Laptop stopped charging and need advice about hardware failure for MSI GS65 Stealth THIN 053 15.6" Intel i7-8750H

Question

I got my MSI gs65 stealth in 2018 and used it with no problems (other than some irrelevant things concerning my question) until the last 1 or two months of its life when it stopped working. I dual-booted Ubuntu alongside Windows 10.

The last 2 months the laptop was working showed that it was charging on and off and it seemed to have to do with the cord position. I thought there may be a break in the wire and changed that out and also noticed my battery was bloated so I bought a new battery but by that time there was too much damage. The charging indicator stopped appearing and the laptop stopped charging even with a new cord and new battery. I think the pin/tip to the charger got hot enough to cause a soldered part of the motherboard or the charging port to be damaged. This is a picture of what I am talking about.

I am trying to avoid shipping the laptop to China (it's out of warranty and was told it would be 75USD to diagnose and was likely in need of a motherboard replacement). I am competent enough to do repairs myself, but I just need to know what to do. Any guidance is extremely appreciated.

Answer 1

Although it's hard to determine from the photo, the most likely cause of the issue is mild damage to the PCB at the charger connector. This is not uncommon, because the continual insertion and removal of the cable connector flexes the PCB trace and solder joint. Look also for any tiny break in the trace on the other side of the PCB. You observation that the issue was intermittent makes this even more likely.

However, by locating that spot on the PCB, you've already done most of the work to test a simple repair: with the power supply unplugged, apply fine-tip soldering tool and solder to that pin (and perhaps neighboring ones, as well, since they might also be weakening).

Hopefully, that will fix the issue -- let me know if you've lucked out!