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I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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Join Date: Mar 2004
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Hello there, I have a IBM Thinkpad 390E, when i bought it, it came with an AC Adapter and a battery that was completely dead... So i bought a battery and loved it... Well i bought a car adapter for my laptop, and when i was reading all the diffrent voltage settings and such.. i wanted to make 100% sure that i had everything set up properly, so i wouldn't destroy my laptop....
Well i had the 16 V setting right... but when it came to my Polarity setting... there was the setting on the AC Adapter i could go by, or what was right above my power input to the laptop... Only thing was, is there was no indication of how it was sopose to be. - to + or + to -. depending on how you look at it.. Well in both a haste of wanting to test it and having to guess via the laptop .... I plug the thing in with reversed polarity..... !POP! *i unplug it within 1 second* and it begins to lightly smoke.... i almost crapped myself thinking that i just ruined my laptop.. But it turns out, i turned it on via battery power..... everything seemed to work perfect.... i plug it into the wall with my AC adapter, and it worked perfect....
But now my laptop will no longer charge my battery i spent all that money on...
I did a little reading around on the internet and from what i understand... the laptop has fuses and diods to prevent a complete fry of the entire computer in such a case as reversed polarity....
Now that you know the situation. my very serious question is..... Can this be fixed?
Do i have to replace and solder a diod or fuse?
Any information that i can get on this subject would be a great help to me..
Thank you
- Scott Harrington
If you want to reply directly to me, my email address is beavit@hotmail.com
Well i had the 16 V setting right... but when it came to my Polarity setting... there was the setting on the AC Adapter i could go by, or what was right above my power input to the laptop... Only thing was, is there was no indication of how it was sopose to be. - to + or + to -. depending on how you look at it.. Well in both a haste of wanting to test it and having to guess via the laptop .... I plug the thing in with reversed polarity..... !POP! *i unplug it within 1 second* and it begins to lightly smoke.... i almost crapped myself thinking that i just ruined my laptop.. But it turns out, i turned it on via battery power..... everything seemed to work perfect.... i plug it into the wall with my AC adapter, and it worked perfect....
But now my laptop will no longer charge my battery i spent all that money on...
I did a little reading around on the internet and from what i understand... the laptop has fuses and diods to prevent a complete fry of the entire computer in such a case as reversed polarity....
Now that you know the situation. my very serious question is..... Can this be fixed?
Do i have to replace and solder a diod or fuse?
Any information that i can get on this subject would be a great help to me..
Thank you
- Scott Harrington
If you want to reply directly to me, my email address is beavit@hotmail.com
Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#2 Mar 27th, 2004
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Originally Posted by Beavit
I had the 16 V setting right... but when it came to my Polarity setting... there was the setting on the AC Adapter i could go by, or what was right above my power input to the laptop... Only thing was, is there was no indication of how it was sopose to be. - to + or + to -. depending on how you look at it.. Well in both a haste of wanting to test it and having to guess via the laptop .... I plug the thing in with reversed polarity..... !POP! *i unplug it within 1 second* and it begins to lightly smoke.... i almost crapped myself thinking that i just ruined my laptop.. But it turns out, i turned it on via battery power..... everything seemed to work perfect.... i plug it into the wall with my AC adapter, and it worked perfect....
What you now have is a blown fuse and, possibly, a shorted diode--thought it's possible that the diode survived, just got hot--hence the smoke. You will need to find the PDF service manual on the IBM site (I can't do all your work for you
) for disassembly instructions and replace the picofuse, then check the diode. Even the cheapest (~$10 at a hardware store or Radio Shack) volt-ohm-milliammeter (VOM) will do this just fine. You need to find a full-line electronic supplier in your area, and you will have to buy 5 picofuses to get one (but then you will have spares, right?). If you don't know what I mean by full-line supplier, ask your local TV repaiman where he buys his parts locally, or ask a computer repair shop, or ask either one if he will sell you a picofuse of the correct rating for a price.Of course this presupposes that you are able and willing to do a little mechanical disassembly and soldering to save a ton of money.
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Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#3 Nov 19th, 2004
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Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#4 Aug 8th, 2005
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Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#5 Aug 11th, 2005
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Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#6 Aug 11th, 2005
Hello,
Be aware that any hardware hack will void your warrenty, and if the machine goes up in smoke because you did a bad solder job, you are looking at new parts. This is not for the casual person.
If you insist on doing the hardware hack, you might wish to use one of those spare diodes and make a practice run on a different piece of circuit board. When you go to the store to get your diodes, ask the clerk for a little 2 x 2 or 2 x 4 circuit board, and some small solder. Practice soldering before you even unscrew your laptop.
Christian
Be aware that any hardware hack will void your warrenty, and if the machine goes up in smoke because you did a bad solder job, you are looking at new parts. This is not for the casual person.
If you insist on doing the hardware hack, you might wish to use one of those spare diodes and make a practice run on a different piece of circuit board. When you go to the store to get your diodes, ask the clerk for a little 2 x 2 or 2 x 4 circuit board, and some small solder. Practice soldering before you even unscrew your laptop.
Christian
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Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#7 Aug 12th, 2005
If you can recognize the basic components on a pc board, know how to trouble shoot the basic components with a DMM, and have some through hole soldering skills you might want to try fixing this. If you don't, I would recomend that you pay someone with the proper skills to make the repair. If you aren't competent in these areas you could make the problem worse.
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Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#8 Aug 12th, 2005
I disassemble the laptop and I can't see any strange things there , now I charge the battery externaly by pluging it directly with the charger and it charge Ok and I can start the computer Normal every thing seams to work Normak , but again if I plug the Charger to the laptop won't charge !!!!!![U]
Battry --Ok
Charger --ok
the computer work -- ok
But I can't Charge the battry throwe the Normal way !!!!!?????????
Any help there Pls.
Thanks
Battry --Ok
Charger --ok
the computer work -- ok
But I can't Charge the battry throwe the Normal way !!!!!?????????
Any help there Pls.
Thanks
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Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#9 Aug 14th, 2005
Re: I plugged in my laptop with reverse polarity! any help please please please...
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#10 Aug 16th, 2005
Seems the charging circuit's fried, not the polarity protection on the mains inlet.
Either the charging circuit has its own protection (likely) or it's a goner and needs replacing (which in a laptop could mean replacing the mobo depending on the design).
Either the charging circuit has its own protection (likely) or it's a goner and needs replacing (which in a laptop could mean replacing the mobo depending on the design).
As people are clearly allowed to attack me but I'm not allowed to defend myself, I no longer post to this site.
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