Jumat, 15 Januari 2010

Fixing Laptop Power Problems

I created this site because of the enourmous number of power problems that people have written about to me. I hope it is helpful to you, and I welcome any suggestions. It is mainly based on my experience with HP and Dell laptops, but should be pretty universal as far as I know.

USE THE INFORMATION AND DIRECTIONS ON THIS PAGE AT YOUR OWN RISK. I DO NOT WARRANT THIS INFORMATION AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE OUTCOMES OF USING THIS INFORMATION.
Intro

Understanding how laptop power works can be very useful in determining what the problem is. I will first explain how it works, then I will explain how we can troubleshoot.
AC power adapter
How the AC adapter works

The most common type of AC power adapter involves a small box, with one wire to go to the computer and another wire to go to the wall. There is usually an LED light on it, to tell you that it is on. (Is it lit on yours?) By the way, Apple notebook power adapters often have an LED that is actually built into the side of the computer, not into the adapter box, so obviously it won't light up when it's not connected to the computer.

The power adapter box does several things. It lowers the voltage from the wall's 120 volts AC to typically 19 volts DC (it will be labeled with the exact voltage). It includes some power noise filtering. It often includes an automatic circuit breaker or overload detection. If this gets tripped, you can generally reset it if you unplug it from everything for a few minutes.

You can measure the voltages on your AC adapter with a multimeter. When it is unplugged from the computer but still plugged in to the wall, it is normal to find that the voltage may be 1 to 3 volts higher than the printed output rating.
Troubleshooting: AC Power adapter LED is off when you plug the adapter into the wall but not into the computer

Has it been overloaded? Is the power strip turned on / is the outlet working? Is the cord from the adapter to the wall fully plugged in on both ends (try wiggling)? Your adapter may be fried- try borrowing an indentical adapter from a friend and seeing if that one will work in it's place (but do not plug it in to your computer, or you might fry your friend's adapter).
Troubleshooting: Check output voltages with a volt meter/multimeter

For those of you with circular connectors, your task is easy. Measure the voltage between the inside and the outside. A diagram on the adapter's label will tell you which should be positive and negative

For those of you with the 3-pin Dell power connectors, I don't have a diagram for you yet, sorry. If you try measuring each of the three possible pairs of pins, you should get 20 volts between one of the pairs.

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