Lenovo Thinkpad t480 no power or charging light

[frase]

A customer bought in a lenovo thinkpad t480, issue is not powering on.
They got a new charger from a chain store here JB-HiFi, and still does not charge.
What I have done as far -


Used a universal charger with the USBC connector still no charge.
Power cycled.
Reset CMOS via pin on back.

The light does not come on at all, to me it seems the board is dead.

The customer had not powered on the laptop for a few months as well.

I do not wish to purchase a new battery if this is not the issue, does this laptop cycle through the battery for initial power if not powered on for x amount of time?

 

[phaZed]

Pretty sure it should fire up regardless of battery. I would concur that there is likely something up with the board.

 

[fincoder]

I would open it up and disconnect the battery, try turning on without battery. Then reconnect battery and try it.

 

[frase]

I would open it up and disconnect the battery, try turning on without battery. Then reconnect battery and try it.

Yes tried that thanks, did not resolve issue.

It does look like the laptop is DOA, though how does one test a USBC charger with a Multimeter?

 

[fincoder]

how does one test a USBC charger

... by trying another. And by trying the original one with another laptop.

 

[lan101]

Probably the charging port is my guess. I think usb-c is gonna make a lot of laptops fail sooner than in the past. They just don't hold up as good.

I had someone in the past year or so send I think it was a Lenevo Yoga series with the usb-c connection to these guys.

Power Jack Repair Charge Port Replacement Fix - Power Jack Repair Replacement Fix on Laptops

Power jack repair specializes in dc power jack replacements repairs on laptop computers. DC Power Jack on the laptop is also known as an AC DC (direct current) power port, dc power input, dc power connector, dc power socket, pin, inlet.

powerjackrepair.org

They couldn't fix it in that particular case either but I don't recall why. It was kinda funny because this particular customer was determined to fix this laptop and she decided to buy an extended warranty from Lenevo. She then sent it in a short time later and to my shock they ended up actually replacing the motherboard lol. I told her I'd pass that story along but I believe she got lucky lol.

 

[phaZed]

how does one test a USBC charger

You'll want one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/FNIRSI-Multimeter-Bluetooth-Detection-Measurement/dp/B0BJ253W31?sr=8-4

You plug it inline with the laptop and you can see if it's negotiating PowerDelivery, and how many Amps/Watts are being drawn, if any.

The USB-C Sockets are super difficult to replace, most of the time requiring a hotplate and reflow soldering - forget trying to hand solder them in most cases - the pins are (usually) practically under the connector body itself. Also, when they break or get pulled by the cable by the user, it rips the pads off the board really easily, trashing the board in many instances.

 

[frase]

Probably the charging port is my guess. I think usb-c is gonna make a lot of laptops fail sooner than in the past. They just don't hold up as good.

I had someone in the past year or so send I think it was a Lenevo Yoga series with the usb-c connection to these guys.

Power Jack Repair Charge Port Replacement Fix - Power Jack Repair Replacement Fix on Laptops

Power jack repair specializes in dc power jack replacements repairs on laptop computers. DC Power Jack on the laptop is also known as an AC DC (direct current) power port, dc power input, dc power connector, dc power socket, pin, inlet.

powerjackrepair.org

They couldn't fix it in that particular case either but I don't recall why. It was kinda funny because this particular customer was determined to fix this laptop and she decided to buy an extended warranty from Lenevo. She then sent it in a short time later and to my shock they ended up actually replacing the motherboard lol. I told her I'd pass that story along but I believe she got lucky lol.

Yea, not going to go that far. I will explain it can be an option for further testing if required.

 

[brandonkick]

I know the issue here, because I actually use a T480 as my daily driver laptop (which rarely ever gets used). The extremely long battery life is what makes it attractive to me.

These T480 machines are notorious for Thunderbolt 3 controller failure issues due to a firmware problem. Long story short, the controller can die and the USB-C ports (the only way to charge this machine) stop working entirely. If you didn't update the firmware to the version with a fix for the problem, your controller can fail. If it does, the USB-C ports stop working. Not because the port is bad, but because the TB3 controller failed.

The board itself is still good. The TB3 controller IC is dead. So... effectively, the motheboard is junk without a new TB3 controller. The motherboard will need replaced.

https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/1dfdp18/the_thunderbolt_firmware_problem_explained

 

[HCHTech]

You can test the charger with a multimeter, you can test the jack with a multimeter (check the traces on the motherboard where either the jack or the jack daughterboard connect), you can check whether juice is making it to the battery with a multimeter, and you can test whether the battery is charged with a multimeter once it is disconnected from the motherboard. Lastly, you should check the power switch itself if you can. Simple (ish) with a muiltimeter if it's actually a mechanical switch.

I just had one like this last week. Charger was good, jack was good, battery was being charged when plugged in and the battery was in fact taking that charge. No lights or fans when powering on. The only thing I couldn't check was the power switch itself because it was one of those horrible "soft" power switches that was a button on the keyboard. The only way to test that is to figure out which connection on the keyboard ribbon cable represents the power swtich - and that is only possible if you can get to that place when the laptop is mostly together. In my case, this connection was on the side of the motherboard under the keyboard, and the keyboard wasn't removable from the top plate, so I couldn't really test that.

 

[brandonkick]

You can test the charger with a multimeter, you can test the jack with a multimeter (check the traces on the motherboard where either the jack or the jack daughterboard connect), you can check whether juice is making it to the battery with a multimeter, and you can test whether the battery is charged with a multimeter once it is disconnected from the motherboard. Lastly, you should check the power switch itself if you can. Simple (ish) with a muiltimeter if it's actually a mechanical switch.

I just had one like this last week. Charger was good, jack was good, battery was being charged when plugged in and the battery was in fact taking that charge. No lights or fans when powering on. The only thing I couldn't check was the power switch itself because it was one of those horrible "soft" power switches that was a button on the keyboard. The only way to test that is to figure out which connection on the keyboard ribbon cable represents the power swtich - and that is only possible if you can get to that place when the laptop is mostly together. In my case, this connection was on the side of the motherboard under the keyboard, and the keyboard wasn't removable from the top plate, so I couldn't really test that.

Sounds like a short somewhere on the board pulling a power rail to ground, and the IC with the voltage sense line never gets high enough to enable.