Pressure on memory

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brucehe · #1 Post by **brucehe** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:08 am

Any pressure on the cover of the memory holder area while picking up the thinkpad causes the machine to lock up. I have cleaned the memory board contacts, bent the holders a bit to make sure they snap in but still the same problem. I have removed one of the 256K boards and put pressure in the area where there is no board and it also locks up. Is there a broken trace or other loose connection on the system board? Do I need to replace the entire system board. Things are OK as long as I am very careful when handling the thinkpad, but eventually it gets picked up and it crashes or locks up. Any ideas?

Bruce

brucehe · #2 Post by **brucehe** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:14 am

Unit with problem is a t21, there are no case cracks and memory boards do show up in windows when installed.

Bruce

#3 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:15 am

It would help everybody, if you would put your TP details in your signature (as below in mine).
Without that info, it's a bit a shot in the dark.

#4 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:26 am

My opinion is that if you went through all that trouble with the SODIMM sockets and it did not fix your problem, then what you are looking at is a loose component and/or broken trace on the motherboard. If you are handy with a soldering iron, have good eyes and a copy of the T2x Hardware Maintenance Manual handy, then have at it. If not, you could try our forum advertiser ("The Laptop Guy"), eBay or here in the Marketplace for a repair/replacement board.

brucehe · #5 Post by **brucehe** » Fri May 18, 2007 6:34 pm

Ray,

Thanks for the input. I removed the system board. Any recommendations where to look for problems with loose solder joints? This looks like an impossible task. Any ideas would be great. I got my magnifying glass out.

Bruce
t21 512K 20GB

#6 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri May 18, 2007 7:10 pm

Basically you would be looking for any (relatively) large component which does NOT flex very well

. Specifically, if you refer to my T23 map in this thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=37956

on the top side in locations C5 and D5 are parts (blue and black squares) which are about the smallest you could probably find a broken connection on. If you think that pressure around the memory slots was affecting the operation of the system, then concentrate on the "lower" half of the board. Look at all of the legs to the memory sockets (if you can) and see if any look loose. It can help to use a dental pick or small screwdriver to gently pry up on a corner or side of a part to see if the solder connection is broken. Assuming you find a broken connection, then use the finest pointed tip of a small (25 watt or so) soldering iron.

It IS like looking for a needle in a haystack, which is why I just bought this:

Stereo Microscope

My "50-year old" eyes need all the help they can get. (Yeah, Dan, go ahead and laugh!)

Pressure on memory

Pressure on memory

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