Repairing AC adaptor

peter_the_piper

My daughter, at Uni, has a Dell 1300 and the charger has packed up. Its the cable where it connects to the laptop. Seems a great waste to dump a working charger just because the cable packed up. Is there any way to repair or replace?

M3_Sussex

From a safety point of view it's probably inadvisable to repair. You can get them on ebay for £21 including postage.

Cricri

Heck, I'd try to fix it myself as well before replacing it.
As far as safety is concerned, these things do not store great deal of energy, so unless you left it plugged in (duh), I can't imagine what could happen to you.
However, when you ask "Is there any way to repair", it's like asking "can my car be fixed". If it's totalled, no, if it's a dead light bulb, yes. In other words, it depends on the fault. If the cable is cut somewhere and you need to wiggle it to work, just cut it until the point where the problem is gone, and solder it back in. If it's the fuse, change it. I'm just speculating with common faults since you didn't elaborate.

Cricri

Btw, if you fear that some capacitors might actually be harmful, switch on your laptop with the adapter plugged in but not plugged into the mains to drain whatever energy could be left in.

johnmc

Its the cable where it connects to the laptop

Presumably diagnosed by waggling it?

If the transformer is still kicking out the goods and it's a broken wire at the plug where it goes into the lappy then fix it yourself.

You could try your friendly local electrical spares shop or failing that try Maplin. You'll need to know the size of the plug.

Chop the cable back and then use a battery & bulb or an AVO meter to see which cable connects to where and solder the new one into place.

Much cheaper than a new power supply.

Avoriaz

The voltage downstream from the adapter (transformer) is at low voltage, probably between 12 and 20 volts, and is quite safe.

Repair, don't replace.

johnmc

I know this may sound a bit daft, but some years back I was asked to "Repair" a broken CB radio which was receiving a weak signal but not kicking anything out.

Checked the output from the rig and it was OK, so next was the aerial ...... the *&%$£ had only gone and used EPOXY GLUE instead of soldering the wire in!

So what I'm saying is; don't attempt the repair unless you have a soldering iron and know how to use it ;-)

rjm2k1

albertross wrote: »

how old is it.. sale of goods act, upto 6 years.

Wear and tear, the fault presumably wasn't there initially and developed later whilst being used, I suppose you could argue it's a design fault, but using thin conducting wire in a device like this is standard practice and it can break. SOG wouldn't really cover this.

peter_the_piper

Thanks for the replys, I've bought one off e-bay as she's got some important work to send in. As it (I think) is an internal wire fault( found by wiggling it, very technical) I'll try a repair when she gets here next week. I think she'll borrow a charger for a while, mate has exact model, and complete when she gets here. I think Dell treat adaptors like batteries, a consumable item.
Peter.