Hp z620 Riser

[Hunter120]

Hello everyone, as you can see in the picture, the SMD power inductor at PL102 was broken. While installing the riser board, I accidentally hit it against the metal frame, which has been incredibly frustrating for me. I really want to replace this component. Does anyone know its exact technical value? Could you please share this information with me? I don't want to install a component with the wrong values. None of these three components have any markings or labels on them. Could anyone tell me exactly what the pl102 component is?"

[NonSequitur777]

@Hunter120,

Welcome to our HP Community forum!

Based on the circuit layout and design patterns of HP workstation motherboards and CPU/Memory auxiliary risers, here is the technical breakdown of the PL102 component:

1. Component Identification:

The component designated as PL102 is a Surface Mount Device (SMD) Power Inductor.

• Designator Breakdown: In standard motherboard schematics (especially those designed by OEMs like Foxconn, Quanta, or Compal for HP), the prefix "PL" explicitly stands for Power Line Inductor or Power Choke.
• Circuit Role: As seen in your image, PL102 sits in parallel/sequence right next to PL100 and PL101, positioned immediately next to a set of Power MOSFETs (PQ series) and capacitors. These form a multi-phase Buck Converter VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) designed to step down voltage for the memory slots (DDR3 DIMMs) or supplemental processor power lines on the HP Z620 secondary riser board.

2. Finding the Exact Value:

Because workstation manufacturers like HP do not publicly release their proprietary circuit schematics or Component Bills of Materials (BOM), the exact microhenry (μH) value and current rating (A) are not printed on the schematic or the PCB surface.

However, you have a major advantage: PL100, PL101, and PL102 are completely identical components working on the same power rail.

To get the exact technical values without a schematic, you can use these methods:

• Desolder and Measure: If you are up to it, carefully desolder one of the intact neighboring inductors (PL100 or PL101) using a hot air rework station. Use an LCR Meter to measure its exact inductance (typically between 0.22 μH to 1.5 μH for motherboard VRMs) and a digital caliper to document its precise physical dimensions (e.g., 4040, 5050, or 6060 package size).
• Donor Board (Recommended Method): The safest option for these proprietary OEM boards is to source a cheap, broken, or "for parts" HP Z620 2nd CPU Riser Board (or even an identical generation HP motherboard) from platforms such as eBay. You can then harvest any of the intact power inductors from the matching VRM section to ensure an absolute match in inductance, saturation current, and footprint.

3. Immediate Alternative Options:

If you cannot measure the value or find a donor board, replacing the entire riser card might be highly practical.

Because the HP Z620 is an older platform, complete HP Z620 Second CPU Riser Boards (HP Part Number: 618265-001) are widely available used and are very inexpensive. Buying a working replacement module may save substantial time, frustration and eliminate the risk of installing an incorrect value component that could potentially damage your secondary processor or RAM modules.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Hunter120]

Hello, thank you very much for your comprehensive and professional response. However, since I do not own an LCR meter, I will contact a few repair shops regarding this matter. When looking into purchasing a second-hand riser, there is only one available in my country, and its price is unfortunately equal to that of a complete Z620 PC case... As an authorized representative, could you please request the datasheet specifications and measurement details for PL102 and PL101 from HP? If it is not too much trouble, I would highly appreciate your assistance in obtaining this information. I hope to find an LCR meter, though I am not very optimistic. Best regards.

[NonSequitur777]

@Hunter120,

Unfortunately, the information you requested is not available to me.

Perhaps @SDH or @DGroves could provide any additional information.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[DGroves]

we did not use the z620 systems, but rather the z820/840 models

first of all the damaged inductor is not the end of the world as they are simply used to filter noise/pwr level swings on DC power circuits in your case and there is a good chance the system will operate fine even with the damaged inductor

i believe that there might be a "boardview" file on this z620 model that  should have what you are looking for

edit:

also be aware that the riser board is multi layer and you will damage the board if you do not have the proper wquipment to safely remove the inductor without ripping out the plated through holes that the inductor legs  pass through

[Hunter120]

You are saying that the system will work properly even without replacing it... To be honest, I have never tried this because I was worried about damaging the riser.

However, I am determined to replace PL102. I have a repair technician, but he doesn't have an LCR meter. He told me, 'If you find out the correct value, I can replace it and find a component with the matching value for that spot.' I won't be doing the replacement myself, but since we don't know the exact value, we cannot proceed with the intervention...

[DGroves · Accepted solution]

again, before you go nuts over this perhaps you should take some time to read up on just what a inductor does/is when used in a low voltage DC power line google is your friend here in your case the inductors can be used to Choke, block, attenuate, or filter/smooth high frequency noise in the riser cards' power lines and are not critical as the motherboard and z620 power supply also have inductors on the power rails

HP added additional inductors to the riser card because they felt the additional parts were "best case" circuit design as not all countries have clean stable power available

and if you look carefully at your damaged inductor you will see it's simply  two metal wires that are encased in a ferite materal that generates a magentic field when current is applied in a very specific maner otherwise a inductor is not seen or used by the circuit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductor

as i said there is a extremely high chance the riser board will operate normally even with a missing or damaged inductor

powering the riser cpu card on will not cause damage to any part of the system the worst thing that might happen is the system is unstable and as i've said several times this is highly unlikely

[Hunter120]

I understand now. This is not a voltage-dropping SMD component; rather, it's the exact same type of ferrite material found in VGA cables. From what I gather, it might cause an issue regarding noise or interference. I apologize for my late response; I've been experiencing internet issues for the past two days and was only just able to fix it. I will be heading home in a few days and will check whether the system works.

[NonSequitur777]

@DGroves,

You're the best -I knew I could rely on your expertise!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777