Is this power supply problem common?

This is a long post and forgive if it’s been discussed before. I admit I did a search but there was just too many threads with too many topics to read through I just figured I make a new thread.

I work from home and on Friday I smelled a hot electrical/plastic smell. It would come and go and I went around smelling everything (laptop, laptop cooler, USB hub, monitors, my home server with an external RAID, various routers and switches, TV, Dish receiver, fax machine, printers) but could not locate the source. Today it was stronger so I went around and smelled everything again. This time it occurred to me to smell the subwoofer for my speakers, the power strips and power supplies of everything.

Right away I found the source. It appears to be a defective power supply for my G73 (pic below). The power supply was almost too hot to handle. From the looks of it the lower right pin got so hot it melted plastic around the AC cord. Also it’s hard to tell form the picture but it also melted the structure around the pin and it sagged over once I removed the cord.

My advice is always investigate funny smells (take that anyway you want)! Lucky I found it before there was a real issue but I'm kicking myself with the "what-ifs" and "could-of-beens" because I should have been more complete in my search for the source of the smell on Friday. This defect is pretty scary and don't want to image what would happen if it actually caught fire (3 kids, wife, 4 cats and a dog at home).

I have used laptops for 13 years and never had a power supply do something like so my question (finally) is this common or am I just one of the few unlucky ones to get defective unit? Is there a manufacture that you guys use (besides Asus) that makes a high quality power supplies? This is actually the second power supply I had go bad. Granted the first power supply the tip to the laptop broke loose (on the DC side) so it wasn't nearly as bad of a problem and could have been my fault but I don't recollect doing anything that would cause it to break however.

If there is nothing better out there then I will go with another Asus power supply and keep a close eye on it.

 

The tip looks bent. Maybe it was a defective AC adapter, or maybe you snagged it one time and forgot that it happened.

I don't see many instances of melted AC adapters, so it's probably not that common. There are lots of complaints about AC adapters in general but not to the point of critical failure like this.

 

Actually the pin is bent because the plastic around it is melted away. It's hard to tell this from the pic but it's enough to cause the pin to sag. I admit it could have been an issue with inserting the cord when I first got it but the power supply would not have been unplugged or moved since I replaced the other defective one 6 months ago. I keep a spare one in my laptop bag I use when traveling so the one in the pic never got unplugged or moved.

 

Consider getting an in-line surge protector for your next one like the APC PNOTEPROC6.

 

Wow good thing you caught it. I also have alot plugged in, w/ wife and kids. I checked mine and it still looks good as new, but i'm sure gonna keep an eye on it w/ the kids tripping on things alot including my psu cord haha.

Anyways you must have looked funny coming home two days in a row sniffing everything in the room!

 

Haha! I work from home every day so I found a few moments each day when no one was home to go exploring with my nose. I'm sure if my wife would've seen me she would asked why in the hell I had my nose pressed up against every electronic device in my office. I'm sure if my kids seen me there would have been a post on Facebook with video in about 30 seconds.

 

that is rare to happen. the straight plug bending and breaking is common

that would be your ground line most likely. i would test that ac jack just to be safe