laptop batter problem

[madder]

I'm using a Dell Latitude D510 laptop. The power supply recently dies. So, I had to replace it. At the time nobody had the power supply I needed, so I bought a universal one. It can be quite annoying at times because the adapters come away from the cables easily enough and you lose power. Normally, if the battery is installed at the time, it doesn't matter because your battery takes over the power. But ever since I first used the universal power supply, the battery in the laptop won't charge. In the power settings in the control panel, there is a red X over the battery. I have tried refreshing it etc but it won't change.

Anybody know how to solve it?

 

[tim west]

be very careful certain types of battery can catch fire or literally explode if not used with special types of charger, a universal type will not have the special circuitry inside.

 

[Monkeh]

be very careful certain types of battery can catch fire or literally explode if not used with special types of charger, a universal type will not have the special circuitry inside.

Laptop chargers don't have any special circuitry inside. The charging circuit is part of the laptop.

 

[madder]

if it's true that there is no circuitry inside the chargers, and I don't doubt you, I just honestly don't know, then why has the battery stopped charging? The Battery LED just flashes orange on the laptop, and like I said earlier, in the control panel, there is a red X through the battery in power management.

 

[djrock]

be very careful certain types of battery can catch fire or literally explode if not used with special types of charger, a universal type will not have the special circuitry inside.

Laptop chargers don't have any special circuitry inside. The charging circuit is part of the laptop.

QFA

How old is the battery?

 

[madder]

It's old but was very rarely used. It eas working fine the few days prior to the power supply dying. When the tell tale signs came, I started to use the battery and it was fine until I put the new power supply on the laptop.

 

[djrock]

Even if you haven't used it much Li-ion batteries start to age after they have been made. It could be a knacked battery that kill your old power supply.

 

[Bubbauk]

Your problem will be the universal laptop adapter, do not buying anything apart from original laptop chargers, this is especially true for dell laptops as the charger actually sends information to the laptop to confirm it is the correct one, notice that it has a positive, negative and the centre pin for the data.

Beware of fakes on ebay as a lot of companies sell "Original Dell" adapters but they are cheap copies from china and will have similar issues to the universal one.

I work as a laptop engineer and the amount of laptops we get in for repair that have been damaged by chargers that are either fakes, universal or "replacement" ones is unreal.

 

[djrock]

Its not really a suprise dell would do something like that. It's a way dell can squeeze more money out of you.

 

[Bubbauk]

Its not really a suprise dell would do something like that. It's a way dell can squeeze more money out of you.

Its a pretty handy feature.

My comment about using only original adapters applies to all makes and models of laptops, if you have seen inside one of these cheap replacement or multi adapters you would see why, they are made with cheap components that are not rated correctly and most of the time they have lead inside them so they feel heavier!

 

[djrock]

I agree it’s a good feature but not when the psu costs stupid money. Not all multi adapters can be that bad?

most of the time they have lead inside them so they feel heavier!

I have heard about that trick being used on cheap computer psu’s.

 

[Bubbauk]

I agree it’s a good feature but not when the psu costs stupid money. Not all multi adapters can be that bad?

most of the time they have lead inside them so they feel heavier!

I have heard about that trick being used on cheap computer psu’s.

They are not that expensive, you can usually get a Original Dell PSU for about £20 or so, we stock them in work along with most other original adapters. Multi adapters are pretty expensive when you get an original for much cheaper.

 

[vokera80e]

as your charger got a voltage regulator,check what voltage your laptop runs on,and ajust accordingly and make sure your adapters are like for like,lydl do a decent one "silvercrest" with ajustable voltage 15v to 24v output power at 90 watt. with adarpters. i got one as a backup it works fine.