bernsatronic Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Hi Guys,The other day I heard this pop sound from my study. I thought someone had thrown something at my window. Turned out though that my Dell lattitude D400's power supply had died. It smelt like a scalextrix controller when you give the cars some stick :( . Anyways, I dutifully went out and bought a new one. It's a universal one but it supported my specific model number.Anyway, I plug it in and my sneaky little Dell knows the difference. Maybe the dell power supplies have flavoured electricty or something :) but it said it might not have optimum performance. This sounded like seven shades of BS. But maybe not as now my laptop battery doesn't charge and i'm in two minds as to whether a. the battery was damaged when the power supply died. however it still managed to discharge what it had left normally. it just don't charge.b. the universal power supply is rubbish. rated DC voltage and current are very similar on laptop and power supply. your opinions will be gratefully recieved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 I suspect a duff battery - do you know anyone with a similar computer you could test your battery and power supply on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 I agree with Alan and suspect the battery more than the charger but if you have a friendly local PC shop or even small electric appliance shop that sells Hi-Fi - TV's etc then I'm sure they will be able to check both out for you with a multi tester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 It could have been a faulty battery that caused the PSU to fail. There are lots of odd things going on with computer batteries recently - including spectacular failures (fires) caused by internal short-circuits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodchip Posted November 8, 2006 Report Share Posted November 8, 2006 Try the Laptop with only the Power charger, No battery in the Laptop. I do not fit mine only if I take the laptop out with me. I normally Half Charge it and then put it in a Plastic bag then on one of the shelves in the fridge. This stops it running down as fast.PS not the Freezer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zizzer Posted November 11, 2006 Report Share Posted November 11, 2006 Dell power supplies have a "special" center pin in the adapter that identifies itself as a Dell branded power supply, the message you are receiving is the computer telling you that this power supply is not sending the correct information through the center pin. The unit will refuse to charge the battery without the correct information being sent by the power supply. Basically it is Dell wanting you to spend more of your hard earned cash on Dell brand products in order to gain full functionality. I highly doubt that you have a "duff" battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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