Abnormally high number of laptop chargers failing.

[maniac]

We have a spate recently of Dell laptop chargers failing. We expect them every so often, but I've just removed 7 faulty ones from one cabinet which is a very large number.

The thing we've noticed about the failed ones is they are all the same design - Dell have 2 or 3 different power supplies - they all output the same, but they have different AC leads. The one's that have failed all have the 2 pin AC inlet with no earth connection which I think is significant. There were 3 pin power supplies in the same cabinet, and none of these have failed at all.

Has anyone else had a large number of these fail, or any suggestions as to why these particular chargers are failing more than the rest?

Cheers

Mike.

[SYNACK]

Probably just a bad batch, we got a whole bunch of new lease laptops into two of the schools at slightly different times, hp 6730(s) anyhow one school has had no issue with chargers but the other has dropped 7+ inside 4 months. The chargers and laptops are the same but one school must have got a bad batch which is I expect what has happened at your school.

[PEO]

probably mr spike doing his rounds

[maniac]

probably mr spike doing his rounds

We've got all our laptop cabinets plugged in via surge filters, which is what makes it even more puzzling.

I'm pretty sure it is just a bad batch, but was just interested incase anyone else had experienced simelar problems with the same sort of Dell chargers.

Mike.

[mjs_mjs]

We've got all our laptop cabinets plugged in via surge filters, which is what makes it even more puzzling.

I'm pretty sure it is just a bad batch, but was just interested incase anyone else had experienced simelar problems with the same sort of Dell chargers.

Mike.

Could it be a dodgy surge filter, or possibly one PSU creating the spike?

[maniac]

Could it be a dodgy surge filter, or possibly one PSU creating the spike?

There are 4 seperate plugs feeding the cabinet, each one has 7 laptops plugged into it and each plug has a seperate surge filter. The failed chargers were all over the place in the cabinet so they weren't all powered from the same feed, so I doubt this could be the cause.

I doubt I'll ever find why they've failed, it's just un-expected and no real logical reason why so many should fail at once like this so I thought I'd see if other people have had simelar problems before.

Mike.

[LeMarchand]

Seconding what Synack said: one of mine had 200 HPs and well over half the chargers have had to be replaced (under warranty)! I'm amazed that PC World (not my idea) hasn't refused to take any more back.

Not one of the non-HP chargers bought to replace "lost" chargers has failed...

[chazzy2501]

I've seen this is poor laptop cabinet design, the power bricks interfere with each other if they come into close proximity with eachother. They get wickedly hot if you stack them or lie them on top or place them touching each other. I used double tape on mine to ensure they don't drift in the cabinet they only need to be seperated by a CM or so.

[maniac]

. . .well over half the chargers have had to be replaced (under warranty)...

Our chargers end up all over the place - wish I could claim under warranty for them, but I've no idea if they were purchased with laptops that are in warranty or not. Should really label them as they come in I suppose.

We've just ordered a load at £25 each, that's not too bad really.

Mike.

[LeMarchand]

I've no idea if they were purchased with laptops that are in warranty or not.

I doubt that the manufacturers have, either .

I have since found a reference to the high amount of battery/charger/charging circuit faults with that particular model, so maybe they just threw in the towel.

[mjs_mjs]

Could it be that they are over heating? as simple as that.

[IanT]

We have aload of HP laptops and we've had lots of Power Packs failing!!

Anyone know where I can get cheap replacements from?

[LeMarchand]

We have aload of HP laptops and we've had lots of Power Packs failing!!

Anyone know where I can get cheap replacements from?

I suspect you'll have plenty of offers from the sponsors (or give some of them a try), but if not I've used Rolta. The chargers aren't OEM, but (as I said above) none of them have failed...