Hello! I've got a problem.
I had this laptop purchased for me a couple of months ago as a gift (it's a model that's not even made any more.. I can't find any information on it anywhere, as if it never existed-- Acer Aspire E15 / E5-521-264R). All was well until the laptop's ac adapter started to coil and got multiple kinks in it. Upon trying to repeatedly straighten it out, the repetitive bending and unbending screwed up the wires in multiple spots and it stopped working due to broken connection issues (the black casing around the wires was crappy and broke and exposed these wires).
My grandpa managed to reconnect the wires through soldering to some degree but it still stops working from time to time. Anyway, I got a new power supply maybe 2-3 months ago, and it worked great at first... Until I started noticing it overheating.
It would overheat when I wasn't even doing anything.. And it would randomly disconnect/stop charging. I found that unplugging it and letting it cool completely in front of a fan and trying again an hour later, it reconnected and charged no problem.
But this problem started happening more and more often, with it constantly overheating, and even when it wasn't overheating and was 100% cool, it would randomly disconnect and I'd have to unplug it for an hour and try again afterwards. But now it's not connecting at all. There are also occasionally sparks when I plug it in to one particular area in the house, when it does have power running through it.
It's the same specs as my old one (19V, 40W, 2.1A, same polarity as well), but it's overheating more than my old one and now I believe it's completely dead. It's a different brand than the original. The little blue light I can faintly see through the end of the power brick no longer comes on, which means there's zero power running through it (though it hasn't been checked with one of those tools that checks if there's power running through something). Brand new and it's dead already. Again, this was happening whether I was gaming for hours, just turned the laptop on, or it was sitting stationary with no programs open. :/ I can't afford a new laptop charger right now.
Could it be that it burned out already? Should I try looking into an adapter with a higher amperage so it doesn't "overclock" itself (I'm aware it must be the same voltage and have the same polarity)? I'm using my old adapter (which is working right now, thankfully, as long as I don't bump it) but when playing something like Overwatch, it starts to gradually heat up after a few hours (even if OW is the only big thing open, on low graphics) and I don't want this being a fire hazard or another burn out. Ideas? Where would be the best place to get a good quality charger so this doesn't happen a third time?
tl;dr
Brand new laptop's ac adapter overheating when not doing anything on the computer though it has the same specs, likely burnt out after only 1-2 months of opening/first use
I had this laptop purchased for me a couple of months ago as a gift (it's a model that's not even made any more.. I can't find any information on it anywhere, as if it never existed-- Acer Aspire E15 / E5-521-264R). All was well until the laptop's ac adapter started to coil and got multiple kinks in it. Upon trying to repeatedly straighten it out, the repetitive bending and unbending screwed up the wires in multiple spots and it stopped working due to broken connection issues (the black casing around the wires was crappy and broke and exposed these wires).
My grandpa managed to reconnect the wires through soldering to some degree but it still stops working from time to time. Anyway, I got a new power supply maybe 2-3 months ago, and it worked great at first... Until I started noticing it overheating.
It would overheat when I wasn't even doing anything.. And it would randomly disconnect/stop charging. I found that unplugging it and letting it cool completely in front of a fan and trying again an hour later, it reconnected and charged no problem.
But this problem started happening more and more often, with it constantly overheating, and even when it wasn't overheating and was 100% cool, it would randomly disconnect and I'd have to unplug it for an hour and try again afterwards. But now it's not connecting at all. There are also occasionally sparks when I plug it in to one particular area in the house, when it does have power running through it.
It's the same specs as my old one (19V, 40W, 2.1A, same polarity as well), but it's overheating more than my old one and now I believe it's completely dead. It's a different brand than the original. The little blue light I can faintly see through the end of the power brick no longer comes on, which means there's zero power running through it (though it hasn't been checked with one of those tools that checks if there's power running through something). Brand new and it's dead already. Again, this was happening whether I was gaming for hours, just turned the laptop on, or it was sitting stationary with no programs open. :/ I can't afford a new laptop charger right now.
Could it be that it burned out already? Should I try looking into an adapter with a higher amperage so it doesn't "overclock" itself (I'm aware it must be the same voltage and have the same polarity)? I'm using my old adapter (which is working right now, thankfully, as long as I don't bump it) but when playing something like Overwatch, it starts to gradually heat up after a few hours (even if OW is the only big thing open, on low graphics) and I don't want this being a fire hazard or another burn out. Ideas? Where would be the best place to get a good quality charger so this doesn't happen a third time?
tl;dr
Brand new laptop's ac adapter overheating when not doing anything on the computer though it has the same specs, likely burnt out after only 1-2 months of opening/first use