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    Yet Another CF-18 Battery/Boot Issue

    Discussion in 'Panasonic' started by Toughbook, Sep 20, 2009.

  1. Toughbook

    Toughbook Drop and Give Me 20!

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    Okay... As I mentioned in another thread... I just bought a few CF-18 MK4 models... 1.2GHz, touchscreen, OEM GPS, SD Card, Illuminated keyboard... I like the condition as most CF-18s I have seen are used as they were supposed to be... Beat up. Anyway... Usually, when I get a Toughbook... I'll throw it on the charger for a few minutes anyway and then boot it up... Check out the BIOS, the rev# and then check functionality. This one worked great. I went ahead and did a battery recalibration. They came with the high cap Orange tabbed batteries too! :) Well... I then unplugged the laptop and tried to boot from the battery.... Nothing. I immediately thought the battery was dead or messed up in some other way so I swapped with the other one I have.... A known good battery... Nada... The one thing I noticed was that the little screen brightness key on the front right was blinking exactly once per second. Then I heard the slight tick, tick, tick sound along with the light. I took the bottom off and removed the speaker, RAM, wifi card, etc. I checked the battery connection on the motherboard... It looked pristine. I cleaned the contacts anyway. Still nothing except the blinking light and tick, tick, tick.... I can then plug it back into the AC Adapter and it will boot perfectly.

    Does anyone either know for sure what the issue is? An educated guess would be my next choice. It was missing the PCMCIA slot port cover so something being lodged somewhere is not out of the realm of possibility.
    :confused: ​
     
    Toughbook, Sep 20, 2009
    #1
  2. Alex

    Alex Super Moderator

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    Alex, Sep 21, 2009
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  3. Toughbook

    Toughbook Drop and Give Me 20!

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    Nope... His connector had broken off from the motherboard... He epoxied it back on... MIne looks to be perfect... Just no boot from battery.
     
    Toughbook, Sep 21, 2009
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  4. tecgod13

    tecgod13 Notebook Enthusiast

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    That sounds like the same problem I've been having, batteries seem to charge fine (but only to 99%?) but will not run off the battery.
    Only difference is I don't have any lights by the screen brightness keys? (mine is a MK1 if thats the difference)

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=412046

    Please let me know if you figure it out, I can't seem to find anything wrong with the battery connector and have about given up and started looking for a replacement.
     
    tecgod13, Sep 21, 2009
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  5. Toughbook

    Toughbook Drop and Give Me 20!

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    Yeah... I'll reflow the connector later and see if that was the issue... I'll keep you posted.
     
    Toughbook, Sep 21, 2009
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