Thinkpads Forum

I've concluded my 600x 2645-8eu has a flaky dc plug (I have to keep an angled tension on the power cord to keep the power flowing). Is replacing the system board the most prudent course of action? Is replacing the plug doable by a novice, and if so, where can I find one? Where do I find a system board?

In an unrelated issue, the top pcmcia slot doesn't like anything I put in it. It sometimes crashes the computer or at best, WindowsXP reports device installation error. OS always recognizes that a card was inserted, but various errors result. The bottom slot works fine. Any suggestions?

It would depend, why replace the board if the cord is flaky? I would test the cord with a multimeter, if you have one, to see if in fact flexing the cord makes the plug lose power. If so, it is trivial to repair, as long as you make sure it is not plugged in when cutting the cord, and that you keep polarity correct.

I found a replacement board for my 600X on ebay, (the usual disclaimers here) and it is working great again!

The PCMCIA issue is something I cannot even venture a guess, so I leave it to the resident geniuses (geniusi ?)

Bob

If it's the plug get the one with a 2.5mm hole not the more readily available 2.1mm plug. If it's the dc socket, it is more likely due to the terminals soldered on the motherboard becoming loose due to physical strain. If you got the courage to change motherboards by yourself I believe you got enough skills to resolder the loose connection(s) using a needle point soldering iron .

rick

I honestly didn't think it could be the plug on the cord that's gone bad. I always assumed it was the dc socket. I'll have to investigate a little more before I get up the nerve to do open heart surgery. I can solder as long as it is obvious what I need to solder.

Most likely, it's the socket for the power adapter that has gone bad. The solder joint usually, after many plugs and unplus, go bad or come loose. This is normal, and I've seen, and fixed, many times. Alot of laptops have this problem, not just IBM. Depending on the laptop and if it's possible, I usually solder the connector back, make a larger trace spot, and include a thin wire that bypasses the trace to the closest connector, so even if the solder pad gets lifted or if the trace breaks, the backup wire will still hold it in.

This process will take you about 2 to 3 hours if you've never done it before or never taken the laptop apart. if you have, it will normally take half an hour to an hour, depending on how good you are with a soldering iron. It usually take me about half an hour to repair one of these. On almost all laptops, it requires the COMPLETE removal of every component and every part. The biggest challenge is to complete the process and only have one or two screws extra out of the package.

Otherwise, if you're worried about messing it up, don't! If you plan to buy a new motherboard if you mess it up, just try it anyways.