fotoobscura wrote:

I have no problems opening the laptop and trying to fix this (if
necessary) and am pretty handy with electronics. My guess is that
there is a grounding issue somewhere inside the connector housing. I
don't have a tech manual for this laptop so it's hard to tell what the
thing is supposed to look like.


Tech manual is downloadable for free from the support side of HP's website.

The replacement exact DC socket can be found on eBay for cheaper than
www.BuyAnOverpricedSocketFromMe.con websites.

--
Adrian C