powerbrick question

so i woke up this morning, plugged in my powerbrick to the outlet then to my laptop, powered it on, then ive noticed that the powerbrick started to make a slight buzzing noise, combined with a a sizzling noise, but this is only noticeable when its completely quiet, but when the fans kick in the noise goes away

i have never noticed this sound before, so i was wondering if its normal?

 

If that happens (which it does occassionally), then you need to unplug the power cord from the power brick and the AC plug and securely plug it back into the brick.

That should remedy the buzzing sound.

 

Hey MasterBassist,

My powerbrick does the exact same thing in my D901C. I notice it more often when my laptop is first turned on (after it's been off for several hours). I believe this is normal and shouldn't cause any problems.

 

Unfortunately, the answer is, maybe yes, maybe no. Apparently, because of the alternating magnetic fields produced within the adapter, the parts inside can vibrate, creating a low hum - if you've ever walked by a big powerline transformer on the street, you've probably heard it humming.

The same thing happens inside the ac adapter for a notebook; however, given that the ac adapter is working with voltages and/or currents that are magnitudes below what a powerline transformer works with, the hum should generally be very low, and preferably only audible if you put your ear right next to it.

That being said, there are other things that can exacerbate the noise an ac adapter makes, such as "noise" on the power circuit it's plugged into - one cheap way to test this is to plug it into a circuit that isn't feeding any other devices.

Also, even if the humming is audible, it may not mean that the adapter is kaput, just that it wasn't really solidly built to dampen the natural vibrations of the internals.

The key test really is whether or not the adapter is hot - it should be warm to the touch (especially after a long period of intense usage, like gaming); however, if it's too hot to pick up, that means that it's generating much too much resistance inside, and should be replaced immediately - such an adapter is a fire hazard.