1645 AC adapter heat protection

Hi all,

Does anyone know if the 130W AC adapter that comes with the 1645 Studio XPS as a built in heat protector? The reason why I ask is because, if so, I tripped it tonight. If not, I'm out of a power brick and need to request a new one.

The story:

I am currently in a bit of a confused-panic state wherein I'm not sure exactly if I should be worried or patient.

Tonight I went out and rented "How to Train Your Dragon" on bluray, popped it into my drive, spun it up in PowerDVD over HDMI, and away I went. (lid closed, only power, HDMI and wireless mouse plugged in). In the background I had a video conversion going (720p AVIs from my partner's camera, converting to MPEG for later DVD archiving) but that's never been a problem in the past (encoding + BD on PowerDVD). As well, the AC adapter's brick is always beneath the window and quite far from a heat vent; the adapter is usually quite cool even when under load while playing games.

About an hour and a bit into the movie, I heard an audible pop/click come from the AC adapter, and a split second later my machine went into battery mode.

Two possible problems came to mind:
(1) over heating the power brick
(2) over drawing the power brick

The normal blue ring around the plug of the AC adapter was off, and the power brick was unbearably warm to the touch - one would not be able to hold it for more than a second. It even slightly smelled like that "burned" electronics smell - not the kind where something's been irreparably damaged, but has been heated up enough to whiff it up close. AFraid I burned out the adapter, I immediately unplugged it from the wall and my machine and put it on top of my notebook cooler (it's aluminum, and i didn't want to risk any fire on the carpet). About an hour later, after the power brick had cooled down, I risked plugging it back into the wall, only to find that the blue ring lights up again, as if nothing had happened. I didn't risk plugging it into my notebook - I didn't want to fry it.

I read from here that some Dell adapters might have a heat protector, and I am wondering if that is the case here - that I tripped the heat protector.

However, if it was the second problem (over drawing the power brick), wouldn't I have just suffered from throttling and not caused the AC to pop/click? That's my thought at least (I've never experienced CPU/GPU throttling before).

I'd appreciate any insight on this, or past experiences if possible. Or better yet, re-assurance that I didn't blow out the AC adapter. My fear is more that I have a crappy China-made AC adapter lying around the room threatening to burn down the place.

Do I need to replace my AC adapter, or is it alright? The blue ring was certainly a welcome sight, but I'm still not risking it just in case. I'm more than willing to call up Dell tomorrow morning to request a replacement/swap. But I wanted to consult the knows-more-than-Dell folks here first, before I start up a trouble ticket with them.

Thanks

 

Hi Daver,

Sounds to me like the power brick, bricked itself literally.. I can't talk from experience with dell product but thais has happened to me with external HDD power units and other types of charging units. In regards to the heat, my XPS1645 came with a 90w adapter which they ended up replacing with a 130w one due to the fact it would get so hot you could literally cook an egg on it, I mean it was so hot I couldn't touch it for more than about 2-3 secs, it kept on working though and didn't fail me, based on the heat this one got to I can only presume they can handle a fair whack of heat and it prob blown on you, I'd get on the blower and request a new one either way!

 

Thanks Zarr, I was afraid of that...

I thought that as well at first. But when I was able to plug it back into the wall outlet an hour after coolin gdown, the blue ring showed up again as if nothing had happened. I didn't plug it back into my notebook through, being cautious that someone inside has broken and that it might damage my XPS.

Simply put, I wanted to find out if that pop/click was an in-built heat protector. If no one else has anything to say, I 'll go ahead and call up Dell later this afternoon when I get back home.

 

It the blue light is back on, then it should still work fine. If you want to be extra careful, get a multimeter and check that the output is ~19.5 +/-1 volts. It probably just temporarily tripped some kind of protection circuit like you thought.

 

I had this problem with a charger for my old inspiron 1720 every once in a while the power brick would just overheat and switch off, the power brick did that for about 2 years and all was well, i've upgraded to an m1730 now

 

daver,

I agree with seeker in that if the blue light is back on you could use it (well I would) maybe place it so it doesn't get so hot? I started putting my 90w one on a ceramic kitchen plate so it didnt burn anything haha! helped keep it cool too tho...

 

hi all,

thanks for the help. this is definitely not a time sensitive issue as this power adapter is strictly for home use. at the office, i use another 130W adapter from a Latitude at work.

anyways, seeker_moc, i borrowed my dad's multimeter and was not able to get a reading from this adapter. it showed a flat 0 reading. However, the power adapter from my old HP notebook was showing a steady 18-22 voltage reading, fluctuating in that range.

could you please let me know if there's any particular way to work the multimeter on this adapter? thanks

 

One probe to the pin in the middle (make sure the probe doesn't touch any metal on the inside of the plug besides the pin), and the other probe to the ground (metal ring on outside of plug, or any ground really).

 

hi seeker,

yes, that's exactly what i did. the multimeter showed 0 the whole way through. doing the same thing to my 65W HP adapter gave me readings between 18-21V.

thanks for your help. i think i'm going to call the time of death on this adapter. even 12+ hours later, it still smells of that "burned electronics" smell. call my Capt. Cautious but I'd rather ask for a replacement than risk frying something inside.

 

seeker, i brought the multimeter to work today, and i'm getting a 19-20 volt reading off the 130W adapter that my colleague's Latitude E6510 uses (which works with my 1645). so i looks like, despite the blue ring working, my adapter really is dead? no matter, i phoned Dell Support already.

the result of my phone call yesterday to Dell XPS Tech Support is that they will now ship out a replacement AC adapter, and i'll send them my toasted one.

"Peterson" from XPS Support wanted to send out a technician to replace my CPU, motherboard and GPU. and of course, let's not forget the AC adapter. he said this is a classic throttling issue. i told him, nope, it's not. i have never suffered from throttling. besides, if i were throttling, i don't think the AC would "pop" like it did.

he was adamant that it was the throttling issue that everybody experienced. i was adamant that it was not.

the long and short of this technological rendition of "i'm rubber you're glue" banter ended up with me talking to his manager. i explained the situation, what happened, my observations, etc. the manager immediately apologised and said that many calls they receive are regarding the throttling issue, and that most of their "support" procedures revolve around sending out technicians to replace parts.

HUH, seems like some of you guys pissed off the Tech Support crew