laptop ac adapter HOT!!

[ams1130]

Sorry if this has been asked before; I couldn't find anything doing a search. Also, I apologize ahead of time; I'm the least techy person alive.

When charging my laptop in our travel trailer, the AC adapter (the black box) becomes very hot. Is this dangerous? Why does this happen?

Thanks in advance for any answers!

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Newer big screen laptops seem to tax their bricks to a greater extent. The little ASUS I acquired will go 5-hours on wireless. But there's not much to it. Near unbelievable how hungry the more powerful 17" are. I will check Vanessa's Toshiba when it's merely recharging the battery while shut off.

[Chandalen]

RJsfishin wrote:
Quote:
I suspect you are using a MODIFIED SINE WAVE INVERTER to give you 120VAC to run your laptop computer charging brick. This will eventually burn up your transformer brick...
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I don't believe this for a second !
20 yrs, 5-6 different laptops running on 4 different msw inverters.
All the bricks run warm (a little warmer than on grid) while charging the batteries after 3-4 hrs of portable use,
Never ever a problem on the incoming DC side of any of the laptops.

I would say your lucky! I have an Asus G73 and it was plugged into a MSW, got really hot (I didnt notice until it was too late). The laptop stopped charging after about 20 min of me using it. I checked the brick and I could have cooked an egg on it. It 'sorta' worked after it cooled off on regular power, but the Laptop's health program said the battery was not charging properly and the battery needed to be replaced. I used a different power brick and it charged properly.

I have seen a macbook fry after being plugged in for an hour to an MSW.

I had a heating pad fry in my truck and it was new, and plugged into a smaller MSW.

Maybe I have bad luck, maybe you have good luck.

I won't rely on luck anymore with my expensive electronics.

Watch one of the many YouTube videos of microwaves on MSW vs a microwave on a PSW. Without any electrical background, that should be enough!

[RJsfishin]

Quote:
I suspect you are using a MODIFIED SINE WAVE INVERTER to give you 120VAC to run your laptop computer charging brick. This will eventually burn up your transformer brick...
------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't believe this for a second !
20 yrs, 5-6 different laptops running on 4 different msw inverters.
All the bricks run warm (a little warmer than on grid) while charging the batteries after 3-4 hrs of portable use,
Never ever a problem on the incoming DC side of any of the laptops.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Gnash Snarl
Otter be a law forcing OEM to state battery capacity. And basic run watts with windows and then a spec given for the power brick. I might want to add I checked those computers when the temp was around 90F in the room. Wouldn't it be nice to have an external lithium battery with it's own charger and a 20 amp hour capacity? Dream On!

[DrewE]

hawkeye-08 wrote:
I suspect the campground voltage is a few volts lower than at home and power brick is running a little hotter...

If there's one thing a laptop power brick doesn't care that much about, it's if the voltage is a little low or high. Practically all of them are universal/international models, and will work on any AC supply worldwide, from the 100V (nominal) used in Japan to 240V (nominal) in Europe, and 50 to 60 Hz.

Heat would more be related to the power being consumed by the laptop, which could be significantly higher when the battery is charging, the backlight is on bright, the CPU or hard drive is busy, etc.—especially if all are true at once. They do tend to run warm, some quite warm.

[MrWizard]

my 17" HP has a little bity power brick, smaller than the bricks for my external drives
it also has a skinny 8cell battery, good for less than two hours
my lenovo would go almost 5hrs when new and was still good for over two

[MEXICOWANDERER]

48-63 Hz
88-254vac

I have checked three newer Laptops. Toshiba, HP, and Lenovo. All wwre less than a month old, all had full battery symbols and all three bricks were very warm. Vanessa told me her Toshiba tales forever to charge if she is multi tasking it. All three complained the batteries drain quickly when multi tasking. I have to believe my own fingers and ears. Who makes a 150 watt brick?

For clarification my toleran e to heat will not allow me to pick up a 50c power brick and clutch it tightly. All three machines have quad core.2.4 GHz processors or higher and 8 Gb of RAM. This shocked me. Thoughts of buying a 17" laptop went out the window. Useless for what I need

[hawkeye-08]

I suspect the campground voltage is a few volts lower than at home and power brick is running a little hotter...

[time2roll]

Not just running the machine. Good chance while camping the battery is also charging during use. At home it might be either-or vs camping is both.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Got gnus for some of you. Some 17" laptops eat juice like a wolf eats rabbits. Online, and with several cores going the brick stays very warm.

[coolmom42]

RoyB wrote:
I suspect you are using a MODIFIED SINE WAVE INVERTER to give you 120VAC to run your laptop computer charging brick. This will eventually burn up your transformer brick... Transformers really like to have PURE SINE WAVES...

The only other way to overheat the laptop transformer brick is to PULL TO MUCH CURRENT trying to charge your LAPTOP. PERHAPS the LAPTOP BATTERY is going bad on you... Just be sure you are using the correct transformer brick for your LAPTOP.

My DELL LAPTOP bricks get warm running on good 120VAC Shore Power but never HOT... When you are saying HOT I am thinking too hot to touch????

Roy Ken

Roy knows what he's talking about here.

My Dell laptop brick gets warm, but not what I could call HOT. Sometimes it will get really warm if I accidentally cover it up with a pillow or something. But out in the open it just gets warm.

[2oldman]

OP is not using an inverter.

[time2roll]

Since you are on utility power... I suspect it is the usage and proximity habits are a little different. All is normal.

[Chandalen]

RoyB hit it on the head...

You need a Pure Sine inverter. NOT ONE BOUGHT AT WALMART!
The inverter will say Pure Sine (PS) or True Sine. If it doesnt it a a modified sine.

PS inverters are outputting clean AC just like at your house. This is what electronics want, and what they are designed for.

You can INSTANTLY blow up expensive electronics on a modified sine inverter. There is a reason PS inverters cost more.


The additional heat is because of the voltage varaince that a modified inverter is kicking out. This is destroying your power brick. Fortunately, the power prick will burn itself up before it (usually) will output harmful voltage to the laptop. This is not always the case. I have heard of MacBooks instantly destroyed because of being plugged in to a modified inverter.

Solutions... find a 12v power adapter or buy a PS inverter.