Pulsing Fan on a Dead T23? Check the inductors...

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Website · #1 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:08 pm

I just replaced a T23 system board that had died. On the old board, when powered on, only power LED and the battery LED would turn on.

As I removed the systemboard from the base, I saw that there was a little black capacitor that was just sitting there loose.

Here are are pics of the board and where the piece is supposed to go:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c186/ ... 3mobo1.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c186/ ... 3mobo2.jpg
Do any of you think that it might be possible to solder this piece back on and have a fully operational T23 systemboard? It is quite clear where this piece belongs on the board.

Do any of you know what this part is for? I am not much of a schematic person to even try looking it up.

EDIT: Be sure to read all the way through this thread, as there were additional symptoms added to the list by other users.

moerph · #2 Post by **moerph** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:10 pm

Hi,

the black piece you call an capacitor is a reel and it might be possible that the failure of the board is caused by that. Just resolder it an try it.

moerph

Orevin · #3 Post by **Orevin** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:47 pm

Yeah, you should try it! And let us know how it turns out!

Website · #4 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:51 pm

As soon as I find my soldering gun (I think my wife lent it to someone), I think I will try it. It be nice to have a spare T23 board, since I just paid $96 for a replacement.

I think that it popped off as a result of flexing the board. The person that bought this T23 from me was picking it up one handed.

Now that I have his fixed, I will get mine back.

If it works, I might be in the neighborhood for a dead T23.

danage · #5 Post by **danage** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:11 pm

tfflivemb2 wrote:As soon as I find my soldering gun

For the love of %/$(%$ don't use a soldering gun for this! It is SMD (surface mounted thingy). Use a thin thin tip soldering iron, magnifying glass, and don't touch the board too long for overheating will damage it.
Best is to try on a spare junk board a few times. :)

Website · #6 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:48 pm

Sorry, I used the term "gun" loosely. I have a fine tip soldering iron that I have used for work on motherboards in the past. Most recently to remount the power adapter to the motherboard of an old Toshiba laptop.

t20user · #7 Post by **t20user** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:54 pm

I have a "dead" T23 I might part with. I don't have the time to play with it, but the reason I have not sold it yet is because it is in MINT physical shape. I don't know what it is worth for the same reason.

The issue with it is it will boot up most of the time. On occasion it will not boot and gray bars show up on the screen and the cpu fan pulses. Let me know if you are interested.

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:55 pm

PM Sent.

UnixNut · #9 Post by **UnixNut** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:08 am

I just joined up to say thank you to you people. This occured with my Second hand T23 and I was really worried that it was for the bin (or at least an expensive motherboard repair).

Thanks to the posts here (especially tfflivemb2) I took my T23 apart, and successfully soldered the component back on. I even wrote about how I did it on my website. Either way the laptop has been working perfectly for a few days, and I just am overjoyed at this.

Hence why I am writing this post. Indeed once soldered there seems to be no further damage, and the laptop is working like new

Once again, thank you!

I am also amazed the flexibility and modular construction of the thinkpads, I really am impressed how builder-freindly they are, by far the easiest laptops to take apart and repair/upgrade. I'm pretty much a thinkpad convert now

Website · #10 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:27 am

I am VERY glad to hear that it worked for you. This gives me hope.

I am trying to pick up a T23 with a dead systemboard, so that i can test this theory.

You just gave me a lot of confidence to try this. Thanks!!

P.S. Welcome to the forum!!!

UnixNut · #11 Post by **UnixNut** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:04 am

tfflivemb2 wrote:I am VERY glad to hear that it worked for you. This gives me hope.

I am trying to pick up a T23 with a dead systemboard, so that i can test this theory.

You just gave me a lot of confidence to try this. Thanks!!

P.S. Welcome to the forum!!!

thankyou!

If you like, you can have a look at this page where I wrote about my attempt. Might be something of interest there.

Website · #12 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:03 pm

Wow!! It was exactly the same part!!

Even more reason to get that base, as soon as I can. Not to mention that I need to find my soldering iron. I think my wife lent it to someone. If this is really going to work, then I might just buy another one.

tp23 · #13 Post by **tp23** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:17 pm

Fyi, the broken off component L11 is an inductor (two connections means a choke).

In this and other forums I've heard a lot about broken and loose solder connections, particularly surface mounted components, is no testamony to the relative stiffness of the plastic tray under the systemboard. Closing the display before transporting the Thinkpad is best insurance against flexing the systemboard.

Just my 2 cents worth ¥.

Website · #14 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:18 pm

Just curious, where did you get the information as to the part number? Is there a schematic for it? Someone was recently asking me for one.

t20user · #15 Post by **t20user** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:51 am

L11 is the reference designator on the PCB. I don't know where you would get a schematic (other than IBM) but I would like one too!

UnixNut: excellent writeup on your repair of the inductor. I will have to take my T23 apart and see if that is the culprit for my issues.

basscleff · #16 Post by **basscleff** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 3:52 pm

got my T23 working, thought I would read the notes once again about the loose inductor. I took the T23 apart, looked at the inductors, gently pressed them to see if anything seemed loose, and voila, one fell off. I resoldered and it worked. its alive!

thx for the wiki post! it helped.

Website · #17 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 3:57 pm

Great, looks like we have a trend here.

If I can just find a decent priced dead T23, I'd be ok.

WhiteWolf · #18 Post by **WhiteWolf** » Sat May 06, 2006 4:45 pm

I just thought it might be a good idea if I posted here. I just repaired two T23 machines with almost identical problems, however it was the other identical component instead of the one that was pointed out in the picture and blog documentation. They both work 100% now; though I've not had them on for more than 24 hours. (I think it had to do with the way these particular machines were picked up, near the Hard Drive)

I think we do have a trend here; and further investigation should be done to see if we can maybe put some non-conductive material under it to help prevent this from happening.

skou · #19 Post by **skou** » Sat May 13, 2006 11:26 pm

After reading this thread, I decided to dig up one of my broken T23 bases, and see what I could see.

Tore it apart, and there is a coil that is half broken off. I just saw this 5 minutes ago, so, maybe I have a T23 or 2, that can be fixed!

(Inductors, chokes and coils are all basically the same things. A coil of wire around a ferrite core.)

Tomorrow, after I get some home jobs done, I'll be firing up my soldering iron!

THANKS, Guys!

steve

skou · #20 Post by **skou** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:39 pm

I just tore my last T23 apart, and there it was. The coil was sitting on the bottom tray, completely off of the mobo.

Time to do some soldering.

steve

Website · #21 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sun May 14, 2006 2:05 pm

I just bought two dead T23s hoping that the problem is the same. I have a new soldering iron, but am waiting on one of the Dead T23s to come, so that I have something "complete" to test it on.

I do have a dead T23 here, but without the LCD...hmm, I'll just hold off a little longer.

skou · #22 Post by **skou** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:33 pm

Well, I soldered the coil on, on one of my T23s, and put it back together, without a monitor or memory.

I got the 1-3-3-1 beep code, with the memory missing. After I put a stick of memory in and rebooted, I got a 2 beep message, the one that says the clock is incorrect.

Let's see what #2 does.

Oh, I found a third broken T23, so...

steve

skou · #23 Post by **skou** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:03 pm

Pulled #3 apart, and there was a coil, sitting on the lower tray.

I guess we need to start buying T23s that won't post, so we can do a bit of soldering, and make some $.

THANKS Guys!

steve

Website · #24 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:28 pm

That is exactly why I just picked a few myself.

Although, I just got really lucky. I picked up a complete T23 (256mb ram, DVD drive, battery with 34 cycles) that supposedly had a dead system board, for $125. I was thinking that it might be the same problem. I purchased a spare system board for $87, just in case. Well, when I booted it up, it turned out that it only needed a CMOS battery. The only bad part is that it turns out that the LCD bezel and cover are cracked. I can't complain though.

EDIT: As I was typing this, I noticed that the replacement systemboard that I bought is completely missing the second PCB!!! Grrrr. Time to email that seller.

skou · #25 Post by **skou** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:38 pm

Guys, maybe we should delete this thread, or move it to a private section, for only Members to look at.

If this secret gets out, non-posting T23s are not going to be cheap on Ebay!

Oh, #3 is up and working.

steve

Website · #26 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:22 pm

Moved back to the T2x Conference and Stickied, as there have been many T23s that have been repaired with this method...

Rick the Green · #27 Post by **Rick the Green** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:08 pm

Hi guys ! 1st time poster, long time reader...

Lots of usefull information and knowleadgeable peoples here

Another succesfull T23 inductors repair.

I didn't had any symptom yet , but took the T23 apart anyway to be on the safe side.

Solders seem to look fine , but prying gently those inductors and they pop right off. Soldered them back on so they won't come off again.

Thanks a lot,

Rick

dsigma6 · #28 Post by **dsigma6** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:57 am

I just wanted to add my experience on a T23 with the pulsing fan.

Even with the loose inductor, your system may still boot. I found these problems were fixed after re-soldering a loose inductor:

-System sometimes starts but freezes soon after loading Windows.
-Video becomes scrambled/wavy.
-Pressure on the left side of the keyboard allows system to boot until pressure is released.
-Only the standby light blinks when the system is booted.
-HD turns on/off similar to the pulsing fan.

The thread relating to this issue can be found here:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=41163

Check those inductors for sure!!

Kaervak · #29 Post by **Kaervak** » Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:20 am

I'd just like to add another symptom. I recently picked up another T23 with the inductor issue and while trying to power it on, I heard a rapid and somewhat faint ticking noise coming from the area of the CPU. After resoldering the inductor, it boots just fine again. So pulsing fan and possibly ticking near the CPU are signs that there's an inductor problem.

Andersonjoe711 · #30 Post by **Andersonjoe711** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 1:09 am

I Think all I have to say is

Pulsing Fan on a Dead T23? Check the inductors...

Pulsing Fan on a Dead T23? Check the inductors...

its alive!

T23 inductors

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