Tell whether laptop charger or power jack faulty?

beckstar1975

I have an old emachines laptop (e525) that I use when working from home as is actually better and remote accessing my work desktop than my hp one. Problem is it's VERY fussy about the angle the charging cable needs to be at in order to connect and charge - so I frequently have to come out of remote session to check it's still charging. The end of the charger is often red (burningly hot) when removed from the laptop too.

It's an unbranded charger as I couldn't find any branded Acer/eMachines ones.

Other than buying a new charger and seeing whether that improves things is there another way to tell if it's the charger or the jack that's at fault? I've already replaced the hard drive but I think the jack may be a step too far, and not worth paying out for either . .

Thank you

Rebecca

kwikbreaks

For my money this would be an issue with the power socket on the laptop. There really is very little to wear out with the jack. One frequent point of failure is the cable itself near to either end but the symptoms you describe don't fit that scenario.

I base that on the assumption that it did once work perfectly and isn't just a slightly off-size jack.

psychic_teabag

Your description is a little vague about which bit is which. A charger usually comprises mains plug and cable into a brick (unless the brick itself plugs directly into the mains). Then a thinner cable ending in a jack which plugs into the laptop.

it's usual for the brick to get warm : anything else getting hot is bad, since it implies high resistance somewhere. And high restance would drop the voltage which would prevent charging. Is it the angle of the thinner cable that matters, or the angle of the jack in the laptop socket itself ? The former might imply a break in the internal wire. (The cables often have one of those heavy cylinders near the jack, which puts extra stress on the end of the cable - I often reinforce that bit to stop it flexing too much.)

The latter might be a bad connection within the socket of the laptop itself.

You say it's an unbranded charger - is it the original one ? Is it definitely the correct voltage ? If it was too high, the laptop regulation circuitry might be dissipating the excess voltage as heat, which might be an explanation. Though it would the laptop itself getting hot (and conducting the heat to the jack).

beckstar1975

sorry - it's the female jack that plugs into the laptop that comes out hot, the brick is hot too, but the metal that actually goes into the laptop is scorchingly hot when I pull it out sometimes.

it's not the original charger as the cockatiel chewed through it!

GunJack

do you know someone with a similar charger (i.e. voltage/current and jackplug) you could borrow for elimination purposes? That would be the cheapest way to positively ID where the problem lies...

psychic_teabag

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I base that on the assumption that it did once work perfectly and isn't just a slightly off-size jack.

Worth asking: has it always been like this since using the replacement, or has it got worse recently ?

beckstar1975

I honestly don't know - it had been dead with a dodgy hard drive for ages when I bought a replacement on a whim and fitted it and as the hard drive had been on it's way out for a while it was always tricky to use but that's as the hard drive would keep failing.

No one else has similar but will try and source a decent charger to try as can always resell if no good but might just save it.

Thanks

stboard

Have a look at this link...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/eMachines-LAPTOP-CHARGER-SUPPLY-ADAPTER/dp/B006QBYXWI

Take your unbranded power supply and tell us what the input and output numbers are.

Sharon87

I've had this issue on my previous laptop. I think both things were wrong! I damaged my power input jack by dropping it on the ground whilst still plugged in. So I had to continually change the angle and I think that broke the internal jack. I did buy a new power input but the issue continued.

I got my laptop repaired - was my only laptop and couldn't afford a new one. Still cost me about £100 to get a new jack and my lead adjusted to fit the new jack. But also that's London prices, so might be cheaper elsewhere. If you really want to keep the laptop then you can get it repaired for less than a new laptop.

I also had an overheating issue with my newer charger (an unofficial one)