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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
My Inspiron 1520 laptop is 3 years old and the power supply has stopped working again. I am now looking at a third one from Dell. Very costly business, but is this the norm? I mean one new PS every year on average? My machine is very well looked after and the cables are never tugged or fankled up, so why the PS has conked out yet again, I have no idea. The little green led is not lighting up, the fuse is okay as well, so god knows what the problem is. Does anyone know how to open one of these things? I am at the stage now where I grudge paying 50 quid again, so ready to have a go at the electronics and try to find/repair the fault, but I have to pen the darned thing first and there's no screws. J |
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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
On Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:46:47 -0000, "J"
wrote: My Inspiron 1520 laptop is 3 years old and the power supply has stopped working again. I am now looking at a third one from Dell. Very costly business, but is this the norm? I mean one new PS every year on average? My machine is very well looked after and the cables are never tugged or fankled up, so why the PS has conked out yet again, I have no idea. The little green led is not lighting up, the fuse is okay as well, so god knows what the problem is. Does anyone know how to open one of these things? I am at the stage now where I grudge paying 50 quid again, so ready to have a go at the electronics and try to find/repair the fault, but I have to pen the darned thing first and there's no screws. J I bought a couple for a 1405 and it ran around $20 or so. I agree that 3 sounds a bit much in 3 years. Maybe you should invest in a UPS as well to make sure your electric feed is not the problem. |
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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
Hi!
My Inspiron 1520 laptop is 3 years old and the power supply has stopped working again. I am now looking at a third one from Dell. Very costly business, but is this the norm? I mean one new PS every year on average? Nope. Dell replaced the adapter for my LatD800 once under warranty, back when it was still fairly new. It worked but made an evil sizzling sound at times around the AC power input. I do move the adapter around, have traveled with the machine and it's never missed a beat. I suspect something else is going on--don't know what. Does anyone know how to open one of these things? It's usually not possible without violence. They aren't designed to be opened. Do be aware that there really are hazardous parts inside--parts that operate at high switching frequencies (nasty) and are directly connected to the AC line (nastier, if not the nastiest). If the light does not come on, you probably have a connection cable with an internal short-circuit. That would be the first place to look--if you tweak and abuse the cable while the adapter is plugged in, does the green light even flash? Buy one from a trustworthy seller on eBay or similar. I do not generally recommend the "universal" adapters that are sold. William |
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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
Does anyone know how to open one of these things? I am at the stage now where I grudge paying 50 quid again, so ready to have a go at the electronics and try to find/repair the fault, but I have to pen the darned thing first and there's no screws. J I opened one up once and found all the components covered in epoxy potting. That pretty much makes it not serviceable. I bought a replacement on eBay for less than half of Dell's price and it's been working fine for 2 or 3 years now. |
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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
On Nov 23, 9:01*pm, "William R. Walsh"
m wrote: If the light does not come on, you probably have a connection cable with an internal short-circuit. That would be the first place to look--if you tweak and abuse the cable while the adapter is plugged in, does the green light even flash? William This is a surprise from you Mr. Walsh! Don't you mean an open- circuit? I bought a Dell (from China) on eBay...I had to replace the AC cord because it was poor quality and intermittent. (It plugged into the brick and I used the old one) |
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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
Hi!
If the light does not come on, you probably have a connection cable with an internal short-circuit. That would be the first place to look--if you tweak and abuse the cable while the adapter is plugged in, does the green light even flash? This is a surprise from you Mr. Walsh! Don't you mean an open- circuit? No, I do indeed mean a short-circuit in the low voltage cable leaving the adapter. If there is a short, as there sometimes is, the power supply circuit "crowbars" and shuts down to prevent damage or violent failure (usually, anyway). I can see now that I should have been more specific. Must have been tired. :-) It could be a lot of things causing the problem for the OP, but that is one of the most common failures I see in laptop power bricks--the two conductors in the low voltage cable somehow get to touching at uninsulated portions and that's it...no more power. William |
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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
"Martin Walker" wrote in message ... Does anyone know how to open one of these things? I am at the stage now where I grudge paying 50 quid again, so ready to have a go at the electronics and try to find/repair the fault, but I have to pen the darned thing first and there's no screws. J I opened one up once and found all the components covered in epoxy potting. That pretty much makes it not serviceable. I bought a replacement on eBay for less than half of Dell's price and it's been working fine for 2 or 3 years now. Thanks for all the advice and info guys! I ended up buying one form a guy on ebay who said they were brand new. He buys from China, apparently. I paid £19 for it which I thought was nice, but I am a lil worried as the new one is only '63 watts', (app) and the 'old' one was '90 watts'. Is this going to be a problem? I 'think' the new PS is warmer to the touch than the old one. Also, when I first attached the new one to the laptop a message actually popped up to say there was a power difference and that it would take longer to re-charge the battery and that it might get rather warm...'or words to that effect. Do you think this new PS might be dangerous? J |
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Inspiron 1520 - Power Supply gone again
On Nov 25, 11:30*am, "William R. Walsh"
m wrote: Hi! If the light does not come on, you probably have a connection cable with an internal short-circuit. That would be the first place to look--if you tweak and abuse the cable while the adapter is plugged in, does the green light even flash? This is a surprise from you Mr. Walsh! *Don't you mean an open- circuit? No, I do indeed mean a short-circuit in the low voltage cable leaving the adapter. If there is a short, as there sometimes is, the power supply circuit "crowbars" and shuts down to prevent damage or violent failure (usually, anyway). I can see now that I should have been more specific. Must have been tired. :-) It could be a lot of things causing the problem for the OP, but that is one of the most common failures I see in laptop power bricks--the two conductors in the low voltage cable somehow get to touching at uninsulated portions and that's it...no more power. William Thank for the explanation...it makes sense! It's too bad no one makes a good replacement plug end. J the Dell that I bought from eBay was $14 with shipping and I'm still using it (2 yrs). I did have to replace the primary cord and trim the plug (low volt side) to fit better. |
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