Need to replace AC adapter. Help

I have an old Toshiba Satellite 1905. The AC adapter is starting to have problems. The connection is not always good. It would randomly not be able to power the computer. I need to replace the AC adapter. The current one says 19V and 4.74A. Does the charger have the 19V or the 4.74A to work? I don't really need to charge the battery. It has about 80% wear already. It's more of a UPS now.

 

19V, 4.74A is a standard 90W size. The 19V is highly desirable (18V or 20V might work but it's not worth taking the risk). You may find that you don't need the 4.74A but it would be prudent to get it (more doesn't matter - the computer will only use the power it needs). There are plenty of third party "universal" PSUs around which will fit many different notebooks. You need to make sure you get one with a power plug "tip" which fits your Toshiba. Also check the plug polarity. Most plugs have the centre part positive. This is usually indicated by a symbol on the PSU's label.

John

 

Thanks for the info. Before I buy an adapter, I want to make sure it is the AC adapter that's the problem. Is there a way I could test it? Right now, when I first plug it in, it works fine. The battery is charging. After a few minutes, it stops charging and seems to start running on battery power. If I unplug it and plug it back in, it starts charging again. Is this definitely a problem with the
AC adapter?

 

The easiest way to test the adaptor is to remove the battery from your notebook and see whether the adaptor will keep the computer running. Try to do something which will give the CPU / GPU some work to do.

The other thing to try is does the battery charge OK when the computer is off? If so, then it looks like the combined power drain of the computer + battery charging caused the PSU to cut out, but it can power one or the other (but not both).

John

 

I ran some benchmarks that kept the cpu at 100%. The fan started kicking in on maximum speed. However, the battery is still charging. It appears more random than being due to extra load. It stops charging at random times even when the computer is idle.

 

The apparent switch over between charging and then using the battery is confusing.

Can you get MobileMeter from the download link here and run it (I am assuming you don't have Vista)? MobileMeter will plot a graph of battery charge / discharge and, if you right click on the window, selected options and battery information, you can check the battery wear and capacity.

John

 

I'm running XP Pro SP2. MobileMeter doesn't work. Charge and discharge show a constant 0. Wear level is also 0%. You can see that it is charging. After a few minutes, it would go up a percent. However, it's charging much slower than a few days ago when everything was fine. It used to take about 30 minutes to fully charge it. Now, it's been charging for a few hours, while using it for just surfing the web, and has only gone up about 20%. I'm going to wait until the battery is fully charged and then I'll see what the capacity is.

 

OK. Maybe the hardware is too old for MobileMeter to recognise.

Another thought - is the power connector on the computer loose? Either the plug loose in the socket, or the socket loose on the computer? Are you using the computer on a desk / table so the power connector does not get disturbed or as a genuine laptop? In the latter case the power socket gets stressed by the lead hanging down.

John

 

The MobileMeter always says my battery wear level is 0%. And my M-55 is a year and a half old. It would be nice if it were true, but I doubt it.

 

MobileMeter can only report whatever is stored. Some notebooks seem to update the battery wear value during normal use but with others you may need to run the calibration utility in the BIOS. If there is wear then what you usually see is the battery quickly going from (say) 25% remaining to the low battery alarm going off.

John

 

I think mine goes down to 10% before the alarm starts beeping. I only use my notebook on battery mostly when thunderstorms are coming. The rest of the time it is plugged in.

 

I don't think it's a loose connection. The lights that shows the AC adapter is plugged in is always on. I have been using it mostly on my lap. I'll try it on the table to see if that helps.