Bad power connector on A21m (and more...)

[jhansman]

The connector for the AC adapter on my A21m won't make any kind of connection that will charge the battery or run the unit on AC. Unless I'm mistaken, this connector is on the laptop's mainboard, so I doubt I can fix this witout replacing that part. To futher complicate matters, I cannot get one of the screws out that needs to be removed to get at the mainboard; my son-in-law managed to mangle the phillips screw head enough so it won't take a screwdriver any more. I don't think this is a situation I can fix, so can anyone recommend a reputable repair outfit for this model? It is in fine condition otherwise, and I'm willing to spend some money to get it operational again, but I'd like a pro to tell me what's involved. Any suggestions? TIA!

[jdhurst]

You have to get the screws out. Craftsman (Sears) made a screw-out remover that will chew into a screw, grab it and remove it. Such tool may well be too large. Gently try another philips (maybe one size larger). One way or another, the screws have to come out.

I have never serviced an A21, but I had a couple of Thinkpad i machines (2611-410), one of which needed the power connector fixed. The fix was simple - a technician resoldered the connector and epoxied a small block of plastic to the motherboard and connector to bolster the connector. Seems to have worked. The only gotcha in this repair is that the designer hung a power connector in the air and built the ThinkPad around it. It took a good service person an hour and a bit to disassemble, repair and re-assemble. Still, it was well worth doing.
... JD Hurst

[jhansman]

Well, in all the exploded parts views I can find for this model, I've not seen a power connector, but I may have missed it. It would be helpful to see an enlarged view of the mainboard, to see if this connector is integrated onto it (as I suspect it is?). As for removing the screw, I hear ya. It does have to come out, one way or the other, but no screwdriver will ever take it out, so I expect I'll have to take your suggestion on the screw remover from Sears.

[hausman]

Well, in all the exploded parts views I can find for this model, I've not seen a power connector, but I may have missed it. It would be helpful to see an enlarged view of the mainboard, to see if this connector is integrated onto it (as I suspect it is?).

Have you looked at the HMM, e.g. pp91-93? http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.ws ... IGR-4PER6S

[jhansman]

In fact I did, and as far as I can see from the diagram of the mainboard, the connector I am referring to sits (looking down onto the mainboard) at the top left of that diagram, and appears to be part and parcel of the board, no? I'd attach a segment of that diagram here if I knew how..

[AbsoluteRaleigh]

The connector for the AC adapter on my A21m won't make any kind of connection that will charge the battery or run the unit on AC.

What does this mean? Is the connector loose? Broken? Does the jack appear fine but the laptop doesn't turn on?

The jack doesn't do much. If it is present and is secure in place then it is doing its job....

The jack is soldered on to the board...

[jhansman]

I noticed before it failed to power the unit entirely that I had to hold the connector from the dogbone power brick in a certain position to get it to work at all; now nothing. So, to me, this indicates a bad connection between the connector and the mobo, yes?

[hausman]

So, to me, this indicates a bad connection between the connector and the mobo, yes?

It could be. It could also be that the jack is broken internally, i.e. there's nothing wrong with the solder connection between the mobo and the jack. If that's the case, you'd need to unsolder the jack, remove it from the mobo and solder in a replacement. That's probably not something you'd want to try unless you've had previous experience with that sort of stuff.

It could also be a bad plug on the AC adapter or a loose/broken connection in the plug. I'd want to rule that possibility out before I started to mess with the mobo. Have you tried another AC adapter?

[jhansman]

Well, the adapter I have is brand new and a multimeter shows it putting out the correct voltage, so I'm going to assume it's not the problem. You are right about not wanting to go soldering on the mobo, so I think I'll just have it replaced and leave it at that. I do appreciate that there is a resource available like this board for us Thinkpad users, especially now that IBM has divested itself of it computer division.