I've done something really stupid! -PodXT & notebook PC

A similar thing happend to me when I brought my computer over from the US to the UK, I forgot to flip the voltage switch at the back. I tried replacing the power supply, but its completely dead. The same thing might of happened in your case. The only thing to do is try changing the power supply really. Good luck

Hi,

Although i've just thought again since my post and with a laptop/notebook the power supply unit is external (unlike a normal PC tower) so it's not the actual power supply.

- ie:
it goes from the mains plug lead to a rectangle power supply box with a lead from that to the notebook, so it must be something inside the notebook that you plug the power supply into thats blown, I'm hoping it's fused!!.

gaz

Normally, pcs are not fused, sorry.

Are you sure that the POD uses 9v AC? If that is the case then the PC is in serious trouble.

It don't look good does it?

The PodXT still works o.k. thank god.

The hard disk comes out easy,
just 2 screws and a quick pull (not being rude), but it's still like £700 worth down the drain.
:oops:
:cry:

Hopefully your harddrive survived, but there is a good chance the voltage regulator section of the laptop motherboard is a goner -- 9VAC means peak-to-peak voltages in excess of 25 volts. There is a slight chance the laptop's external power supply was damaged, but this would be unusual, as they are switch-mode supplies and usually well protected by active (non-fused, self-resetting) circuits. In any case, it might pay to try another laptop supply, or at least measure the output of the one you have -- you might be the one-in-ten lucky guy.

Yep the hard drive is o.k , and i'm 90% sure the external power supply is too but will test it with a proper meter, the only tester I have is one that lights up instead of giving a voltage reading.

I realized that I had the power leads the wrong way round when the PodXT's display panel did not light up like normal so I swapped them the right way round, and thought all was o.k. but the laptop was running on the internal battery and lasted the normal 50mins, then bleeped battery low, then I realised the mains power light was not lit on the laptop and so was not charging the internal battery up or powering the laptop,.

Now the battery is run down so.....game over for now I guess.

I have emailed Medion Electronics about the problem, they make the Microstar laptop so should be able to help or fix it if I send it off to them. It takes them 5 working days to reply though!.

If anyone is a pc wizard and has any ideas to try, or things to look for I would be grateful, I undid 10000 screws and could not see anything obvious, they don't half pack them things tight.

thanks,
gaz.

I think the Microstar may have an inline fuse to protect it from wrong voltage etc.

Open the case and test all the wires or circuits coming from the connector where the charger hooks up with an ohm meter by putting one side of the meter on the connector and tracing the circuits at different points going away from the connector.

You may find either a real fuse or a fused wire which you could also bypass with a jumper to see if it works in the event you don't have an ohm meter..

I will think on this a little and see if I can come up with anything else.

Good luck...

just 2 screws and a quick pull

ahahah, that made me laugh. Never the less, have you tried using a differnt powersupply(easily replaceable on notebooks no?) cuz it could've been blown if though its external. Sorry if someone suggested this or whatever, its just my 2 cents :) Also i suggest borrowing a new power supply instead of using meters...the simpliar the plan the less that can go wrong