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Service Hints & Tips

Document ID: RMIE-38TC5G

This document is provided to IBM and our Business Partners to help sell and/or service IBM products. It is not to be distributed beyond that audience or used for any other purpose.

TP General - AC Adapter Problem Determination

Applicable to: World-Wide

Information :

There has been an increase in the number of AC Adapters being replaced that are not defective. The following procedure will help to determine if the AC Adapter is failing.

1. Remove the battery and any devices from the system (Fixed disks drives, floppy disk drives, PCMCIA cards, additional memory, port replicators, external diskette drives, monitors, printers, modems, etc...)

2. Plug the AC Adapter into the system unit and confirm the AC Adapter is plugged into a known good AC outlet.
a) Surge protectors and power strips can be accidentally turned off and the first reaction is the AC Adapter is failing. When doing problem determination, plug the AC Adapter directly into a working AC outlet to remove any doubt.

b) AC Outlets can be defective in that the internal contacts are sprung such that they do not make a reliable connection with the device plugged in.
- This is the reason for asking the customer to try a "known good outlet" (confirmed OK by a device such as a lamp plugged in and working without problems).
- If this condition exists, it can be usually be confirmed by asking the customer lightly wiggle the plug in outlet; the intermittent contact will cause the lamp to flicker.

3. Power on the system. If the system powers on, the AC Adapter is working.

4. If the system does not power on, try another AC Adapter if available or try this AC Adapter with another system to identify the failing component.

5. If a charged battery is available, install it in system and try to power on again. If the system powers on, the AC Adapter is likely to be failing and should be exchanged.

6. If the system does NOT power on or if a charged battery, another system or another AC Adapter is NOT available for testing, the system, battery or AC Adapter could be failing.

NOTE: Please inform the customer !

If the AC Adapter is replaced this may NOT solve the problem. Having the unit serviced is the only way to determine the actual failing component for certain. If the customer does not want to service the system, a parts exchange can be made to get a new AC Adapter to the customer; however, the customer should understand the new AC adapter may NOT solve the problem and may still require the system to be serviced to resolve.

	Search Keywords
	Hint Category	Power
	Date Created	23-08-96
	Last Updated	06-04-99
	Revision Date	06-04-2000
	Brand	IBM ThinkPad
	Product Family	ThinkPad 300, ThinkPad 310, ThinkPad 315, ThinkPad 340, ThinkPad 345, ThinkPad 350, ThinkPad 355, ThinkPad 360, ThinkPad 365X/XD, ThinkPad 365C/CS, ThinkPad 365CD/CSD, ThinkPad 365E/ED, ThinkPad 380, ThinkPad 380D, ThinkPad 380E, ThinkPad 380ED, ThinkPad 380XD, ThinkPad 380Z, ThinkPad 385D, ThinkPad 385E, ThinkPad 385ED, ThinkPad 385XD, ThinkPad 390, ThinkPad 390E, ThinkPad 500, ThinkPad 510, ThinkPad 560, ThinkPad 560E, ThinkPad 560X, ThinkPad 560Z, ThinkPad 600, ThinkPad 600E, ThinkPad 700, ThinkPad 701, ThinkPad 720, ThinkPad 750, ThinkPad 755C/CS, ThinkPad 755CE/CSE, ThinkPad 755CX, ThinkPad 755CV, ThinkPad 755CD, ThinkPad 755CDV, ThinkPad 760C, ThinkPad 760E, ThinkPad 760CD, ThinkPad 760L/LD, ThinkPad 760ED, ThinkPad 760XD, ThinkPad 760EL/ELD, ThinkPad 760XL, ThinkPad 765L, ThinkPad 765D, ThinkPad 770, ThinkPad 770E/ED, ThinkPad 770X, ThinkPad 770Z, ThinkPad i Series 1400, ThinkPad i Series 172x
	Machine Type	2615, 2600, 2610, 2620, 2618, 2619, 2625, 2635, 2636, 2626, 2603, 2604, 2640, 2641, 2645, 2646, 9552, 2630, 9545, 9546, 9547, 9548, 9549, 9544, 2611, 2627
	Model	Various
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