How to secure a charger to a laptop?

[LeMarchand]

At the beginning of term, we had three "supply" laptops and chargers ready for use in the school office. Got a call yesterday to say that one was needed for use, but the two in the office needed chargers. One had appeared by the time I got in this morning, so I went for a search. Found the missing machine (with charger) in a class that hasn't been used this school year, but not the missing charger yet. Also found in various "Teacher" rooms assorted piles of laptops, iPads, Chromebooks and various other chargers.

 

Getting a bit sick of this, especially as the SMT attitude is to shrug it off when the school is really struggling for cash, so want to find a way to semi-permanently attach the chargers to the laptops. Best I could come up with so far is

 

 

which isn't much of a deterrent - and I have vague memories about coiled power leads being bad.

 

Anyone got a better solution, bearing in mind that SMT support will be non-existent?

[3s-gtech]

Araldite/Gorilla Glue the power supply brick to the lid.

[Steve21]

Pretty sure there’s an official one called CableSAver from Kensington

 

Edit - This one https://www.kensington.com/en-gb/p/products/security/lock-anchor-points-accessories/cablesaver/

 

Looks like a torture device but looks like it should work for laptops as well as peripherals

 

Steve

Edited June 14, 2023 by Steve21

[smurfomatic]

Charge whatever department borrows the laptpo a £100 deposit before issuing them, refunded only when laptop and charger are returned

[LeMarchand]

Charge whatever department borrows the laptpo a £100 deposit before issuing them, refunded only when laptop and charger are returned

 

 

SMT would never do that.

 

Pretty sure there’s an official one called CableSAver from Kensington

 

That looks like a possibility, thanks. Of course they probably won't pay out a few quid whilst moving interactive panels because teachers want to mark their territory is fine.

[Davit2005]

Personally I'd jus ask SMT to authorize to buy new chargers. How much would it cost them to send an email around to staff saying any lost chargers will be charged to the department borrowing the laptop.

 

I know not helpful but SMT can't be bothered.....

 

If you go down the lock route make the thing look as un attractive as possible :-)

[dobbyit]

It might help but doesnt secure the laptop and charger together. I put the asset number of the laptop in gold pen on front of the plug which matches the laptops, tablets, ipads.

[LeMarchand]

It might help but doesnt secure the laptop and charger together. I put the asset number of the laptop in gold pen on front of the plug which matches the laptops, tablets, ipads.

 

Tried something similar; doesn't help .

[dhicks]

and I have vague memories about coiled power leads being bad

 

A coiled AC cable will tend to heat up - this is why newer mains extension reels now come with a current rating for when both coiled and uncoiled, and a thermal cutout for if they overheat. I think the problem is less with DC cables, I'd guess you'd be okay with a single loop as shown in the image.

[Andrew_C]

A few loops of mains cable isn't going to present any problem on a laptop. Tightly coiled extension lead with a fan heater on the end; yeah, that will.

[Chris_Cook]

Can you work something out with your finance team? Maybe get another budget setup for replacement chargers, then at least it can be reported on at the end of year how much has been spent.

 

Another option might be to allocate a charger per room and fit it inside some sort of electrical enclosure.

[LeMarchand]

Can you work something out with your finance team? Maybe get another budget setup for replacement chargers, then at least it can be reported on at the end of year how much has been spent.

 

Another option might be to allocate a charger per room and fit it inside some sort of electrical enclosure.

 

Junior school: I think I've heard of a "finance department" but what is this "budget" thing?