[Jenny-talia]

it seem to have some type of serious power issue. When I got it (second hand) it was totally dead. I brought it home and put it on it's (after-market, universal) charger. I let it go for a few minutes, then powered it on. It stayed on for...maybe 30 seconds, then powered off.

So I let it charge all night. I got up this morning and powered it on. The battery indicator said it was at 61%, but it powered itself off just the same. It didn't stay on any longer then it did last night when the battery was only 4% charged.

I did a little investigating, and discovered the universal charger puts out 16v, while the laptop asks for 19v. Obviously this is the source of at least some trouble, but is it the source of ALL the trouble? Has the previous owners use of an incompatible charger destroyed the battery?

It doesn't get hot, it's very clean (no dust in the vents) so I I don't think it's overheating.

Any ideas would be VERY helpful. I will be MAD if I bought a $200 paperweight.

Edited by Jenny-talia, 05 March 2010 - 09:30 AM.

[Advertisements]

First thing I'd try is removing the battery and then hooking up the laptop to a 19v adapter. Will it boot and stay running now?

Note: I've heard that some laptops will not work without a battery.

[SpywareDr]

First thing I'd try is removing the battery and then hooking up the laptop to a 19v adapter. Will it boot and stay running now?

Note: I've heard that some laptops will not work without a battery.

[Neil Jones]

I did a little investigating, and discovered the universal charger puts out 16v, while the laptop asks for 19v. Obviously this is the source of at least some trouble, but is it the source of ALL the trouble? Has the previous owners use of an incompatible charger destroyed the battery?

The vast majority of laptop universal chargers are designed to be dynamic to cater for the wide range of laptops that they are designed to fit. They very rarely put out what a standard power supply would. A 19v @ 3.42a would put out 19v @ 3.42a, for example, whereas universals have to be auto-dynamic switching, save feeding 24v through something that's only expecting 15v. A universal one will probably fit, probably charge and probably do everything an original charger would. However not all laptops get on with universal chargers and some just don't like them at all.

The digital chargers report only on the load they're putting out which doesn't always match up with whatever it says on the bottom of the laptop. Providing the laptop is actually charging this is usually nothing to worry about. If the voltage/amps was too low it wouldn't charge at all. I would argue if it's took all night to gain just 57% charge then the battery's realistically shot.

Edited by Neil Jones, 05 March 2010 - 03:15 PM.

[Jenny-talia]

Thanks for the info guys. The charger seems to tell me it puts out a range of volts from 0-16, but based on what the third reply said, I guess that doesn't make much sense for it to max out at 16v. However, it does not have a switch like a lot of universals have to select the voltage, so I got the impression that it was a fixed level of power.

I have purchased a new battery and charger from Toshiba, so hopefully these problems will be fixed.

I do have another, unrelated question. The screen is loose on the laptop. When I open it, it wobbles a little -- maybe a quarter of an inch. I worry that this movement may result in fraying the wires that connect the board to the screen. Is this something I can fix (are the screws exposed?) and is it something I should even worry about fixing? If I have to open the thing I will, but laptops sort of freak me out because I don't have a whole lot of experience with their insides.

Edited by Jenny-talia, 07 March 2010 - 04:45 PM.