What is it?

This board will be shipped to you in the case required to be a simple "drop-in" or swap replacement for your Lenovo Thinkpad W520 or W530 and for that matter any laptop that uses the same connector. You will need to disassemble the laptop but the good part is that you will only need to replace this module instead of soldering wires.

Why did you make it?

I made this board because I have fallen in love with the Type-C connector and the Power Delivery protocol. Many things can be said in the support of this statement but long story short, I just love to travel with maximum 2 cables and 1 or 2 power bricks depending on the number of devices I carry; bonus fact, I can charge my laptop from the same power bank(45w PD enabled) that charges my phone. Another driving reason to design this module was my youtube audience that wanted a way to use PD on their W520 or W530 laptops but without the need to solder and use hot glue( as I did in my first mod).

What makes it special?

This module is designed and tested by myself and I have tested it in quite harsh conditions. I am doing the assembly by hand, inspect every board under the microscope, test every single board before inserting it in the case and test again once it is in the case. It is an easy replacement and a nice way to upgrade your beloved Lenovo Thinkpad W520 or W530 to today's connectivity for charging plus it helps you reduce the amount of chargers and cables that you have to carry in your backpack or for a trip.

IMPORTANT DETAILS

We have a 65W and a 90W version. Please pay attention what you order because normally your laptop identifies the charger by an ID pin. That is no longer possible using the PD charging and I have built 2 versions of this board so you can buy the version you need . Once you buy the adapter from me, you will have to buy a PD charger/brick from a store , the brick output power should match at minimum the adapter's rating. If you buy a 65W module from me then you need at least a 65W PD charger with 20V and 3.25Amp output. If you buy a 90W module from me then you need at least a 90W PD charger with 20V and 4.5Amp output. If you will use a smaller output power brick than the power of the module, depending on the quality of your brick, you will notice:

• Slower or NO charge
• Brick over heating
• Laptop unable to charge at all If you need to use a lower power brick, I recommend to charge your battery with the laptop turned off/in standby at least until it gets 50% battery.

A longer explanation about this is in the linked Youtube video also.

What you get when you buy this kit:

• Fully assembled (including plastic case) and tested module
• Wires length 6 cm, total module length 6.6 cm

ALL the cases are SLA printed. No layer lines can be seen and they will fit perfectly no matter what. The colours might look slightly different in real life as each monitor will show the colour with a slight variation!

DISCLAIMER

A few ( 6 out of 300 customers) have experienced on X230 a problem that can be easily summarized as "the power management IC" on their laptop PCB died after installing and using my mod. For some of them it was at the first use for others after 1 or more uses. This IS NOT MY MOD'S FAULT !. This is a problem with the Power Management IC that is present on the PCB and that sadly sometimes will fail. I have put together a guide on how that can be fixed in case you are curious and please not that by purchasing this mod you understand that if this problem shall occur in your laptop nor I nor Tindie are liable and it is an unfortunate situation. This problem only occurs on X230 but X220 could be subject to it. None of the newer models have manifested such problem. The guide can be found by clicking below on the " Documentation" or by following this link: GUIDE

Other Details:

The wiring loom will be longer than the original one with about 1cm/0.4in as I cut the wires by hand but there is enough space to tuck the wires in neatly in the laptop case.

Shipping info :

For all the orders placed until Sunday 17:00 on GMT+8 , the shipping will be next Wednesday. This means I ship only once a week as I can not make the products one by one but rather I make them in batches. Sometimes there will be delays as if a product does not work properly I will not ship it and I will make a new one for the customer. In this case, I will ship Thursday or Friday. Please ask me if you have any questions.

How long will the shipping take?

Now I am shipping form the UK and Royal Mail takes a while sadly since January 2023 when they had a cyber incident. It takes anywhere between 2 weeks to 8 weeks for a package to get to the USA for example and 2 weeks to 6 weeks to get a package to some areas in Belgium. I am here to help if the package gets lost but please understand that it take time and I can't control the shipping times. THank you !