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AS400 Will not Start up

I have a problem very similar to this:

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21515960/AS400-Won't-power-up-total-newbie-to-as400.html

I am a windows guy with one AS400 170 9406 and cannot find any information on the net explaining what the src code 10112251 means.  All I've been able to figure out is that there is some sort of hardware failure dealing with power.  I have found several sites that have src information for other as400 models but cannot find anything that references my model or the code that the panel is displaying.

Is anyone familiar with this?

Our business is basically shut down until I resolve this and we of course do not have a service contract with IBM (I know, bad it guy).
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Member_2_276102

I don't have a model 170 Problem Analysis guide handy. Everywhere I look though, I see something like this: "SRC codes of 1XXX XXXX are System Power Control Network (SPCN) reference codes."

I don't see any references to any part/feature "2251", so there's no telling where it might lead.

There's almost certainly a power problem (duh!), but it could be power supply, regulator, who knows?

A 3-year hardware maintenance contract for a 170 can be less than maybe $2500, so maybe $65 a month overall? (Last one I did was under $2K for 3 years last November.)

Looks like an off-contract hardware call unless you really get lucky with another expert.

Tom
I'm not a IBM webpage big user but I found that:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v5r3/index.jsp?topic=/rzahb/srclist.htm

Hope this could help !

Lewis
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Barry Harper
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Thank you for the posts everyone.  I have gotten quotes for service contract before but the boss never wanted to shell out the cash, maybe this will scare him into it.  I also had no idea you could rent an AS400.  It would be great if you could provide your source, I would definately be interested.  It turns out I need a new fan so I am on the hunt for a hardware provider.  I'll explain below.

Okay, so here is the current status.  The as400 is up and running for over an hour now.  I'm not calling it fixed (because I've lost trust in the whole setup) but I think the situation is under control.  Here's what happend:

AS400 is powered off and will not power up.
Tried IPL several times anly to have it power off during IPL.  The fan was extremely noisy the whole time.  There was one successful IPL early in the day but the machine powered off after 15 minutes or so.
Chase down info on the web and post to the forum for help.
In the afternoon I finally give up and call IBM for help and I get the boss to sign off on an $8200.00 PO just to get IBM to come out.
I robbed a fan off of another AS400 from a sister company once they have shut down for the day. (Shhh....dont tell them, I'll have it back by morning)
Place it in the machine and IPL during which I notice an odd combination of lights on the battery backup. AS400 of course shuts down again.  
I remove all equipment from the battery backup and get power directly from a surge protector plugged into a standard outlet.
AS400 IPL's flawlessly.
Shutdown AS400 and set IPL mode back to 01 B N and power back up.
We have been running for over an hour now.

The best I can figure is that I have a fualty battery backup unit and the fan also decided to crap out at the same time.
Does anyone know where I can order a new fan and either pick it up or have it overnighted so I get the machine back to operational status?

I am in Vacaville Ca.  That's about a half hour from Sacramento and about an hour from San Francisco if anyone know a local supplier.
I am in Toronto, so it is a little far to drive....but for U$8,200 I would bring a 170 and install it!!!!

Seriously though, our American supplier is Abacus in Atlanta. Their prices are competitive and their tech support is good. We have used them for 8 years without a problem. They are at http://www.abacusllc.com/.

Depending how brave you are, and how much you can do yourself, there's always eBay. A quick search shows that there are several 170s of different model types, as well as parts. Maybe you can find something local. Spin the wheel, take your chances.

Barry
I'm in Seattle, so closer than Toronto; but my 170 stays right where it is even for $8200! (Moved here from Santa Rosa, worked in Sacramento; so commuted through Vacaville weekly for a couple years.)

If fan is "noisy", make sure it isn't just cavitating. A good cleaning of blades, etc., with compressed air and Q-tips might clean it up fine. Don't leave any residue and don't bend the blades. Simple dust buildup is a big cavitator.

The battery... I haven't needed to replace a builtin battery before. Always had external UPS instead. For a 170, they (external) may be under $2k depending on how much you actually need. My local power utility is a supplier for at least one UPS vendor for 170s. You might be as lucky, or a source such as TigerDirect can often ship quickly. CompUSA is a source for Powerware UPSs; maybe one is local.

And maybe a nearby (Sacramento?) battery supplier can simply work up a replacement. They might not do much good for the circuitry and parts for comm to the system, etc., but the physical batteries may be replaceable.

Sorry, not much help from me.

Tom
It was an external battery backup and the fan was not spinnging up to speed.  It was just barely moving.  I took it apart and it had a deep groove carved out in one half of the magnet.  I have a replacement fan arriving tommorow and a ups unit on order.  

Just another day in IT land.  Hopefully the new fan is the correct one (I have had trouble identifying the correct part number) and I can close this topic tommorow.