Question : Problem: How can I repair a toasted Palm m505?

I set an m505 in its cradle and plugged in its power supply, but the charging indicator stayed dark. I removed it from the cradle, and it lit up. Put it back in, went dark.

Then I noticed that instead of the 5v power supply that came with it, I had plugged in the power supply to a laptop and have the poor thing 16vdc. Well, I tried plugging in the normal supply and letting it sit a while, but it just got really warm.

Now it makes no sign that it works at all. Soft reset, hard reset and cradle reset all appear to have no effect. Palm wants $125 to fix the thing, which is crazy since I can buy a used one for $50 or so.

Since it's now a paperweight, and I'm pretty darned handy with a soldering iron, is there anything I can do to repair the thing if I should get some spare time? What parts would I need? How do I find out how to test what failed? I would plan on buying broken machines to get parts. What else should I consider?

Answer : Problem: How can I repair a toasted Palm m505?

At best you need to replace the battery at worse you need to replace the motherboard.

How-To dissassemble the M505 instructuons go here:

http://www.gethightech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GHT&Category_Code=_M5TAKEAPART

You will need Torx Driver - T5 & T6 Driver  $9.99 from them as well part#XX1127

Go to http://www.pdaparts.com
Replacement battery is 29.99 part#PA1371

They don't show a motherboard replacement part, but if you e-mail or call them they may be able to help you.

Also, they will tell you exactly what is wrong for $20.00 plus shipping.  
"The $20 General Diagnosis fee allows you to send in your unit and GetHighTech will have one of our repair experts diagnose your unit. Once we have determined the cause of your units problem we will email you a quote with the cost to repair the unit. The $20 per unit diagnosis fee is Non-Refundable and is not applied towards the part(s) cost. "
 
Units Repaired: Palm M505
*Digitizer/GlassTop Repair: N/A
*Complete Screen Replacement : $75.00
*Battery Replacement: $45.00
General Diagnosis: $20.00

*Prices include parts and labor.
 
Good luck.