T420 works on battery but not using PSU

[g8tzl2004]

I have a T420 in my collection which works using a battery charged in another T420 BUT does not work using the power supply.

When the power supply is plugged into the T420 the green LED lights briefly...but the battery is not charged (although the battery charges OK in another laptop) and the laptop will not boot up if the battery is empty.

Any ideas? I was thinking that it might be an internal motherboard fuse? But the green LED flashes briefly. Maybe the "power management" module is faulty?

Thanks

[rkawakami]

If you can verify that the PSU works with another Thinkpad, then that indeed points to the problem being on the T420 motherboard. I'd say the fuse is good (LED briefly flashes) but something else in the power controller circuitry is broken.

[g8tzl2004]

Thanks for the reply.

PSU is good.

Any idea of typical faults with the power management circuit? Dry joints or failed components? Is the power management a separate PCB or is it part of the motherboard? Is the power management IC easy to replace? Maybe its damage to a PCB track. If the original owner used a wrong PSU (ie too high a voltage) would that blow a fuse or burn out a track or blow the PM IC? The problem I am having appears to be uncommon??

[rkawakami]

I'd say high on the list of things to look for would be:

• blown MOSFET(s)
• leaky/shorted electrolytic capacitor(s)
• bad voltage controller

I don't know about how common/uncommon your issue is for the T420. Early T2x systems have what's called the "Blink of Death". Basically when you press the power button, the power LED flashes and that's it. Sometimes when you press the button, the laptop will power up correctly. I've been away from Thinkpads lately but I believe that problem is with the power controller not seeing the proper signal (voltage). It could be similar to your issue or it could be something else.

[g8tzl2004]

Thanks for the very useful list of things to look for.