What do I do when my laptop doesn't recognize the ac adaptor?

Question

Out of nowhere my Toshiba Satellite stopped recognizing the adapter, not even charging the battery. I tried using different outlets and some other stuff but it still won't work. How can I get it checked out/fixed? Or where can I get a new adapter?

Answer 1

Any service shop should be able to identify the source of the problem in under 1/2 hour (labor). If they want more than that to identify the problem, go somewhere else.



Your problem could be any of the following:

AC adapter

DC powertap on laptop <<<<---- most likely!!!

Battery

Charging circuitry on motherboard



In a nutshell... check your AC adapter with a multimeter - if ok, then remove battery and see if laptop will work reliably w/ AC adapter (wiggle slightly to see if power dies or comes on). If power does not come on or power dies while wiggling power plug (slightly), then you probably have a bad DC powertap. If power stays on consistently during this test, you have narrowed it down to either a bad battery or failing DC-DC charging circuitry on the motherboard.



DC powertaps are easy to fix ($10-20 parts + 2-2.5 hours labor. (I fix them flat rate for $125).



Batterys and AC adapters can be mildly expensive ($75-120US)



Feel free to email me back if you have any more questions.



Best of success.

Answer 2

Are you sure that it's the adapter and not the battery? If it is the adapter you should be able to find one on eBay for a reasonable price. I have bought several there myself for Toshiba, Dell, Gateway, and Vaio systems and had good luck. They are used but in very good condition. I generally pay between $10 and $20 which is a bargain when you consider that new ones can cost as much as $100. You can also do a Google Search for the part number of the adapter itself and you might be able to find a new one. The OEM will probably have new ones also but you can normally expect to pay more there.



Hope this helps,

Captain Computer

Answer 3

You can get a new adaptor at Staples or Office Depot - and, if that's not it, this is one of the things that a local repair shop should be able to do pretty easily. Do you know a friend with a similar computer? You might borrow an adaptor for a minute, first.

Answer 4

Just take it to a Best Buy or Comp USA or even that other store Circuit City. Thay should be able to test it fast or just look in the phone book. It is not uncommon for them to just go bad, the one for my scanner just died yesterday and a new one fixed it, but i fall into that geek area and have lots of parts. And you can get a new one from Toshiba.

Good Luck

Answer 5

The AC power Adaptors do fail. they cost quite a bit to replace. Try Radio Shack. better still try FRY's Electronics if there is one near you.



Failing that look in your local yellow pages for computer stores and call them.

Answer 6

ok this problem realy sucks and unfornatly this is not good cuz basicaly now ur notebooke is an expensive paper wait cuz what most likly happend is that the plug in ur computers mother board has become disconnected from the motherboard and will need to be resotered and replaced

Answer 7

Is the power jack or the maiboard you should take it to a technician to get it fixed.

Answer 8

there should be a driver program to recognize the adaptor