Repaired X40 power adapter

[benm]

Hi all,

I thought I'd share how I repaired my X40 power adapter, because I didn't come up with any useful search results on the topic. I've heard that these power adapters can have nasty voltages inside so proceed at your own risk. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures because I was under a time crunch and really needed my laptop working again.

About two months ago I plugged in my X40 to a wall outlet. The wall outlet shorted internally (not my fault!) and tripped the circuit breaker. The X40 and its power adapter were seemingly fine and worked afterward.

Fast foward to two weeks ago. My X40 power adapter began working intermittently. It was clear that the 120V connector on the power brick had a bad internal connection because when I wiggled the 120v cable a certain way, the X40 would report that it was charging. Wiggling it the other way caused the X40 to run off of the battery.

I was able to open the power brick without causing any cosmetic damage. The brick is a clamshell design, which is clear if you look at it. The two halves of the clamshell are glued together at the seam. To open the brick you must break the glue. I turned the brick on its side so that the seam was facing up. Then I took a plastic-handled screwdriver and pounded the seam with the plastic handle end. This did not mar the surface of the power brick and after five or ten minutes of carefully pounding each side, the brick popped open.

Sure enough, there was a small scorch mark next to the 120v connector. I assume that when I plugged the X40 into the bad outlet, it melted that solder joint and made it mechanically weak, leading to failure. I reheated the solder joint. I glued the clamshell back together with hot melt glue and it seems to be good as new. I can't tell that it has been opened. I'll see how well this glue holds over time; it may eventually be necessary to use something stronger such as epoxy. While the case was open, I stayed away from the capacitors, which was easy to do because there is a plastic shield over the internal electronics.

I would have just bought a new power adapter, however I was under a time crunch and this repair did not take long. New power adapters are not very expensive, but when I looked online, it was difficult to differentiate between an OEM IBM part and a knockoff.

Hope that helps someone.

Ben