Laptop: the charging port wobbles, or only charges when you hold the cable
You have to wedge the charger with a book for the PC to charge. A little worse every week. Before the battery is flat for good, here is what is happening.
A laptop's charging port endures thousands of plug-ins and, often, the weight of a cable pulled sideways. It ends up developing play, then the solder joints holding it crack: contact becomes intermittent, then disappears.
Two constructions
On a small daughterboard: the case on many HP, Lenovo and Dell laptops. The port sits on a separate board linked by a cable; we replace the board, no soldering. Quick, inexpensive repair.
Soldered to the logic board: Asus, Acer, MSI and most USB-C-charged laptops. The logic board has to come out, the damaged port desoldered, the pads cleaned, sometimes a trace rebuilt, and a new port soldered. That is micro-soldering, and it is what we do all day on phones.
What we also check
The charger (worn plug, cable cut near the plug) and the charging circuit on the logic board, sometimes damaged by a generic charger. On USB-C-charged laptops the charging chip can be at fault, as on a phone; repairable at component level.
Price and turnaround
The “charging port” price is fixed on the prices page, all brands. One to two days depending on part availability. Bring the charger with the PC.
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