Removing a DC jack from a laptop

A friend was kind enough to drop off a Dell Vostro 1510 laptop which needed a new DC jack installed. Upon taking apart the laptop, it isn't one of the newer 'plug' kind of DC jacks - it's connected directly to the motherboard

I have a 25w soldering iron and a 45w desoldering iron I attempted to use on it, but I can't get the DC jack to budge whatsoever. I've also read that instead of solder, sometimes manufacturers use a high temp glue to 'stick' components to the board as opposed to soldering. I tried using a pair of pliers on it after I had heated up the solder / glue points, and the thing still won't move.

I haven't had to do this in ages, and was wondering if anyone had tips / advice on how to do this without cracking the motherboard. Thanks!

Is the solder liquefying? If not, it probably has a large mass and you can't heat it quickly enough. It would be like a heatsink on a processor. You'd need a more powerful iron.

I'm thinking I may need a 45w iron also; took a little time for the 25w to heat up but i was able to liquify some of the old solder, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of solder holding it on.

laptop also seam to use solder that can handle more heat, since some laptop's do get super hot, it would make the solder joins weak. Im thinking your gona need a 45w iron to get it off.. just be careful and tkae your time.

Absolutely; another buddy of mine has a fleet of soldering guns / irons much more powerful than mine, so I'm going to head over to his house tonight and get this thing done. I'll report back as to what worked, in case anyone else runs into a similar situation.

Ok, so here's what did the trick:

- Desoldering braid (I got mine from Radio Shack)
- 100 / 140w soldering gun
- Flux
- Pliers and a pin (remove remnants of old DC jack / clean the solder)
- Generous amounts of heat

Moral of the story - don't be afraid to break out the big guns (literally) when needed