T23 battery not charging, just running down

[vt01]

My T23 battery was not charging. I had it plugged into power but the battery would just run down - even though it was connected to power. Once the battery was at zero, the TP would still work as long as it was connected to power.
Searching this forum I found the thread on pulsating fan http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=27245. The fix was to re-solder an inductor on the reverse of the board. So after looking near the battery connectors, I found another one of these problem inductors where one of the solder joints had broken. Re-soldered it and now the battery charges normally.
Thought I would add a post for reference.

[rkawakami]

Thanks for mentioning this. I had posted about this type of problem before but they are buried inside other threads:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 640#343640
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=33903

The inductor is on the "top" side of the motherboard, near the main battery terminals and just below the S3 video chip. If loose, it affects the system as noted; the system works when operated with a battery however it will not charge with the AC adapter connected. This is probably not the only failure which prevents the battery from charging, however it is the easiest to identify and repair.

[vt01]

Thanks for that.. When I searched, the fan thread was the only one I could find.. I didn't quite have the correct keywords.

I imagine my wife and son dropping the TP a few times contributed to the loosening of the inductor...

In this case I was lucky that it was just the one loose connection and that my first attempt at soldering was successful! Also good advice in the thread re soldering..