Thinkpads Forum

I just plugged in my X61s (originally bought for my mum, whom is now in a care home) which has always been flawless and problem free since I got it in 2012. However after pressing the power on button and the usual green LED lights coming on, I then very slowly and gently opened the screen lid back an inch or two more, and then there was a bright white-ish flash of light horizontally from right to left I think, in the gap between the lid frame and the unit itself. It immediately went dead with no green lights or sounds, and there was a strong burning smell like possibly a capacitor or some other component; there was not any actual visible smoke though.

I turned everything off and unplugged all batteries and the power supply. After about ten minutes I returned and reconnected it all and tried powering up again. It was stilll completely dead but I again slowly and gently tried moving the screen lid back and forth, and at one point a green LED light came on, and then off and never came back on, plus the burning smell returned but stronger this time.

To the experts here, what is your initial thoughts before I open it up and inspect further? Like I said earlier, there has never been even a hint of a problem with anything at all with this machine, so it is totally out of the blue. My other Thinkpads all have their own issues and age related quirks, but this X61s is pretty much in mint condition.

LCD-cable and/or inverter.

After checking and/or replacing those two parts, you may need to replace some fuses.

If you need, I have a spare X61s motherboard as well.

Tonight I decided to open up and inspect the X61s and once inside, everything looked as it should and with no signs of anything wrong at all. So with the keyboard still connected but raised from the board, I powered it up and this time no sparks or burning smells and it booted to the Windows 7 Pro desktop fine. I ran it for an hour with no problems at all, and so I inspected the underside of the keyboard to see if anyting could have been causing shorting problems etc. I could not see anything obvious and so I assembled the laptop back to normal, and once again it is working fine. So I am no wiser as to what could have cause the problem last year.

Shredder11 wrote:So I am no wiser as to what could have cause the problem last year.

Clearly. Re-read what RBS wrote, "LCD-cable and/or inverter."

You need to remove 3 screws from the face side of the screen to get to the inverter. If nothing else, you ought to check the cables are all connected, and also that they're not breaking.