Thinkpads Forum

Hi guys

I'm looking for a dock for my W520. As you know, the W520 "requires" the 170W PSU, but can also run on the 135W. If I were to buy a dock for it, I would preferably get the 135W dock, then put the 170W adapter I have on the desk and the smaller 135W adapter in my bag. However, there seem to be docks with and without keyed power connector to allow for the 170W adapter to plug in. Does anyway have an idea what part numbers actually have the keyed connector and which ones don't?

To make things more complex: I'd like to get the version with e-Sata; so that means used market.

I believe you will need a 4338 dock to take the 170w. This is what I use, it comes with the 135w, but will take the 170w. I now use it with the 170w that came with the W520 and use the 135w for travel.

Yes, but there are a lot of different versions with 4338.

Like this:
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/IBM-Thinkpad-Len ... 338a614125

It's listed as a 4338 dock; but it clearly doesn't have the keyed power connector.

On the other hand:
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/Lenovo-Docking-S ... 2ece4e8eda

This one is listed as 4338 as well; and DOES have the keyed connector.

Then we also have this:
http://www.ebay.nl/itm/IBM-Lenovo-Think ... 3f298b8013

This seller claims:

Please note: These docks are ONLY compatible with 90W & 135W AC Adapters due to having a "Round" DC socket. The 170W AC Adapter has a "wedge" shaped connector which will NOT fit "Type 4338" docking stations with the following P/Ns: 45N5888, 45M2490.

Some more links to consolidate info for other people looking for this info;
Lenovo page on 4338 90 Watt dock
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product ... MIGR-72871

Lenovo page on 4338 135 Watt dock:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-74447

Lenovo page on 4338 170 Watt dock:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product ... MIGR-76767

Lenovo lists Assembly part numbers for the 135 W dock as:
45N5888, 0A70348, 0A86661, 75Y5728, 75Y5730, 0A86647, 0B00030, 75Y5904
and FRU's as:
45M2490, 75Y5907, 75Y5729, 75Y5731, 04W1500, 04W1501, 04W1815, 04W1815, 04W1499

So all besides the first in those lists IS compatible with the 170W PSU?

Well I don't read Dutch so I can't comment on the ebay listings, but to answer this:

So all besides the first in those lists IS compatible with the 170W PSU?

Yes, the latter two are fine. You should ensure you get 4338-30U or 4338-20U. As long as you adhere to the part numbers given by Lenovo, you should be fine; as you probably know, many sellers on ebay are not very knowledgeable about the details of what they are selling.

BTW, I have 04W1804 which has esata but not USB 3.0. I also noticed that it does not indicate anywhere on the unit that it is a 4338-20U, just 4338, but I believe it is a 20U because it came with a 135w.

mpcook wrote:Well I don't read Dutch so I can't comment on the ebay listings, but to answer this:

So all besides the first in those lists IS compatible with the 170W PSU?

Yes, the latter two are fine. You should ensure you get 4338-30U or 4338-20U. As long as you adhere to the part numbers given by Lenovo, you should be fine; as you probably know, many sellers on ebay are not very knowledgeable about the details of what they are selling.

Did you check the listing? Apparently not, since it's in English. I start on ebay.nl so I don't get listings that don't offer shipping to the Netherlands. That doesn't mean all listings are in Dutch.

All 4338-30U have the keyed connector; they also come with a 170W supply. However, definitely not all 4338-20U's are with keyed connector. That is the problem. I want a 4338-20U (or whatever) that does have the keyed connector.

mpcook wrote:BTW, I have 04W1804 which has esata but not USB 3.0. I also noticed that it does not indicate anywhere on the unit that it is a 4338-20U, just 4338, but I believe it is a 20U because it came with a 135w.

And does it have the keyed connector? I know that it's either eSata or USB 3.0: that's why I am after one of the older docks that do have eSata: I don't have a single USB 3.0 device, but most of my external hard drives do have eSata.

4338-10U, 4338-20U, 4338-30U are just numbers for a "set" that includes a dock and a power supply (90W, 135W, 170W respectively). There are other numbers to indicate the part number of the actual dock; and some of those are compatible with the 170W tip, some are not. My guess is that they used surplus keyed power connectors on docks supplied with 90W and 135W after the introduction of the W520.

I still don't know of any reason why they made the 170W connector incompatible with the other products.

Maybe it might just be easier to buy whatever 4338 dock is cheapest and then get a spare keyed power connector... if those are actually equal. I'm not gonna mess inside the connector to remove the keys.

Did you check the listing? Apparently not, since it's in English.

Apparently yes, I pulled up several of your links, they appear to be something other than English to me.

However, definitely not all 4338-20U's are with keyed connector. That is the problem. I want a 4338-20U (or whatever) that does have the keyed connector.


I cannot verify this statement per Lenovo documentation. The Lenovo doc online does indeed specify that for the 0U2, it is compatible with the 90w, 135w, and 170w. I suppose even given that, there is a risk of what you might receive from an ebay seller.

And does it have the keyed connector?
Well yes, I have had a 170w plugged into it for a year, working fine. I had asked the seller at the time I bought it to confirm it would take the keyed connector before I bought it.

The foolproof solution to this is to request a photo of the back of the unit, close up enough to see the nature of the connector required. Or get the same FRU that I have.

If you search for 04W1804 on the US ebay, a couple come up. You may want to check on those, or another country's listings.

mpcook wrote:Did you check the listing? Apparently not, since it's in English.

Apparently yes, I pulled up several of your links, they appear to be something other than English to me.

Sorry, the first two were indeed in German.

mpcook wrote: However, definitely not all 4338-20U's are with keyed connector. That is the problem. I want a 4338-20U (or whatever) that does have the keyed connector.


I cannot verify this statement per Lenovo documentation. The Lenovo doc online does indeed specify that for the 0U2, it is compatible with the 90w, 135w, and 170w. I suppose even given that, there is a risk of what you might receive from an ebay seller.

Hmm, yeah, but I've seen listings specifically for the -20U that show a non-keyed connector.

mpcook wrote: And does it have the keyed connector?
Well yes, I have had a 170w plugged into it for a year, working fine. I had asked the seller at the time I bought it to confirm it would take the keyed connector before I bought it.

Thanks

mpcook wrote:If you search for 04W1804 on the US ebay, a couple come up. You may want to check on those, or another country's listings.

Seems most of those are a bit high on internal shippingcosts. And this one:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTAwWDE2MDA=/ ... N/$_57.JPG

Doesn't look keyed to me.

I managed to get some locally (don't have them here yet), with eSata, but unfortunately w/o keyed connector.

On a different note;

Does anyone have an exploded view or the part numbers of parts of the dock?

Is the power connector of the 4338 dock with keyed connector the same part as the power connector as the W520?

Would this work?
(50.4KE09.011)
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Shi ... 56969.html

If you have two right/steady hands and a small drill, you could drill out the grooves on the inner core of the dock's DC-socket yourself, thus making the 170W plug fit.
OR, cut of the keyed DC plug from a 170W unit and replace it with the regular 65/90/135W plug.
The wiring for both is identical, but I don't know if the electric/electronic insides of a 90/135W dock are identical to the 170W ones.

So, I finally have the dock and another PSU. Seems the power connector on the dock is not like the power connector in the laptops themself: in the dock it's fixed to the board, in the laptops it''s attached to the frame and then by cable to the board.

Anyway: after a few minutes cutting and ripping at that plastic that needs to be removed from the adapter's tip I just used a Security Torx #27 bit and then a #30 to "drill" it out. That's whay faster and cleaner . The Security torx to make sure the mid pin doesn't get touched. #30 fits perfectly inside the barrel.

the newest dock to work with the W520 is 5338-35u.
170watt, usb 3.0 instead of eSata. Just ordered one

Completely unknow number?

USB 3.0 for eSata is a bad trade