power supply to laptop

shayne66

Hi all, got a Dell laptop and the power supply has failed.
Have an old HP power supply laying around and was wondering if it's safe to use until i order a new Dell one?. The HP supply is slightly lower output.

Dell power supply:- input AC 100-240v 1.5A
output DC 19.5v 4.62A

HP power supply :- input 100-240v 1.7A
output 18.5v 3.5A

thank you.

Browntoa

Id not risk it , I would order a genuine HP one , not a cheapo eBay clone

grumpycrab

If it was me, and I had to access the Dell and the polarity of the tips matches (usually centre "+", outside "-" -look at the PSUs!-) I'd risk it; (not my fault if you blow something up).

SouthUKMan

You do this at your own risk. As already mentioned, so long as the polarity matches, then I would say the other figures are close enough. The HP power supply voltage is 1v LOWER than what your Dell laptop is expecting - so it shouldn't fry your laptop. If it was 1V higher then I would say don't risk it. The only minor concern I can see is that your HP supply doesn't match the current rating of the Dell supply. If you're only using your laptop to do a bit of web browsing or MS Office use, then it should be fine. But if you want to use your laptop for high power / current tasks like gaming, video editing, etc then the temporary supply might struggle. Also a quick tip, eBay is littered with second user genuine power supplies. Most sellers pass them on for £10 - £15. Personally I would opt for one of these rather than paying a lot more for a new genuine replacement. Avoid the power supplies that claim to fit any brand of laptop. Most of these are terrible quality.

System

It is extremely unlikely to work. Dell laptops poll the charger to check if its a genuine Dell one and if they don't get the response they required they won't charge the battery. At best it may allow you to use the laptop with the charger plugged in but expect the power icon in the bottom right of the taskbar in Windows showing that it is plugged in but isn't charging.

cookie365

Tarambor wrote: »

It is extremely unlikely to work. Dell laptops poll the charger to check if its a genuine Dell one and if they don't get the response they required they won't charge the battery. At best it may allow you to use the laptop with the charger plugged in but expect the power icon in the bottom right of the taskbar in Windows showing that it is plugged in but isn't charging.

This. A 1v difference in rated output is towards the higher end of tolerances, even before you take into account the possibility that the laptop pulls moderately more and/or the power supply delivers moderately less.

Also there's prusambly a reason why the laptop came with a power supply rated to deliver 90 watts. Only give it 65 and it'll get very hot very quickly assuming it even works.

esuhl

The current output is significantly lower in the HP power adaptor. If the adaptor works, it could cut out, overheat, catch fire or explode.

I'd get an adaptor with the correct voltage and current for the device.

NCC-1701

Browntoa wrote: »

Id not risk it , I would order a genuine HP one , not a cheapo eBay clone

I'd order a Dell one as it's a Dell laptop OP has!

That aside there are genuine Dell power supplies on ebay and they are only a couple of £'s more expensive than the Chinese knockoffs

shayne66

Cheers for the info everyone. Will get one ordered.

Gloomendoom

cookie365 wrote: »

This. A 1v difference in rated output is towards the higher end of tolerances, even before you take into account the possibility that the laptop pulls moderately more and/or the power supply delivers moderately less.

Also there's prusambly a reason why the laptop came with a power supply rated to deliver 90 watts. Only give it 65 and it'll get very hot very quickly assuming it even works.

I have a Dell laptop and they do check that they are plugged in to the correct charger.

My laptop came with a 90w supply. However, I have a couple of Dell 65w chargers and I occasionally use one of those as they are smaller and lighter. All that happens is that the laptop gives a warning on startup that a 65w supply has been connected and that it may not charge properly while attached to it. I have to hit F1 to continue. It does charge, but more slowly.

Given that the laptop knows what it is plugged into, I'm not convinced that an HP charger would work, even if the plug and output were correct.

Edit: I can confirm that the 65w (Dell) chargers do not overheat, nor have I noticed either of them explode.