Electrical guys, theories on an exploding laptop charger?
Discussion
Never one to shy away from a bit of bang bang this has me wondering 'wtf just happened'...
Connection on the LV DC charger supply into the laptop has been getting dodgy for a few weeks, if it isn't in exactly the right position the laptop battery receives no charge.
The other day when Mrs 2gins was using it, she reported a soft pop and a small jet of flame emerged from the laptop charger port on disconnecting and reconnecting the cable (because it wasn't charging).
This evening I came to investigate. The power pack was plugged into the 230V AC mains, power on. I then plugged the cable into the laptop charge socket, at which point as the plug moved fractionally (as it is now wont to do) some crackles and wisps of smoke began emerging with the ever familiar electrical fire smell, like a tired Scalextric set.
I unplugged the cable and while pondering the situation, there was a loud POP from the PSU brick on the charger. At which point I switched off the mains and unplugged.
Mrs went about a foot in the air, I found it rather amusing having established I wasn't on fire or electrocuted.
Any engineers care to venture a theory about what has happened? I can do pipes and thermofluids and nuts and bolts and whatnot but lose it a bit when it comes to volts and bytes TBH.
Laptop seems fine apart from being terminally battery limited now, but after 8 years service and with black Friday etc around the corner it's had a good innings.
FWIW the charger is not original, it's aftermarket supply from reputable web seller (not ebay) after the original one packed up - lost power connection - been running about 3 yrs. Laptop is Novatech running Ubuntu.
Connection on the LV DC charger supply into the laptop has been getting dodgy for a few weeks, if it isn't in exactly the right position the laptop battery receives no charge.
The other day when Mrs 2gins was using it, she reported a soft pop and a small jet of flame emerged from the laptop charger port on disconnecting and reconnecting the cable (because it wasn't charging).
This evening I came to investigate. The power pack was plugged into the 230V AC mains, power on. I then plugged the cable into the laptop charge socket, at which point as the plug moved fractionally (as it is now wont to do) some crackles and wisps of smoke began emerging with the ever familiar electrical fire smell, like a tired Scalextric set.
I unplugged the cable and while pondering the situation, there was a loud POP from the PSU brick on the charger. At which point I switched off the mains and unplugged.
Mrs went about a foot in the air, I found it rather amusing having established I wasn't on fire or electrocuted.
Any engineers care to venture a theory about what has happened? I can do pipes and thermofluids and nuts and bolts and whatnot but lose it a bit when it comes to volts and bytes TBH.
Laptop seems fine apart from being terminally battery limited now, but after 8 years service and with black Friday etc around the corner it's had a good innings.
FWIW the charger is not original, it's aftermarket supply from reputable web seller (not ebay) after the original one packed up - lost power connection - been running about 3 yrs. Laptop is Novatech running Ubuntu.
Hacksaw the PSU and see what went pop. The laptop end of the power cable probably shorted after the cable got damaged over time by flexing and yanking. In the absence of the PSU circuit itself detecting an overload or having a fuse, some other component will have volunteered to be sacrificed and will have exploded. Could be almost anything. My favourite are electrolytic capacitors, but that's very unlikely in this case. Probably a resistor or a chip. Might even by the track on the circuit board. This mode of failure is really not great from a fire risk perspective. But it is entertaining.
You were lucky -
Chinese chargers have been known for putting mains to the PC when the do break down, could have done a lot of damage or even set the laptop on fire. You may save a few quid but in the longrun…..
Laptop power supplies are different from old fashioned transformer power supplies where mains comes in and is stepped down to a low voltage rectified and then regulated to the required voltage to supply the device. A lap top power supply uses switch mode technology, the mains is brought in and rectified to a dc voltage this dc voltage is then switched at a high frequency and passed through a transformer then rectified and smoothed then regulated. switch mode controls the output voltage by regulating the switching that high dc voltage, usually around the 400v mark. cheap electronics fail and you end up with all sorts of voltages being produced and if the switching element fails on that high voltage section then that can stress the stepdown transformer and that can overheat burn and all sorts. those abnormal voltages can also do a fair bit of damage of they get to the laptop.
Chinese chargers have been known for putting mains to the PC when the do break down, could have done a lot of damage or even set the laptop on fire. You may save a few quid but in the longrun…..
Laptop power supplies are different from old fashioned transformer power supplies where mains comes in and is stepped down to a low voltage rectified and then regulated to the required voltage to supply the device. A lap top power supply uses switch mode technology, the mains is brought in and rectified to a dc voltage this dc voltage is then switched at a high frequency and passed through a transformer then rectified and smoothed then regulated. switch mode controls the output voltage by regulating the switching that high dc voltage, usually around the 400v mark. cheap electronics fail and you end up with all sorts of voltages being produced and if the switching element fails on that high voltage section then that can stress the stepdown transformer and that can overheat burn and all sorts. those abnormal voltages can also do a fair bit of damage of they get to the laptop.
Thanks for the replies. So odds on then the charger male terminal shorted and fed plenty of unregulated volts to something inside the brick, which didn't like it.
But why the jet of fire from the laptop socket when the wife tried to reconnect the other day?
I'm not trying to bump her off... Honest
But why the jet of fire from the laptop socket when the wife tried to reconnect the other day?
I'm not trying to bump her off... Honest
ruggedscotty said:
You were lucky -
Chinese chargers have been known for putting mains to the PC when the do break down, could have done a lot of damage or even set the laptop on fire. You may save a few quid but in the longrun…..
Laptop power supplies are different from old fashioned transformer power supplies where mains comes in and is stepped down to a low voltage rectified and then regulated to the required voltage to supply the device. A lap top power supply uses switch mode technology, the mains is brought in and rectified to a dc voltage this dc voltage is then switched at a high frequency and passed through a transformer then rectified and smoothed then regulated. switch mode controls the output voltage by regulating the switching that high dc voltage, usually around the 400v mark. cheap electronics fail and you end up with all sorts of voltages being produced and if the switching element fails on that high voltage section then that can stress the stepdown transformer and that can overheat burn and all sorts. those abnormal voltages can also do a fair bit of damage of they get to the laptop.
there is a lot of utter sChinese chargers have been known for putting mains to the PC when the do break down, could have done a lot of damage or even set the laptop on fire. You may save a few quid but in the longrun…..
Laptop power supplies are different from old fashioned transformer power supplies where mains comes in and is stepped down to a low voltage rectified and then regulated to the required voltage to supply the device. A lap top power supply uses switch mode technology, the mains is brought in and rectified to a dc voltage this dc voltage is then switched at a high frequency and passed through a transformer then rectified and smoothed then regulated. switch mode controls the output voltage by regulating the switching that high dc voltage, usually around the 400v mark. cheap electronics fail and you end up with all sorts of voltages being produced and if the switching element fails on that high voltage section then that can stress the stepdown transformer and that can overheat burn and all sorts. those abnormal voltages can also do a fair bit of damage of they get to the laptop.
t out there today, the CE mark is self-declared and largely unregulated, there's a reason that when Britain dropped the British standards BS mark as CE came in that Germany retained TUV...https://www.edn.com/design/power-management/446024...
a laptop power supply is something like this, its worth a read,
https://www.edn.com/design/pc-board/4441830/Teardo...
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2016/01/25/power-s...
makes you think......
a laptop power supply is something like this, its worth a read,
https://www.edn.com/design/pc-board/4441830/Teardo...
http://www.epanorama.net/newepa/2016/01/25/power-s...
makes you think......
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