This video will show my process to replace the shorting out DC jack on this Neewer NL660 Light.

As you can see it has a faulty connection from the power supply dangling by the plug and causing damage, since it is far too short for this unit.

This is a close up of the inside of the broken jack showing exactly what broke which was this small pin, it has become loose and is not making a good connection anymore.

At the end of the video I’ll show you my remedy for this

Here is a look at the items that I’m going to be using, a precision screwdriver kit, the new jacks which came in a bag of 10 and I recommend getting at least 2, my soldering iron, an adjustable wrench which works just good enough to unbolt the jack from the control box and of course some pliers which will also come in handy to help get the knobs off which I’ll be doing first.

For reference this is a close up of the replacement jack which has three terminals and before I begin I need to make a small adjustment to this center pin which I feel is slightly too narrow to fit snugly enough into the plug.

By the way the Amazon ads you see are from ME. Google ads did not track you here and there aren’t any cookies here! So below is the link to the DC jacks. These ones are better than the ones I bought, they have a thicker middle pin so they fit snug, and they provide the Male end too since that also breaks sometimes…

I bought older jacks that were too narrow so using a small precision flathead screwdriver I’ll insert it into this slot and wedge the two sides apart.

Now I can feel that there is a more snug fit and the connection will be more solid.

I Printed out this handy template which is available from my website lensmyth.com and I put some double stick tape in the circles to keep track of the parts.

To begin I must remove these knobs by gently gripping and prying straight out. I’m using my favorite tool, The Knipex 7″ pliers which are unreasonably expensive but very nice to have around the shop.

Check out the links below to see what I mean.

However use whatever pliers you have to very gently pull these knobs off.

If you want you can wrap double sided sticky take around the knob and just use your finger to pull it off.

Never wiggle it since it can damage the knob, just pull it straight out.

Next I’m going to want to use an adjustable wrench to remove the 7/16″ nut since most sockets won’t fit.

Now it barely fits so I’m pressing firmly to turn it slightly just to loosen it so I can use my fingers to remove the nut.

This precision screwdriver kit you have probably seen in my other videos, it’s inexpensive and has all the sizes that I’ve ever needed to take apart small electronics.

The philips sizes specifically are excellent for those tiny torqued on screws you might find.

For this project I’ll be using the 2.5mm hex bit to remove the 4 bolts securing the control box to the base.

They are a lot longer than you’d think so just keep unscrewing until you feel the click of them unseating. They are not magnetic so I won’t bother trying to pull them out with a magnetic screwdriver.

I’ll just swing the control box this direction so no wires get pulled and just let the screws fall out and collect them afterwards

Now using a regular philips head I’ll remove these 4 screws, which are magnetic and set them aside as well.

Now it’s time to remove the control board from the box.

It is loose and holding it like this I’ll press against the knobs on the others side to detach it like so.

I’ll turn it around so the camera can see better.

The jack is right here connected with its 3 terminals.

There are more advanced tools and techniques for removing components from a board but the method im using today is cheap and easy but requires more patience.

Although my soldering iron is rated for lead free solder and I have it cranked to max, I am unable to melt this stuff.

So my trick is to add a drop of my solder, which I know I can melt, to each terminal and it begins to heat up very quickly this way.

Using my pliers I’ll grip the Jack on the other side of the board and press down just a little bit so that as I melt the solder on the back of the board, slowly but surely that the jack will start coming free.

This takes a little while and requires patience but if you are careful and you take a time it will slowly and surely come out.

I’ll melt one terminal then the next and so on until I can eventually wiggle it out.

I’m resisting the urge to press down too hard because I’m also pressing the knobs against the table and I don’t want to damage anything.

If I was in a rush I could have used cutters, to just cut the old jack out as flush as I could, and moved on.

However, now that it is finally free, I’ll remove the nut and washer from the new jack set them aside and hold the jack against the board to see if it needs to be adjusted before mounting.

Mine does, so using pliers I’ll bend the pins slightly so it will align with the holes. Do not try to bend the whole pin, it will break. Just bend the tip.

The same process I used for removing the jack is how I’m going to replace the jack. It’s tedious but it’s easy and works well. First I’ll add another drop of solder to each terminal to make it easier.

With a piece of cardboard to elevate the board I’ll align the pins of the new jack with the solder marks on the board.

Now it’s just a matter of melting each one at a time as the board sinks slowly working the jack into place, adding more solder as needed.

Now it’s time to re-assemble.

Carefully rotating the cover I’ll set the board back into place taking care to alight the 2 knobs and this green LED which can easily become misaligned.

I’ll check to make sure there is no gap here and replace the 4 screws with a normal Phillips head screwdriver.

I’ll press the wires in so they are clear from the edge and flip the control box over using these small pegs to align it with the base. Then with the 2.5 mm hex driver ill tighten these 4 bolts down snug.

Now to replace these knobs It’s hard to remember exactly where they were so I’ll turn them all the way down then set the yellow knob at about here pointing to then end of the word Dimmer and the white one the same way and simply press them in with some gentle pressure until they are seated.

Last thing is to put the washer and nut back on the new jack, tightening as much as I can with my fingers and then using the pliers or adjustable wrench, tighten a bit more.

Now I’ll grab my power supply to test it out

Good news the green light is on and the lights are working great!

Before this happens again to my other lights, I’ll pull out my trusty roll of super sticky velcro, stick the two sides together, cut to size with some scissors, peel off the soft side and press the whole thing onto the lights stand just below the lowest knob.

Then peel off the other backing and affix the power supply to the light stand so its not dangling by the plug anymore.

It’s secure and easily removable but I can also just unplug the outlet side and leave the power supply attached to the stand when I’m transporting it.

The outlet side is replaceable with 10 foot cords or longer so I’ll just get a couple of those and link to them below:

Please subscribe to my channel, and thanks for watching.

DISASSEMBLE
1. Remove both knobs
2. Remove 7/16″ nut from jack
3. Remove Four 2.5mm hex nuts
4. Swing box to the right
5. Remove Four philips screws
6. Remove jack connections
7. Replace Jack

REASSEMBLE
8. Align board to box
9. Replace Four philips screws
10. Align box
11. Replace Four 2.5mm hex nuts
12. Replace 7/16″ nut and washer
13. Replace both knobs