Laptop question

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Liberanosamalo

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I have a question about my laptop charger. I got the HP laptop in early June. Last night the girls were using it for homework (Yes, they have homework before the first day of school) and the charger was really hot to the touch. Is that normal? I unplugged it, but that has never happened before. What causes that? Do I need to replace it?
 
newer electronic devices seem to run hotter. Check with HP to see if there are any recalls on it. There was fires attributed to Dell batteries & chargers a few years ago.
 
How hot – hot enough to burn you if you grabbed it? My charger always gets hot, but not hot enough to hurt anyone.
 
The one for my Dell gets nicely warm (have my cold toes on it right now under my desk :o ) but if it feels HOT you should make a call to their customer service number to make sure it’s not defective.

~Liza
 
Let’s just say it was disturbingly hot. I have a charger for my cell phone. It gets warm. This was HOT. And it happened twice yesterday when it was used.

So I called HP.

I got their fine Indian service desk. With the most polite people thanking me please for staying on the line. And it took a while to actually get them to understand the problem was with the adapter, and not the battery, and even if it was, I was not going to download anything on my laptop because the battery charger was not working properly and it did me no good to load anything on my Dell desktop.

Finally after about three switchings to new people and waiting on hold for about 30 minutes, I was promised a replacement in the mail in the next two days. And “please to not plug the adapter into your computer and wait for the new one.”

And of course, reading the teeny tiny serial numbers where they were sure it was a S and I was sure it was a 5. Because whoever chose fonts for HP stickers was a moron.

I just don’t like the feeling that the AC adapter brick for the laptop feels like touching a hot stove when I’m using it. Is that too much to ask?
 
Hmm, tell us if the new one is any better. I just felt the power brick for my IBM laptop, and it’s pretty hot, too hot to hold comfortably.

This seems to be a pretty common problem. I think it happens because the new power bricks are so tiny. Tiny power brick means less surface to disperse heat.
 
The back of my laptop, when it’s in the dock, is too hot to hold my hand on for too long. It’s just how they run I suppose. 🤷

~Liza
 
My laptop gets really warm also. It’s not warm enough to burn me, but if I actually let it sit on my lap while I’m working (for instance while watching TV) then it leaves a red mark that dissipates once my legs cool down. I saw at Staples that they now sell laptop lap coolers and was giving some thought to picking one up if I want to continue making a habit of working on the sofa.
 
Is it just me, or is this whole “hot computer/adapter/battery brick” thing a wee bit disturbing?
My daughter (3) got a bit burned when she grabbed mine, once. Yeah. I don’t leave it around where she can get a hold of it anymore.
 
Liberanosamalo said:
Let’s just say it was disturbingly hot. I have a charger for my cell phone. It gets warm. This was HOT. And it happened twice yesterday when it was used.
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It’s only supposed to get warm, you should be able to touch it.

It is a transformer, with two sets of windings and a capacitor and diodes to convert it from AC to DC.
I got their fine Indian service desk.
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😃 I feel sorry for you, as someone who has worked in the electronic servicing trade I know how you feel, been there done that.
And of course, reading the teeny tiny serial numbers where they were sure it was a S and I was sure it was a 5. Because whoever chose fonts for HP stickers was a moron.
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The main thing to watch out for is the DC voltage, and the mA symbol.
The voltage is important, and it’s important to have one with the proper current supplied, hence the mA (milli-amps)

Yes I know if you need a replacement you will need the serial number.
I just don’t like the feeling that the AC adapter brick for the laptop feels like touching a hot stove when I’m using it. Is that too much to ask?
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It shouldn’t be like that, make sure you keep airways free, as this will put a strain on the adaptor.

Also don’t gang it up with other plugs, like a multi plug-in, try another socket as-well, as a loose wire in the wall would cause overheating.

If you smell burning see, or hear sparking, then this may be the case, otherwise, I just don’t know.🤷

One clue would be a discoloured or burnt live pin on the adaptor.
 
I sit my laptop on my knees and then I don’t have to put on the heating. It’s just like a haot water bottle!😃
 
And the polarity!!!

Unless you like seeing sparks fly everywhere…
Mag_Uidhir said:
The main thing to watch out for is the DC voltage, and the mA symbol.
The voltage is important, and it’s important to have one with the proper current supplied, hence the mA (milli-amps)
Click to expand...
 
I have an hp laptop. I too called them when the charger got really hot, but after asking a bunch of questions they determined it was just working hard because I was playing a dvd. FYI…if you buy it on a business account your tech support is in the US for just about every product that outsources tech support to India… I always do it as a business device now so I can get quicker tech support and not have a language barrier.
 
Another bit of advice is to prop it up a bit so it is not laying flat on the surface. My docking station at work does that, so I try to emulate that at home.
 
My adapter and laptop get hot as well. I just felt my adapter and it’s getting warm already and I’ve only been on for an hour. The adapter gets especially hot when I play sims 2. But it has always worked fine.🤷
 
Goth_Catholic said:
My adapter and laptop get hot as well. I just felt my adapter and it’s getting warm already and I’ve only been on for an hour. The adapter gets especially hot when I play sims 2. But it has always worked fine.🤷
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That’s normal, you’re putting more load on it, isn’t the motor spinning all the time to keep the Processor cool ? and then if Sims involves a constantly rotating motor, then thats more load on the long suffering Transformer/ Adaptor.

Anyway from what I know about lap-tops is the fan cools the microprocessor, then shuts off when it has reached a desired temp.

But if your running Simms I’m sure the Microprocessor cooling fan is running all the time, that too will transfer to the supply, which is the Adaptor.

As long as you can’t cook a hot-dog on it, then it should be fine. 🙂
 
You mean the noise that sounds like a whirl that comes on every so often;) lol. Yeah, I know it’s fine.
 
Actually, more of the power is consumed by the processor itself. If you’re playing a game, there’s more load on the processor, and then the processor actually consumes more electricity. This makes your power supply get hot.
Mag_Uidhir said:
That’s normal, you’re putting more load on it, isn’t the motor spinning all the time to keep the Processor cool ? and then if Sims involves a constantly rotating motor, then thats more load on the long suffering Transformer/ Adaptor.

Anyway from what I know about lap-tops is the fan cools the microprocessor, then shuts off when it has reached a desired temp.

But if your running Simms I’m sure the Microprocessor cooling fan is running all the time, that too will transfer to the supply, which is the Adaptor.

As long as you can’t cook a hot-dog on it, then it should be fine. 🙂
Click to expand...
 
ack said:
Actually, more of the power is consumed by the processor itself. If you’re playing a game, there’s more load on the processor, and then the processor actually consumes more electricity. This makes your power supply get hot.
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Yep, actually it all adds up, I don’t know if Simms requires the motor to spin all the time, or if it’s loaded to the hard-drive.

Yes agreed the processor does most of the work, but for the fan it wouldn’t work very long.

Point is I think, is the adaptor shouldn’t get so hot that you can’t touch it, it has to be an indication of some of the problems I posted above.

Or a duff Adaptor which is about to blow it’s top because of maybe shorted windings.

Anyway that’s it, thats my lot, hope we’ve helped, rather than confused.

Is there a Saint for lap-tops ?
 
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