Question Lenovo ThinkPad power supply light not on and not charging

[patka108]

I have an e580 ThinkPad. A little bit of rain came into my backpack and into the laptop. It would not turn on and appeared to be shorting. After drying it out, it turned on just fine and worked for 4 days including charging the battery a few times. After 4 days, while the laptop was working fine, I noticed the battery was running out despite the charger being plugged in. I checked the charger and it works on another device, so issue is with the laptop. The charging light does not show at all and computer will no longer power on after the battery ran out of charge. I cleaned the plug in area with alcohol. The laptop is fine but something seems to have gone wrong with the power supply. What can I do?

 

[hang-the-9]

Have the laptop looked at by a tech if you can't take it apart and check what is wrong. Could be the motherboard failed after the water damage over time. Not sure why you say the laptop is fine if it does not turn on and the charger works in another system. There are a lot of small delicate parts in them, does not take much to cause it to break.

 

[patka108]

Thank you for the reply. Just to clarify: what I meant by the laptop being fine, I guess this was not an accurate observation, but I was trying to say that the power supply is the only problem causing the laptop not to turn on. As it was able to turn on and off as long as the battery still had the charge in it and I was observing there was no power light or charging indicated on the task bar despite charger being plugged in. The reason why I asked for suggestions what to do is that for financial constraints I am not able to see a tech. However, I have opened up the back of the laptop and I am hoping someone could point me in the right direction as to what I might be able to try or look for without having a lot of experience. I am comfortable unplugging the battery if that is meaningful (just a thought, I don't believe the battery is the problem. There was no indication that the battery was not performing well at the point when it was already clear that the power supply was not working. So it appears the problem is somewhere along the power supply). I am also comfortable to do a further disassembly to check for corrosion or anything else that I might be able to see with my limited experience. I have opened up laptops and removed and replaced components safely in the past but not much more than that.
Any help or suggestions on what I could try to check for would be appreciated.

 

[hang-the-9]

Thank you for the reply. Just to clarify: what I meant by the laptop being fine, I guess this was not an accurate observation, but I was trying to say that the power supply is the only problem causing the laptop not to turn on. As it was able to turn on and off as long as the battery still had the charge in it and I was observing there was no power light or charging indicated on the task bar despite charger being plugged in. The reason why I asked for suggestions what to do is that for financial constraints I am not able to see a tech. However, I have opened up the back of the laptop and I am hoping someone could point me in the right direction as to what I might be able to try or look for without having a lot of experience. I am comfortable unplugging the battery if that is meaningful (just a thought, I don't believe the battery is the problem. There was no indication that the battery was not performing well at the point when it was already clear that the power supply was not working. So it appears the problem is somewhere along the power supply). I am also comfortable to do a further disassembly to check for corrosion or anything else that I might be able to see with my limited experience. I have opened up laptops and removed and replaced components safely in the past but not much more than that.
Any help or suggestions on what I could try to check for would be appreciated.

OK, so if the laptop worked till the battery ran out, that may be an issue with the charger if it also got wet, or with the battery, or the battery connectors to the system. Try another charger. The system should run even if the battery is bad. If you can't take it apart to check or try different parts there is not much else you can do because really the only thing you have left is just sit there looking at it which does not often fix things LOL

 

[patka108]

OK, so if the laptop worked till the battery ran out, that may be an issue with the charger if it also got wet, or with the battery, or the battery connectors to the system. Try another charger. The system should run even if the battery is bad. If you can't take it apart to check or try different parts there is not much else you can do because really the only thing you have left is just sit there looking at it which does not often fix things LOL

Thank you for the reply. The charger is good and the battery is good as well. The issue seems to be in the power supply from the charger port into the laptop. I took it to bestbuy and was told that since the power supply is going through the motherboard, most likely the whole motherboard would need to be replaced. I was just hoping that taking it apart further would help me see and clean possible corrosion. I have also not pulled out the battery to see if that changes how the power supply works, as I read that it would void warranty or possible warranty extension. It was just out of warranty when this happened, so extension is still possible I was told by Lenovo. Not sure what is the best option at this point.

 

[patka108]

I have posted previously about my ThinkPad laptop not charging after water got in. Initially, I dried the laptop and was able to work on it, but after 4 days I noticed the power was not charging the laptop. This is when I was advised that I probably needed a new laptop. The UPDATE is that after this, I cleaned the port and plug with alcohol from what appeared to be corrosion. It did not immediately respond, but I tried to plug in the charger a few days later and the laptop charged and worked fine for another 6 days. Toda
y, I noticed the laptop was not charging again. When I unplugged it, there was a slight burned electronic smell right at the charging port. My question is, since there appears to be a problem right at the charging port (not the charger) and the laptop, other than not charging, works fine, is there anything I can do to fix the power supply problem?

 

[webworkings]

If you aren't OK with the answer the first techs gave you, then try another local tech and see what they say.

However, in the end, they are likely right. Liquid can do a lot of damage.

 

[patka108]

If you aren't OK with the answer the first techs gave you, then try another local tech and see what they say.

However, in the end, they are likely right. Liquid can do a lot of damage.

Thank you. I was just trying to find out if there is any way to replace the charging port where the supply is coming in as opposed to replacing the whole motherboard since the computer works and powers on, just than not charging. Or is the charging area completely merged with the motherboard and it has to be replaced altogether? I have not been able to find an answer to this so far. I would much appreciate a clarification. Thanks so much!

 

[webworkings]

Likely it is one connected part on that device. Hence the replacement.