Laptop charger overheating??

Bronnie · 9 February 2010 at 1:58AM

:eek: Had my laptop on for a couple of hours. Plugged the charger in about half and hour ago...less than half charged now....... smelled a kind of overheating smell. The charger is quite hot where it plugs into the laptop and there's a slight overheating smell from that point. Have turned it off at wall but the charger pin seems to be stuck in the laptop now.

5 mins later.............Actually have just managed to pull it out now...presume it's cooled down
Has this happened to anyone else, please? What needs to be done?

1984ReturnsForReal_2 · 9 February 2010 at 2:07AM

Take the laptop battery out & try it again with no battery.

If the same thing happens switch it off immediately.

[Deleted User] · 9 February 2010 at 2:08AM

Have you checked to ensure that there is nothing small in the socket or around the pin on the plug?

Is this a Mac with a magnetic power socket by any chance? I have heard of them occasionally attracting something very small and metallic, which can result in this kind of problem.

Does the laptop work without a problem on its battery?

hotpot1000 · 9 February 2010 at 2:21AM

Mine did this and actually burned out, only about 3 yrs old, seem to be weak where the wire from the laptop joins the charging unit, that wire is not very robust and the outer casing had split. Has the section of cable you're referring to been bent/twisted and is damaged?
Got a new one off ebay for £8, they are quite expensive elsewhere.

Bronnie · 9 February 2010 at 2:44AM

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

Take the laptop battery out & try it again with no battery.

If the same thing happens switch it off immediately.

Thanks will try.

tentonine wrote: »

Have you checked to ensure that there is nothing small in the socket or around the pin on the plug?

Seems to be clear.

Is this a Mac with a magnetic power socket by any chance? I have heard of them occasionally attracting something very small and metallic, which can result in this kind of problem.

No, not a Mac

Does the laptop work without a problem on its battery?

Yes, it's fine

hotpot1000 wrote: »

Mine did this and actually burned out, only about 3 yrs old, seem to be weak where the wire from the laptop joins the charging unit, that wire is not very robust and the outer casing had split. Has the section of cable you're referring to been bent/twisted and is damaged?
Got a new one off ebay for £8, they are quite expensive elsewhere.

Cable hasn't been damaged..only me using it!

Thanks for your quick replies. Only got 12% power left on battery.

1984, will try your suggestion now,sorry to be thick but what will that tell me ?

ETA have switched off and left the laptop for 10 mins, actually the whole laptop did actually seem extremely hot on the bottom. Left it to cool down a bit and have put it back on. It's now charging OK and is nowhere near as hot. Strange.

cit_k · 9 February 2010 at 7:12AM

Possibly either the cable has snapped internally (maybe partially), near the plug and is overheating, or more likely, there is a loose connection in the power socket or the PCB where the socket is, and its overheating due to not making contact all the time, sparking etc could cause the burning smell. It may not be this, but its a possibility.

Do not leave the laptop plugged and unattended in case it catches fire.
Perhaps have a local computer shop look at it for you, unless you are confident at dismantling a laptop (not recommended unless you are, to easy to mess things up putting it all back together) and checking the pcb/socket yourself.

Bronnie · 9 February 2010 at 12:47PM

Hi thanks,

Believe me, the last thing I am likely to do is take anything to bits!

I'm wondering now though. The base of laptops have ventilation holes and tiny little feet........is it likely that a laptop used on your lap as opposed to on a hard surface, whilst wearing a fluffy dressing gown (which would effectively block the ventilation holes) would cause the entire laptop to overheat?

The entire base of the laptop was really hot last night before I switched it off and I wonder if it was that that caused the smell and the charger pin to get stuck inside rather than a charger fault itself?

Thanks for everyone's input.

macman · 9 February 2010 at 1:03PM

Bronnie wrote: »

Hi thanks,

Believe me, the last thing I am likely to do is take anything to bits!

I'm wondering now though. The base of laptops have ventilation holes and tiny little feet........is it likely that a laptop used on your lap as opposed to on a hard surface, whilst wearing a fluffy dressing gown (which would effectively block the ventilation holes) would cause the entire laptop to overheat?

The entire base of the laptop was really hot last night before I switched it off and I wonder if it was that that caused the smell and the charger pin to get stuck inside rather than a charger fault itself?

Thanks for everyone's input.

Yes that can cause it to overheat, you should use it on a hard surface instead (put it on a tray or similar). Get a can of compressed air and blow all the dust out of the fan inlets and outlets. Overheating will eventualy cause processor failure.
But if you were using it on battery last night, then the charging block cannot have overheated.
You most likely have a failing charging block, which is by far the most common failure on a laptop, the repair cost is around £100 due to the disassembly required (the part cost is a few pence).

Laptop charger overheating??

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