Toughbook cf-c2 seems to be dead

My Toughbook cf-c2 has been working perfectly till one day while it was off and was plugged in and charging, I noticed a red light flashing, no other lights on, didn’t read what the light was for. So I tried to turn it on but no response. I unplugged it and took the battery out for 10 minutes and reinstalled and plugged in but now no lights at all and no response to the on switch. Tried the same thing again except while unplugged and battery out I held the power switch on for one minute, reinstalled and plugged in and still seems dead no charging light or anything. I replaced the charger adapter and still no lights and seems dead. I was going to try checking the CMOS battery but can’t find any information on where it is or if it even has one. Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you

 

Red flashing light is usually the battery.

Try plugging it in and starting it without the battery in.

 

Tried that but no go, but thank much!

 

Check whether your charger's output is 16V.

 

Yes it is 16v, and I also tried another Panasonic Toughbook 16V charger and no lights still dead.

 

Tested by voltmeter?

 

I took a look at my parts c2. check if ram is seated. check for damage to the charging port. take out the hard drive and see if it boots. If no results its prob motherboard failure. They are a challenge to change but these models are cheap enough tough to buy a whole unit.

 

16.4v and the other is 16.9v

 

RAM removed and SSD drive removed , no indication of life after repowering. Where is the CMOS battery because in my experience disconnecting and reconnecting it in other computers works wonders, but I can't find out where it is in the model?

 

CMOS battery change requires disassembly of the laptop.
The C2 is a PITA to tear down.

Does the red flash even without a battery?
Try wiggling the plug / cable where the power cord enters the laptop. Bad power port will act erratic when you wiggle the cord / port.

 

tried and no lights not even a flicker. Any Idea where the CMOS battery is. I looked at this and don't see it anywhere. https://files.manualagent.com/pdf/panasonic/panasonic-toughbook-c2-maintenance-manual-731550.pdf

I also watched this video and saw no sign of the CMOS battery location.

 

i looked at mine. you can see it at time 3.33-3.43 the yellow disc. it requires basically full disassembly. its possible to remove the pc card and with small tweezers you can unplug it. You can try that i would be surprised if that helped though. As Shawn mentioned plug it in and put pressure on the charging port in different directions and look for charging light.

 

As reported elsewhere,
a power - pull - reset might help.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/toughbook-cf-74-wont-power-up.815374/

 

That sounds like either the power port has gone bad or the motherboard / fuses.
My bet is the power port.

I have one of these external chargers. If I can charge the battery with it, and that full battery runs the laptop, I know the problem is the power / charging section of the laptop.

 

Here are some screen shots of the CMOS battery location.

 

I always wanted a universal kit to do other batteries. Great tool for fixing.
Looking at the power port it is soldered on the motherboard and is decently secured. Most machines now i fix have the power port separate which makes things simple.

 

External charger has saved my sanity several times.

Power ports are soldered on. Not too bad if you have some soldering experience. The metal shield that holds them on the motherboard (most Toughbooks have them) can be challenging. Can be difficult to get hot enough to melt solder and not destroy close components.