IBM Thinkpad 600E troubles...

General Forums Off-topic Chat
1

Before I say anything, I must say that I DID use Google to try to find the answers to my problems. And I found SEVERAL things that looked very promising. That said, they had lots of related info, but not the very specific thing I needed.

Ok, now to the problem…

I got a “new” (new to me at least) IBM Thinkpad 600E laptop, but it had no power supply cord. However, when I used this cord I had that BARELY WORKED (needed 16 volts, but was running on 12), I could power it up and get half-way through the alternate install disk for Xubuntu (the hard drive was blank and needs an OS).

Ok, well, I go to the store to buy a power cord, and I get one of those “Universal” ones that you plug the different Zener Diodes into to get different voltage outputs. I’m happy that I can finally get Xubuntu loaded on my laptop, so I can begin using it.

Well, with this power cord, you also have different plugs that you can use to fit your device. BUT… It has ABSOLUTELY NO INSTRUCTIONS about HOW to plug it in correctly! So, I used my best guess about what what direction to plug it in. And, well, it was wrong, and it shorted my laptop.

My dad, who is an IT manager at his work, says that there SHOULD be a diode on the motherboard that burns out when current goes through wrong, and that it is possible to simply replace the diode to fix the laptop. However, he doesn’t know where the diode is.

I was wondering if anyone here had any diagrams of the motherboard, or anything at all that will help us find the diode, or tell us if there was a flaw in the design, which means there IS no diode.

Google came up with all sorts of PDF documents with titles like “Hardware Maintenance Manual” and “User Guide” for the exact model of my laptop, the 600E, but none of them mention the word “Diode”, except once in the Maintenance manual when it talks about the laser in the CD drive.

Edit: I already tried reversing the polarity of the neutron flow.

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Sometimes there are also fuses. If the components on you mobo are labled, you can find a fuse easily because the component ID is usually preceded by “FU” for instance FU101. You can check them with an multimeter set to ohms. A blown diode might be be a bit more difficult to locate, however if they are encapsulate in glass they usually turn dark to black when blown. Again, you can usually check these as well with a multimeter set to ohms. They should read higher in resistance in one direction (polarity) and lower in the other direction(swap your multimeter leads). Do not try to power up your machine while checking! Use a multimeter rather than an analog device, the have higher input impedance and less of a chance of causing more damage.

Good luck. Oh, and usually the power supply or cord connection to your lappy has an emblem on it indicating tip positive or tip negative. If not, the old (if not defective) power supply could be checked, again with a mutimeter set to volts d.c… The power supply will have to be plugged in to check this, just not to your lappy, only the mains (wall outlet or whatever).

EDIT
Just a personal pet peeve, for only a few cents more per unit, polarity problems could be avoided altogether.

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Ok, suppose I find the fuse/diode. How do I determine the correct type to replace it with?

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Fuses, even circuit mount ones, are usually labeled in one way or another. If you have a blown diode or other component you will need a schematic or a parts list if the components are identified.
You might want to ask around here , they have a hardware section in the forum.