Headphone jack not working laptop

[Vxneji]

i have a Dell Inspiron 15 5000 Series Laptop, works fine few months ago jack started acting up, but i found that changing the volume fixed the issue,- when i plugged in headphones, it would only play thru one side, i turned up the volume and it would start playing out of both, then turn volume back down and continue.
although for a few days now, this fix is no longer working, and the pc is playing audio out of side of my headphones
Also if i wiggle the the headphones jack inside the pc it somtimes will play properly for a split second then go back to playing on one side.
-NOTE- headphones r not the issue- they work fine on my phone- audio technica ath m50x
pretty sure its a hardware issue
tried cleaning out dust with some small brushes didnt work.
do not want to buy a usb sound card
any help would be appreciated

 

[Kenton82]

Sounds to me like the audio output jack has either got corroded, or is dirty. The brass contacts inside can suffer with a patina over time. it has all the symptoms. You should try getting hold of some "rubbing" or isopropyl alcohol. Then using an interdental brush (same kind of size to a 3.5mm male jack plug) dip it into a tiny amount of the alcohol (making sure that ALL the excess is shaken off, so as not to make its way further into the laptop) and cleaning the socket in a horizontal and circular motion. You may need to do this several times. Then LEAVE it for at least an hour so it can do its work and dry.

I hope this helps, its a good cheap fix to try first.
K.