[NTLK] MessagePad 2100 recap/repair

[Matt Materniak]

I did have batteries in it previously but they did not appear to leak. How
it exhibited itself is that the screen previous had normal contrast levels,
but this time it booted up and the screen needed to have 100% contrast to
be visible. Even then that faded out to barely visible in the span of about
an hour. Now regardless of if I use batteries or the official Newton
charger I use with .y eMate, I don't see anything on the screen nor do I
hear any chime. I've had all power pulled since last night so I'll see if
that helps when I return home

I'm more than comfortable working on the PCB and any SMT components if need
be (it's my day job) so if there are any schematics or other detailed info
that would help I'd definitely be interested.

Thanks
Matt

On Fri, May 20, 2022, 1:21 PM DXH <dxh at woh.rr.com> wrote:

> No, that won’t fix the problem. The recap is applicable to the OMP as it
> has a number of electrolytic capacitors which are susceptible to drying
> out. The 2x00 has but one electrolytic cap and it is for the backlight
> circuit.
> The yellow caps are tantalum and have a solid construction so - failure
> possible, but unlikely.
>
> Was it stored with batteries inside? They can leak and corrode the
> connections. Did you power it with a power supply? Was it a Newton supply
> or generic? Some generics have a tendency to kill units due to
> over-voltage/current.
>
> Occam’s razor - try the simple things first like a full reset. Power with
> fresh batteries or correct PSU. If you have a rechargeable battery pack
> then perhaps it is toast.
>
> More complicated, there is a fuse inside in the power supply circuit. If
> the wrong supply is used it can fail. This is a simple fix but it is a tiny
> SMD component so a tad difficult for the average repair person. It’s
> labeled F1. If you have a multimeter you could at least see if it is still
> intact by measuring across it.
>
> If the simple measures don’t work then you will have to ask someone on
> here with knowledge to take a look at it for you.
>
> PCBman
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On May 20, 2022, at 12:28 PM, Alan Grassia <alan.grassia at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hello Matt and Newton Friends,
> >
> > Based on my novice skills in this area, and having repaired my OMP with
> a recap job, I would say this sounds like a reasonable place to start.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Alan
> >
> > -------------------------------
> > OMP, MP2000, MP2100, eMate 300
> >
> > Website: http://blog.smartphonefanatics.com
> > Twitter: https://twitter.com/alanmgrassia
> > LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangrassia
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone 13 Pro Max
> >
> >> On May 20, 2022, at 11:55 AM, Matt Materniak <netman85am at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Everyone!
> >>
> >> It looks like my MP2100 is starting to bite the dust, powered it on for
> the
> >> first time in 6 months and the screen contrast was almost non-existent
> and
> >> now it won't power on or chime. My first gut instinct is calling to
> recap
> >> the unit due to age, does that sound like it will fix the problem? Is
> there
> >> anything else I should be checking or looking for for a failure like
> this?
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >> Matt
> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> http://newtontalk.net
> >> http://twitter.com/newtontalk
> > ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > http://newtontalk.net
> > http://twitter.com/newtontalk
>
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>
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