G3 Lombard - Intermittent power

[mddguy]

I just bought a PowerBook G3 Lombard from eBay. 400MHz version.

Ive managed to wipe the drive and give it a fresh install of Panther and it has been working great, however I came back to it earlier and it won’t switch on now.

Video here

Since I got it, whenever I would plug in the power supply, it would spin up the drive and fans briefly and show a green light, then cut out. Then id press, it would chime, and then we’re in business.

Now it doesn’t seem to want to switch on anymore (9 out of 10 times it won’t)

I’ve tried - removing the system battery, the PRAM battery, removing memory, reseating memory, removing the optical drive from its bay and all combinations of the above. I would try a PRAM reset on start… if it would start.

Any suggestions or anyone who has had anything similar would be much appreciated.

 

[AdamBuker]

On some of these G3 PowerBooks the solder on the power input terminals will fail. I had a similar problem with mine several years back and I ruined the power delivery circuit board attempting to fix mine. I decided to give up on it and pulled the HD out and give it to someone else who could fix it.

 

[mddguy]

On some of these G3 PowerBooks the solder on the power input terminals will fail. I had a similar problem with mine several years back and I ruined the power delivery circuit board attempting to fix mine. I decided to give up on it and pulled the HD out and give it to someone else who could fix it.

Thanks Adam. Did cross my mind that it could be that. I might have a look over that board and either try and fix the solder or replace the board.