Lenovo 3000 J Series Early System Board Failure

[jgawne]

Hello - I am an IT specialist with the Valley of the Sun YMCA in Phoenix, AZ.  I have a Lenovo 3000 J Series with a dead systemboard.  About 9 months ago, I had the same problem with a similar machine that was also purchased in 2007.  Even though the system was out of warranty, IBM replaced the board at no charge.  Is this still the case?  If not, is there a discounted rate on the FRU?  Please advise ASAP

[stlscott]

I too just had a J-Series 3000 Desktop system board go bad.  It was purchased in December 2007 and has died already!  I hope that an answer comes to this question.

I need advice how to get the system board replaced either way (or at least find out the cost).

Thanks

Scott

[jgawne]

I made some calls to Lenovo support, and they are no longer providing a replacement.  The system board costs about $350 - there are many sources on the internet.  You might want to look at getting a different board that will accept your processor - if you have a Pentium D (as I do) you may want to consider this one

Intel DG35EC Motherboard - Intel G35 Express, Socket 775, MicroATX, Audio, Video, DVI, PCI Express, Gigabit LAN, USB 2.0, FireWire, Serial ATA it is available from TigerDirect.com for $80

[stlscott]

Will that fit in the Lenovo case?  Also, I was hoping to get the same chipset so that I could avoid an XP re-INstall....

[jgawne]

It will definitely fit in the case.  Not sure about the chipset - I'll let you know when I am done.  I should get the new board early next week

[Cavalier858]

any updates on the chipset?

[MaxwellSmart]

I'm a techie kind of guy. After Lenovo flatly refused to do anything about my MB, I figured it was dead anyway, so there was nothing to lose but some time. I removed the MB, took note of the capacitors which had bulged tops, and ordered replacement capacitors. In my case, the only bulged caps were rated 1000uF 6.3V. I ordered a dozen of those from an online electronics parts place, picking caps rated for computer/motherboard use. They cost $0.18 each.

After that I spent about an hour delicately removing the existing (presumably dead) caps and replacing them. In fact, I removed all of the caps with that value on the MB, domed or not. It's a delicate, skilled soldering job requiring a good, hot, well tinned soldering iron and a light touch. This is NOT a beginner soldering trick.

But I'm not a beginner at soldering. I got them all out without visibly damaging the PCB, cleared the holes with desoldering braid, then installed the new caps, taking care to get the + lead in the + marked hole.

It came back up the first boot.

This left me with a distinct bad taste in my mouth for Lenovo products and support, though. I use the machine as a tester, believing that it may die at any time.

But YMMV.

[equus]

I have seen two Lenovo 3000 J Series machines that would spin he fans on power up but did not complete POST. They both had a problem at the main power connector on the motherboard where the group of 5 volt line (red wires) at the top end of the connector had heated up due to a poor connection and oxidized the surface. Scraping the pins clean on the motherboard side proved to be at least a temporary fix.