R51 struck by lightning. Where to start?

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#1 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:47 am

R51 1830-ADU
Motherboard P/N 27K9839, FRU 27K9922 with ATI 9000, Dothan 1.6, 512mb DDR-2700 RAM

The laptop was recently refurbished by IBM, and has ATI 9000 graphics instead of the original ATI 7500. Looks like they swapped the mobo.
Laptop got some damage from being struck by lightning.
The fan comes on (even without any RAM) and the battery still charges. Does not have a picture (in- or external), nor does it boot.

Any suggestions on where to start with a repair, or should I just send this in to Hammerhead?

Some functionality is still there, just don't know yet how much.
Does anyone know if T30 RAM (PC2100) would work in this R51?

#2 Post by **schen** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:11 pm

I'd say just to send it in to Hammerhead. Too many places to even begin to start, although, I suspect that it'd end up being a MB replacement in the end. That's just seat-of-the-pants of course.

sparta.rising · #3 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:27 pm

Struck by lightning as in the bolt hit it, or lightning struck the house and there was a power surge? If it was a power surge, the fuses seem a logical place to start.

And because its discrete video, check for the GPU problem, the lightning might have just been a coincidence.

#4 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:07 pm

Power surge.
All fuses that I could find (so far) are still OK.

This mobo must be of a newer generation, the three "panels" to the right of theCPU, with Intel chips and the GPU on them, all have bright red dots all around them, presumably glue dots to keep them solid.
Don't think this one has the GPU issue.

A repair by Hammerhead is $90.- incl. shipping, whereas a new/used mobo is not to be had under $150.-

sparta.rising · #5 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:46 pm

The red dots have been mentioned before, and I've encountered them before as well, I believe this means the board has been repaired.

Was the machine in this building?

ajkula66 · #6 Post by **ajkula66** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:23 pm

A lightning struck in the back of my house last year, killing an absolutely gorgeous A31p, meanwhile a couple of other machines that were plugged in at the same time survived...

It's pathetic that people are looking for $150 for a used R51 board on eBay...personally, I'd go with Hammershead.

Good luck.

SMA · #7 Post by **SMA** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:42 am

First thing that I would do should be to remove the modem card, and while at it, I would also remove the LAN card.
The lightning did NOT get into the ThinkPad through the air. It must have been getting in there through some cable connecting the machine to
somewhere else. It does not seem to be through the mains, since the battery charger is functioning. Could have been through a printer or a monitor,
but then, one of these devices would also have died.
Unless it is known for certain that the modem was not connected, I would say that most likely the lightning has come through the telephone lines.
Try to look for burnt marks on the modem card.

#8 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:38 am

I bought this machine as-is on eBay, with only that lightning explanation.
Other parts included, that still work OK: XGA LCD, 512MB PC2700 RAM, DVD-CDRW, AC-adapter.
Untested yet: modem and wifi card (Intel 2200BG).

I removed everything, incl. the modem and wifi card during my testing.
There's no signal to either internal or external screen.
Tried another CPU, but made no difference.

seaweedsl · #9 Post by **seaweedsl** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 12:25 pm

It's true that people want $150 for R51 MBs, but the ones that actually sell go for closer to $100.

The last one I bought (6 months ago) cost $90 shipped. I bid on four or five before I won one at that price.

Just for reference.

R51 struck by lightning. Where to start?

R51 struck by lightning. Where to start?

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