Puffing Smoke?!

[Kenundrum]

My t40 (2372-75u) started puffing pink and black smoke from the power connector over the weekend- so i knew what would come next- i quickly unplugged it and got the battery disconnected as soon as possible- and made sure that the power, laptop, and battery were as far from each other as possible. It was the weekend so i didn't call IBM (i'm not sure if they do support on the weekend, but i know that DHL wouldn't have gotten a box to me any sooner)
So i come to work monday morning, i plug in the laptop with a different power cord, and amazingly it turns on... after about 30 seconds it shuts down and pink smoke again starts shooting out of the power connector and that horrible smell of burning metal starts filling the room. So i did the same thing, disconnect the battery and power and this time the thing seemed to get quite hot.

I called IBM- waited a heck of a long time (they must be slacking) and told them what happened- got asked some standard questions: were there injuries, was there any property damage... i 'll have my return box tomorrow.

Now here's my question- well first off- has this happened to anyone else? it seems like the power supply is the culprit and not the battery (thankfully).
I also have an upgraded wireless min-pci and added in the bluetooth/modem combo card. If they replace the motherboard, will those things come back to me or will they replace it with what came on the system?

PS- unfortunately i don't have my digital camera with me to take pictures of the smoke fuming from the back of the case... sorry

[cmarti]

My t40 (2372-75u)
I also have an upgraded wireless min-pci and added in the bluetooth/modem combo card. If they replace the motherboard, will those things come back to me or will they replace it with what came on the system?

When IBM replace the motherboard of my T40 i didn't loose anything. ( At the time i already upgraded the cpu wifi and also bluetooth ) So don't worry.

[AbsoluteRaleigh]

I also have an upgraded wireless min-pci and added in the bluetooth/modem combo card. If they replace the motherboard, will those things come back to me or will they replace it with what came on the system?

They should but you could always just remove them. Especially the wireless card if it happens to be an unauthorized card.

[egibbs]

As a general rule you should strip a machine before sending it in for service (see the FAQ). Remove any added RAM, option cards, the HDD, Ultrabay devices, etc. Most of the time there won't be a problem with getting back what you sent in, but why take chances?

With this case, however, I'm not sure that is the best idea. Those add-on parts may well have been damaged as well when the mobo fried, as may the HDD controller, Ultra-Bay device, etc. Or even worse, one of those components may have been responsible for the mobo frying.

If you bought the add-ons direct from IBM they will be covered by the same warranty as the machine even if they were bought after the machine was bought. So there might be a case to be made for sending it all in together and telling them to give it all back in working order.

If you bought them from a third party OTOH, I'd strip them out. If they turn out to be fried or to be the cause of the mobo frying, you'll need to work that out with the vendor or manufacturer.

Ed Gibbs

[Kenundrum]

They asked if i was going to send the hard drive in- and i said- probably not... i've put the drive in an external usb adapter and the drive reads fine...
Everything in the laptop was bought from IBM except for the bluetooth- i got that off ebay, but it's an IBM part obviously.
I'm going to leave the memory, atheros a/b/g, and bt cards in and hope that they return them to me.

[JaneL]

I also have an upgraded wireless min-pci and added in the bluetooth/modem combo card. If they replace the motherboard, will those things come back to me or will they replace it with what came on the system?

Item #5 in the FAQ.