From: Dan (dan_at_dbdigitalweb.com)
Date: Fri Jun 17 2005 - 18:04:43 PDT
John Steinbeck wrote:
> Hi all, and thanks in advance for any help list
> members might offer:
>
> I picked up a great-looking MP 2100 at a garage sale
> recently. It was running on AA batteries and all was
> well. There was also a recharageable battery and the
> 9-watt AC adapter in the box.
>
> When I got home and plugged in the AC, the Newt
> booted, then shut off, followed by the smell of
> something burning. A slight bit of smoke began
> rising. I quickly pulled the plug and noted that the
> power port was extremely hot to the touch. No
> permanent damage -- the Newton still works with the
> battery tray in place and without bursting into
> flames. Phew.
>
> My question: is this fixable short of a new
> motherboard? Can the power plug assembly be replaced?
> Or is the solution just: don't use AC power, ever? The
> rechargeable is probably deep toast anyway, but
> still....
You were extreamly lucky. Everyone else that has such a event (at least
that I have heard of), the Newt is fried and no longer works. It might
be repairable, it might not. Certainly not easy as it is probably a
short not in the plug itself but somewhere on the board. Did you have
the rechargeable battery in the Newt when you plugged it in? If that is
the case, it might be that the regulator in the Newt went bad and when
it tried to charge the battery it drew a LOT more current than it would
normally.
It could also be that the adapter itself is bad. Another question, is
the adapter a original Newton one? Or is it something from Radio Shack?
Other brands of AC adapters have been known to kill Newts. However it
is also possible for a Newt adapter to go bad (though that happens very
rarely).
Personally I would just get some rechargeable AA's (two sets and a
charger) and use the tray. Much safer that way because even if the
adapter is bad, as you might have fried the regulator in the Newt. So I
certainly wouldn't trust it on AC anymore (trying to power it again that
way is risking the Newt). You could have Frank take a look at it and
see what exactly the problem is. Other than that I wouldn't use it on
AC again.
-Dan
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