Thinkpads Forum

Does the 240X have a separate power board?

I have been using this 240X, due to its small size, for some time. I usually shut it down after an hour or two but this one time I left it on all weekend sitting on my desk. When I got back, it wouldn’t POST using ether the battery or the AC adapter. I tried booting using an external monitor. No lights beeps or anything. No joy here.

I was wondering if the power board is separate from the mother board. If so, is there a FRU number I can order?

Please let me know.

I don't think it does, unless it's part of the "rear bracket", which I doubt, you can get the HMM here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... IGR-4KLKLP

No there is only a single board in the 240 series. Remember there are two power components in all laptops. The power brick or adaptor and the battery. Could it be that your battery is long dead and the power adaptor just died, while the laptop is actually OK?
Tim S

I think what Bill Z is referring to is the "DC board" in some of the older Thinkpads. I don't have anything older than the 600E so I can only assume that those DC boards control/condition/distribute the DC voltages needed for the laptop. If there isn't a separate board that performs this function, then it's integrated on the motherboard. The AC adapter and battery do supply power but they are hardly the ONLY things involved with power. There's several voltage regulators that provide the CPU (~1.0V to ~2.0V, depending upon the processor), memory (3.3V) and associated components (5V, generally) with what they need to operate. A blown fuse could also be thought of as a "power component" as if it goes bad, nothing works.

Best thing I can suggest is to measure the voltage at the end of the DC plug (I think it's 16V for the 240X). Although it's not a conclusive test as the power supply may drop the voltage if there's a significant amount of current drawn, if it's not showing the proper voltage without being connected to the system, then you need to replace it. Do the same with the battery. If both of those check out fine, then it's time to look at the laptop.

Thanks for the PDF.

Yup, there isn't a separate power card or a fuse. Both the battery and the AC adapter work fine. I guess I own a black brick with pretty IBM letters on it.

Thanks for your help above.

I wouldn't mind picking up that little black brick from you if you have no further need of it...