AC power adaptor (laptop)

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anitram

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So I've managed to mangle the cord (the wiring inside has become exposed), and therefore am hesitant to continue using the power pack for much longer. Buying a new one isn't that expensive, but it's not cheap either.

My current power pack's output is 15V, 6A (for a Toshiba Tecra). I have an old Toshiba Satellite series whose power pack's output is 15V, 5A. The stupid question I have is, can I use it? Is the one ampere gonna set me back $40? :wink:
 
My guess would be that it will damage the battery over time, and then without AC and a battery, you're SOL and I bet a battery is considerably more expensive to replace.


Here, I found this....

I don't know Ohm's law, but I support and fix laptops. The shop I'm in is lacking power supplies for a number of their laptops, and we have to play swap'em all the time.

With not enough amps you're probably damaging your laptop and/or battery.

With matching voltage and no more then an amp or two more you can usually power a laptop for quite a while, but chances are pretty good you'll eventually run in to problems.

And you can power a laptop for a while with not enough amps, but chances are even better that you'll run into problems, and sooner.

Symptoms of mismatched power supplies include mis-charging batteries, battery not charging at all or beyond a certain point, power bricks overheating, inaccurate battery meters or charging indicators, unexpected shutdowns, reboots and more.

Effects and consequences can be power supply failure, battery failure, charging and system power circuit failure, and pretty much everything else, including the cpu, memory, mainboard and more. Including the (remote) possibility of batteries exploding or power supplies catching fire.

That seems a bit harsh to me, but I suppose it could be true since voltage is determined by amperes and resistance, so if the voltage is the same for both, but the amps are not, then the resistance must also be different. I honestly don't know what part resistance plays as far as the computer working and drawing power, but I guess if the new computer created resistance different than what the power pack was designed to handle, there could be problems. I'd still think that without enough amps, the battery is eventually not going to be calibrated correctly (it's best for batteries to be full charged and fully drained or fully charged and partially drained than to be not fully charged and drained partially or fully). Also, the computer would be switching from AC to battery and back a lot, which is more than just hardware - Windows is switching it's power profiles each time so that might cause some OS/software issues (especially if your power profiles do things like dim the LCD and shut off the NICs).
 
Ah, okay, so I'm best just buying a new one.

I think I'll hunt around Ebay for a good deal. They're quite cheap there but usually the shipping is ridiculous.
 
I really want a new one too b/c I take my comp to work everyday and hate having to pack up the adapter constantly. I'm one of those anal people that has to have the cord go behind the desk and not just hanging out, even though that makes it way easier to get at. I should have just bought two right away...
 
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