Please help, lap top ac adapters keep breaking!!

looby75

DD has a Packard Bell Easynote B3605 lap top which she got for christmas 2 years ago. In feb it stopped charging/powering and the "block" part of the ac adapter made a funny buzzing noise, and the green light on it stayed lit for ages after it was turned off. FIL took dd to pc world and they confirmed it was the charger that was faulty and wrote down the site we could get one online we went to the site and ordered a new one.

Now this one has developed the same fault after 8 months....we don't have the details of the site we got it from (I was wasn't with them when it was ordered so have no idea what site it was) so we have no choice but to buy yet another new charger.

I think we paid about £25 for this adapter, I've just been to the PB website and an official adapter is £35 is it worth paying the extra £10 for an official one or are they all the same. Also it common for adapters to break like this or have we just been really unlucky?

Cheers.

ormus

all the cheap ones are about the same quality.
and i wouldnt have thought PB would use anything decent either. they dont in their puters.
i would just get one from any retailer who is likely to honour their warranty, and still be around in 12 months!
might be an idea to tape the receipt under the lappy?

colin2002

ormus wrote: »

all the cheap ones are about the same quality.
and i wouldnt have thought PB would use anything decent either. they dont in their puters.
i would just get one from any retailer who is likely to honour their warranty, and still be around in 12 months!
might be an idea to tape the receipt under the lappy?

I agree, however it may be worth checking the specs of both first to see which one has the higher current rating and buy that one

looby75

Thanks for that. Time for a stupid question now if you all don't mind humouring me

On the bottom of the lap top it says there are 3 compatible chargers ADP-65DB, HP-OK065B03, SADP-65KBC, I have NO idea what if any difference there is in any of the 3 chargers, but when I search for them on-line in the lists of lap tops they say they are compatible with dd's lappy isn't in the list I'm worried that I will end up buying something that isn't compatible as I haven't got a clue what I'm doing.

If it says on the laptop those 3 chargers are compatible will they definitely be?

colin2002

You could just contact packard bell or the vendors find out what charger you require for the laptop, I haven't dealt with PB but most vendors are more than happy to help

looby75

When you search their site for the details of the charger you put in the serial no of your laptop and it comes up with a link to the charger in their shop...which is £10 more than the last charger we bought (which unfortunately I have no details of the site etc any more.) they don't give you any specific details of the charger though.

colin2002

How much is the total cost of the charger, I would imagine it would be around the 30 -35 pounds. If its any consalation Iv'e bought dell ones in the past for double that.

looby75

it's £35 on the Packard Bell site, but the 3rd party ones I've seen online are about £25-£30. I think I'll just order it from Packard Bell at least that way I know it's definitely the right one.

Thanks for your help

colin2002

£35 is not that bad a price its about what I would expect to pay

looby75

well that was a spectacular waste of £35 It looks like its not the adapter that's at fault.

The new one was delivered today (very impressed at PB's delivery time) but it's still not powering up.

Though dd says that the green light on the new adapter did exactly the same thing (stays lit long after it's disconnected from a power supply) as her first broken (and second?) adapter did.

Does anyone think it's worth sending the new adapter back to PB in case it's faulty or are we clutching at straws?

unrich

The green light stays on whilst some circuits inside the PSU discharge. (e.g. the charge remaining in/on capacitors).

If the PSU is not attached to anything then it will take longer.
If the PSU has a load attached (i.e. the laptop) then it will be rapid.

The green light operating for a long time is not an indication that the PSU is faulty.

You can get third party PSUs from Kensington, I'm happy with the one I have. Search for "Kensington 70w" and you'll see.

They are not cheap but I would neither trust a packard bell nor an ebay special.

BTW I have had both a 2nd hand compaq and 2nd hand Sony laptop PSUs blow up on me in the last 6 months. Even the "names" blow up.