I bought a Wallstreet today that had the power connector broken off. I pulled out the DC/Audio board and put on a new connector. This is not the weird Apple connector but a standard barrel connector.
I also did not get a power supply with it. I am trying to test using a 2A 20VDC power supply. The system requires 24VDC but I was hopping that 20VDC would be enough to get it to do something for a few seconds at least. But no dice.
I am starting to think that there is a problem in the board somewhere. Of the 5 solder pads near where the connector goes 4 of those goes to ground. The 5th one is the middle one on the back row. I looked up some pictures of the board and looks like that is where positive should go. I am unable to trace it to anywhere else on the board and when I hook up power I can not get a reading anywhere.
Before putting too much time into this I wanted an idea if it worked. I found out that the battery out puts 14.4V. I took a 13.5VDC wall wart that goes to about 15VDC when unloaded. I hooked the wires to the positive and negative terminals on the battery connector. I turn it on and it turns on for about 3 seconds and powers off. I figure this is for two reasons. One the voltage goes to low and the PMU is unable to communicate with the battery.
Is that a good guess or does the machine have other problems?
I am leaning toward it being a problem with DC/Audio board. When I was pulling it out I caught a slight smell of smoke and it seems to be from behind the audio connectors. Though I have horrible since of smell so who knows if that means any thing.
Power input/audio board failure is common in the Wallstreet 'Books, reflected in the elevated eBay prices for that part. Most common failure is the obvious one in front of you, the power connector's solder points fail and it separates from the board.
Viewing the power board from the front of the 'Book, + connects to the lefthand pad, - to the righthand pad, and (AFAIK) on a WS the center is not connected to anything. The power board's connector shell is not connected at all to the power supply, but does go to ground.
Here's a situation reverse to yours, but maybe it'll help?
There can be other problems in such a 'Book, so simply replacing the power board may not restore it to life. The best way to troubleshoot is to have a complete working similar WS at hand from which to swap parts.
Lacking that, have you got any Apple 24v PSes (from 190/5300 to the latest AlBook) with a broken PB-side plug? Replace that broken end with a plug matching your replacement connector.
dan k
Dan your advice on the power pin outs was spot on.
It looks like some one had tried to repair it in the past and managed to bridge the solder between the + pad and the component next to it. Thus grounding it out. A little bit of cleanup work and resoldering of the power connector and it works great.
Right now I am installing OS 9 on it and everything appears to be fine. The power adapter I am using is a 20VDC 1.5A. I saw that many of the Auto adapters only output 20VDC so I figure as long as I do not charge the battery while it is on I will be okay. I do plan on finding another adapter as the one that I am using is the size of a brick.
Guess this gamble paid off.