, primeval panic

[BrodyBoy]

I would remove your data drive, just to keep it safe. I don't believe they would do anything to it, but if you have important data on it, no point in risking it through shipping, major laptop surgery, and then more shipping.

If you happen to have another laptop hard drive you can pop in there, I'd keep your SSD at home as well. In fact, I'd remove the SSD even if you don't have one to substitute it with.....they're not doing a configuration/software fix, so they don't need it. Just keep your drives at home.

[Phate18]

I don't have the necessary tools to do that, let alone the knowledge... In fact, I have no tools and no knowledge of electronics.

I'm not worried about the data (it's all backed up externally, or at least the important stuff), it's the actual disks I'm worried about. They wouldn't take them or replace them, would they?