computer battery charger appears not to work anymore

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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Hi all

I've never had this happen before - then again, my laptop/battery used to be plugged in 24/7.

For the past month or so I've had my laptop on my dining room table since I was working on a few projects and it's easier to spread out on a big table rather than my desk in my office.

Instead of moving it each night I just closed it up and unplugged the cord from both the wall and the laptop (so the cats wouldn't chew it).

Well, apparently doing this daily did something to the connections b/c a few times in the past month I had to jiggle it to get it to start charging (this was on a totally different wall/plug)... and this morning it simply did nothing. It was plugged in, I checked all connections, walked around and used different wall plugs... nada. The computer was only running on its own battery, it wasn't accepting a charge and then of course it died.

Thoughts? Is the connection really that sensitive that daily un-plugging from the laptop will cause the connections to wear down? If so, that's strange. I'm not rough with it so it isn't like I yanked something out (that I know of).

Anything I am missing?
 
Could be any number of things - from the charger to the socket on the computer. If you plug/unplug enough times, you can loosen the solder connections inside the computer.

Perhaps you can borrow a charger from someone else with the same computer. Or buy another charger... but I wouldn't do that until someone put a voltmeter on the one you have to see if it's putting out juice.
 
Assuming the charger is okay, it's probably the connector on the motherboard. That can be a real bummer unless you can find a tech who still remembers how to solder. Best of luck.

-Rich
 
thanks everyone - I did check each connection including the one into the block itself. as luck would have it my work laptop is the same kind so I'll take that battery block home tonight. what a pain.
 
A small wire powering a seven watt, 120 volt bulb will stop the cats chewing on wires. ;)
 
KennyFlys said:
A small wire powering a seven watt, 120 volt bulb will stop the cats chewing on wires. ;)
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cruel. A good plan to stop them is to rub Tabasco on the wires. One bit and they are usually cured without actually harming them. My one cat was trained this way. After that whenever she even saw the Tabasco jar she would flee.
 
I just unplug everything in the house if I'm going to be gone any length of time. They haven't chewed on much lately, but they used to - I don't want to chance it.
 
One of my clients owns a pet shop, and he sells this plastic hose that's impregnated with some sort of citrus extract. It's supposed to stop pets from chewing wires. I have no idea if it works.

-Rich
 
smigaldi said:
cruel. A good plan to stop them is to rub Tabasco on the wires. One bit and they are usually cured without actually harming them. My one cat was trained this way. After that whenever she even saw the Tabasco jar she would flee.
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My way isn't cruel. It's no more than an electric fence on a dog collar, actually. I like the tobasco sauce idea, though.
 
smigaldi said:
cruel. A good plan to stop them is to rub Tabasco on the wires. One bit and they are usually cured without actually harming them. My one cat was trained this way. After that whenever she even saw the Tabasco jar she would flee.
Click to expand...

So right. I had a problem with neighborhood cats using the hot-tub waterfall as a litterbox. A little Crystal Hot Sauce spread liberally on the rocks taught them a lesson....
 
KennyFlys said:
My way isn't cruel. It's no more than an electric fence on a dog collar, actually. I like the tobasco sauce idea, though.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree. IIRC, pets can get serious burns (electrocution isn't likely at all unless the animal happens to be grounded) chewing through a live 120 volt cord. And the size of the lamp has no effect on the potential for harm.
 
lancefisher said:
I have to disagree. IIRC, pets can get serious burns (electrocution isn't likely at all unless the animal happens to be grounded) chewing through a live 120 volt cord. And the size of the lamp has no effect on the potential for harm.
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I wouldn't really do that but considering how many times my cat has chewed through various wires in my office, I've been oh so very tempted! :)

When I wired this office for everything, I left nothing on the floor not encased.
 
KennyFlys said:
A small wire powering a seven watt, 120 volt bulb will stop the cats chewing on wires. ;)
Click to expand...
KennyFlys said:
My way isn't cruel. It's no more than an electric fence on a dog collar, actually. I like the tobasco sauce idea, though.
Click to expand...
KennyFlys said:
I wouldn't really do that but considering how many times my cat has chewed through various wires in my office, I've been oh so very tempted! :)
Click to expand...

I think you're spending too much time in the spin zone. You're starting to act like a politician ;)
 
infotango said:
Let me guess Toshiba?
Mine did the same thing.
POS
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I had three Toshiba laptops. The first one had issues and went to the service center. I traded it and the second laptop had its own issues and went in for repair. During that time I bought a third Toshiba. When I picked up the second machine from repair, they informed me of a problem that already existed and it just hadn't caught up to me yet. I later traded off one and forced return on the other in exchange for credit.

I then took credit on an HP 7360 laptop which has been in for service once. It's mounted in the car and takes a heck of a beating with no problems since that repair two years ago. I also have an HP 8110 which has been in twice for a power supply problem and is about to head back a third time.

Does ANYONE make a reliable laptop these days? :rolleyes:
 
KennyFlys said:
Does ANYONE make a reliable laptop these days? :rolleyes:
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Apple... Not perfect, but I've only destroyed one and that same incident put ME in the hospital.

More on topic, Apple's MagSafe connector is the best thing to happen to laptop power adapters since Edison. :yes:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Apple... Not perfect, but I've only destroyed one and that same incident put ME in the hospital.

More on topic, Apple's MagSafe connector is the best thing to happen to laptop power adapters since Edison. :yes:
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Ok, I'll hand you that... to a point. I had an iBook back in 2002. It was the only laptop I'd ever owned where the hinge broke. :(
 
I had a Toshiba that lived thru a car wreck and worked fine afterwards. Many moons ago, tho, maybe they made them better back in the old P-II 90 mhz days.
 
by the way, my brick from work, is working fine at home. apparently it was the battery charger itself (or a piece of it?) It started up with this in the past month so I don't know what happened.
 
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