I’m trying to chase down why this laptop isn’t showing a display and I believe the user was using the wrong charger which caused this issue, possibly. Visual inspection shows no damage to the board but chasing down the power lead me to this chip with no label. Any ideas on the name and a replacement?

The computer gives an orange light for the battery and when the power button is pressed it lights up for about 2 seconds then shuts off with no display ever coming on. We are a small marketing business and would like to save money on this computer if possible by not buying a new one. Might be a long shot but worth a try.

⟐ Answer accepted October 22, 2025 at 1:06 MST

⟐ Answer accepted January 26, 2024 at 7:01 MST

⟐ Answer edited January 23, 2025 at 2:06 MST

⟐ Answer edited December 20, 2024 at 13:49 MST

today my laptop (Thinkbook 14 G3 ACL) refused to turn on. It was fine about 5 days ago after which it was sitting on a shelf without power. It refused to power up today. I tried a bunch of things - holding power button for long time, different power supplies (which I checked do work), etc. But nothing seems to help. I opened it up, disconnected the battery, tried powering up without it connected, then reconnected and tried again. No luck.

Then I noticed some grime on the motherboard - guessing from some old spill.

I want to at least try cleaning it up. What would be a reasonable way to try? Cotton swap + isopropyl alcohol? What percentage? Any other advice?

Thank you for your help in advance!

Re-posting so the images show up.

Thank you for your encouragement! It turned out to be simpler than I expected :)

Ok, the back side seems to be quite clean.

The RAM EMI shielding seems cumbersome to remove, but I decided to leave it alone because there are no traces of any grime in the nearby area.

So it seems the problematic area is essentially what was seen from the outside prior to disassembly.

I'll clean it up with 91% Isopropyl alcohol and try reassembling and firing it up. Is there something else I can do here to increase my chances of success?

Well, unfortunately, the laptop still shows no signs of life after I cleaned the problematic area to the best of my ability:

The charger is definitely fine - checked it with my other laptop and the phone - both charge flawlessly from it. Not sure how to check the battery though - I tried firing it up both with battery plugged in and disconnected if that makes any difference.

I appreciate the help! At this point, I am not sure that I can do much more - although I'm willing to try if you think there's more that can be done but to be honest I neither have tools nor knowledge and experience to diagnose if some chip is dead...

Finally - and let me know if this is a kind of question to ask on this forum - I was wondering if you could recommend a repair shop dealing with Lenovos near NYC which could do a more proper diagnosis? To be honest though, given that the motherboard itself seems to cost 300 bucks for a laptop that cost 500, the unfortunate likely outcome is that this one will become a paperweight. Perhaps worth trying to sell it for parts? I mean this thing is only one year old and I'd expect most components to still be usable...

Well, to be fair, I didn't soak the board! Let me try again! :)

After a long soak and cleaning with a soft brush, the result is unfortunately the same - no response from the laptop.

Some pins on the tps65988 chip seem darker than others and the isopropyl bath had no effect on that. No idea if that means anything and to be honest I don't think it really matters - even if I knew the chip is fried, resoldering it is way beyond my abilities.

In any case, thank you again for your help! I would appreciate any responses to the questions I posed in the previous update.

Best wishes,
Rostislav.

⟐ Commented March 10, 2023 at 16:57 MST

2 weeks ago my camera was working fine but now when I try to open it directly or through apps like Zoom it is blank. There is only a picture of a crossed camera.

Please help. Thanks in advance

⟐ Commented April 08, 2024 at 13:50 MST

⟐ Answer edited February 16, 2026 at 17:04 MST

I just bought this laptop used and its not starting, the carging led is on when plugged in and the battery one too, even the power button lights up, but no matter its not starting.

The only other thing it does is starting up the cooling fan at a, what sounds like, very high RPM when the powerbutton is held down longer then about 30 seconds and stops when i let go.

I unfortunatly can't contact the seller to ask him about it

⟐ Commented April 04, 2026 at 7:42 MST

⟐ Answered March 24, 2025 at 7:13 MST

⟐ Commented June 03, 2024 at 3:36 MST

⟐ Answered February 05, 2024 at 14:04 MST

⟐ Answered October 22, 2023 at 20:17 MST

⟐ Answered June 03, 2023 at 8:05 MST

⟐ Answered January 16, 2023 at 7:46 MST

⟐ Answer accepted December 29, 2022 at 9:41 MST

⟐ Answer edited September 12, 2021 at 23:41 MST

⟐ Answer edited April 08, 2021 at 1:25 MST