From: Johannes Wolf (mp2100_at_mail-gw.estec.esa.int)
Date: Mon Jun 20 2005 - 08:03:33 PDT
John,
you were quiet desperate but lucky at the end to connect the ac adaptor to
your other Newt.
But knowing that the adaptor works with the other Newt and that the source
of heat / smoke was near the power port of the Newton I rather think that
the zener diode to protect the Newt is gone and producing that heat and
smoke.
This should be replaceable easily.
Cheers
Johannes
> -----Original Message-----
> From: newtontalk-bounce_at_newtontalk.net
> [mailto:newtontalk-bounce_at_newtontalk.net]On Behalf Of John Steinbeck
> Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2005 3:49 AM
> To: newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] smoking Newt
> Thanks, Dan.
> Yes, I was lucky -- everything, including the
> backlight, is still working fine. The AC adapter is
> Newton branded 9-watt and is in good working order (at
> least is works fine with my other Newton).
> The overheating behavior occured with the
> recharageable in place.
> Guess I'll stick with those rechargeables.
>
> > > 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).
> > -Dan
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