Why Is There A Burning Smell From My Laptop Charger?

A burning smell from the charger is a danger sign. It suggests that it either must be replaced or looked at from a closer angle. The scent of burning plastic from laptop adapters can be extremely hazardous and must be looked into right away. When you smell something similar to that, you have to disconnect the laptop computer power supply immediately. If you fail to do it you can just finish up hurting end up blowing your laptop. Unplug the charger from the AC / DC jack of a laptop prior to doing anything else.

The scent of burning plastic can often be caused by the power supply itself. You must pay extra attention to the plastic insulation of the wires on laptop chargers. If you find any bare wires, you have found the spot where sparking occurred and burnt the plastic round the wire. If you find nothing damaged along the plastic insulation of the wire, take a quick look at the tip. If you see liquified plastic at the top of the charger, it’s a sure sign that something has truly gone wrong. Such things often occur when there’s a short circuit connection between the top of the charger and the socket of the notebook.

It is very important not to take any of these signs lightly. Ignoring these signs at an early stage can lead to potential risks later on. A laptop charger is an extremely important accessory that should work well at all times. If not, you shouldn’t hesitate to shell out some money to get it replaced by your laptop manufacturer or purchase the same model online.

A short circuit usually occurs when the power from the laptop adapter is obstructed on its way to the laptop. In other words, the electrical power does not flow smoothly all the way from the socket to the motherboard of the laptop. During this time, a lot of heat is generated. Overheating can quickly melt the insulation around a laptop charger cable or other plastic components near the tip of the charger. When this problem surfaces, you should immediately take your laptop adapter to a professional and get it checked.

Some laptop engineers may be able to repair a faulty power supply however this is not recommended as you shouldn’t trust something that has gone wrong in the past, especially when it’s an electrical item that get’s extremely hot. If the same problem happens again it could have severe consequences. It’s better to have safety in mind and not keep using the same adapter just because it seems to be working fine at this moment in time.

Such a charger may continue to recharge your battery for a while, but can cause something really nasty like a fire or other accident after you use it continuously for a few hours. Instead of allowing such undesirable events to take place, just buy an original laptop charger from a reputed online seller of laptop chargers.

Article written by Paul David & Michael Pattison from Which Laptop, one of the UK’s leading supplier of Laptop Chargers.

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