T21 Power Supply/Battery Issue and Solution/Work Around

[CJ1045]

Like many people on this board I have a power issue with my T21 but I have found a good work around so I thought I would share here as it costs nothing and does not require you to open up your machine.

The symptom was that I tried turning on my T21 and depending how the laptop was feeling various effects would happen but by far the most common (90%) of the time all the lights would flash and the dvd drive/processor fan would spin and die, spin and die. The screen would not fire up and the machine got nowhere near posting. The symptoms seemed to be different if the power supply was plugged in or not.

Anyway I tried everything I could think of but no great joy.

Finally I tried leaving the machine flashing for 1/2 hour just running on battery. I then turned it off and on and it posted perfectly with no sign of a problem.

I have now found that if I leave the machine for a long period (days) with the power lead plugged in then the non- post symptoms come back but EVERY time the machine will boot if I leave the lights flashing with it just running on battery for as little as 10 minutes then turn off and on. I can then use with the power lead in
for as long as I like. I have now got into the habbit of taking the power lead out of the back of the machine when I shut it down and it has behaved perfectly.

I really think that this is some sort of battery overcharge issue. The battery has never been replaced. But to save any cost I am very happy to live with this easy workaround.

I hope it helps others.

Thanks
CJ