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'allo all.

Well, my laptop's AC adapter was chewed through this morning by my girlfriend's pet rat (he's alive, it wasn't plugged in). It's broken near the base of the DC side. So far I've cut the frayed parts on both ends, leaving nothing but clean corss-sections of wire on both sides.

Here's the question...would I be able to solder the two halves back together and still have a functional AC adapter?

Of course you can! Sounds like a good idea to me!

Just bite the bullet and buy a new adapter before you start a fire/kill yourself.

EDIT: And don't forget to kill the vermin.

Considering you can get power adapters for $25 or less, it's probably a better use of your time to simply buy a new one. Depending on type, you may not even need to spend 10 bucks.

you absolutely "can" just do that. The only issue is that if that thing were to overheat and fail. I'd bet you cash-money that it would fail at your reconnection. I'm not saying anything about your skill level, just that it would be a weak point no matter what.

25-ish bucks isn't bad at all for a new AC adapter, and the whole "Not burning your house down" thing is good too.

I never open Power supplies, AC adapters, and monitors. I also don't mess with their source of power (these 3 devices usually plug right in to AC). In this case I'd just play it safe.

and why a Rat as a pet? I never understood that.

Short answer really: You can, but you shouldn't. The few bucks you save aren't worth the increase in chance of burning your house down.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you have the Handyman trait or you study the Mechanical book for a few levels and...

...oh, wait. Wrong thread. *goes back to the Sims 3 threads*

I'd do it. YMMV. Don't die.

--Patrick

PatrThom said:

I'd do it. YMMV. Don't die.

--Patrick

Click to expand...

Yes, but you (and I) are crazy like that.

Well here's the problem, my laptop's an ASUS GS1sn series gaming laptop...with a very finicky connector (very small). Any dell or hp one I've tried lately has simply been too big. The cheapest universal one I saw was around 34$ from Newegg, the others verging into the 89-120$ range for a decent universal.

meanwhile, I HAVE a soldering pen, solder and toolkit. I'm just figuring out how to do the outer braid after the inner's taken care of.

WolfOfOdin said:

Well here's the problem, my laptop's an ASUS GS1sn series gaming laptop...with a very finicky connector (very small). Any dell or hp one I've tried lately has simply been too big. The cheapest universal one I saw was around 34$ from Newegg, the others verging into the 89-120$ range for a decent universal.

meanwhile, I HAVE a soldering pen, solder and toolkit. I'm just figuring out how to do the outer braid after the inner's taken care of.

Click to expand...

Dont. Honest man its just not a good idea. You CAN solder it togeather, but like what people have said before, it will get hot and may fail, may have a short, or just a lot of bad things. Money might be tight (i know it is for me) but you're better off just saving up for a bit and getting a factory replacement that would fit it perfectly.

TLDR: You might get died

http://www.laptoppoweradapters.net/power_adapter_for_asus_g1sn_series.html
http://www.ebuybatteries.com/produc...M207&item=Asus+G1Sn+ac+adapter+laptop+charger
http://www.wholesalelaptopbattery.c...e=GoogleBase&utm_content=ASUS_19V_4.74A_2.5MM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ASUS-G1-G1S-G1S...CHARGER-+_W0QQitemZ110415424193QQcmdZViewItem

Around $30 if you shop around.

Un-weave the braided outside, and gather it all on one side of the cable so it's just like a separate wire in the cable. Twist it if you like so it doesn't sprawl all over the place.

At this point I'd get some heat shrink tubing, but I don't know what your soldering skills are, and sometimes heatshrink can hide problems and be difficult to remove later.

Solder the inner conductor.

Tape it up very well with electrical tape - more than 2 layers over the bare solder joint and any exposed center conductor wire.

Solder the outer braid wires together (since they are gathered into a single wire on each side, it should be just like the center conductor).

Tape up the whole joint so no conductors are showing.

Testing:

Get a cheap multimeter and use the resistance setting to make sure that the wires aren't shorted to each other. Touch the probes to the two conductors on the connector that goes to the laptop - make sure it doesn't read 0 ohms.

Set the meter to the DC voltage setting and plug the power adapter in (but do not connect to the laptop). Touch the probes to the conductors on the connector and make sure it's putting out as much voltage as it says it should (read the label - probably 14-20 DC).

As long as those two things check out, plug it in and away you go.

Keep in mind that while a bad solder joint SHOULDN'T kill the laptop, it's possible it might - even an expensive laptop charger is cheaper than a new laptop. Weigh your options carefully. I'd certainly do this, but I'm quite experienced in this area. You might want to do smaller (less risky) projects until you feel comfortable with your knowledge and skills before taking on a large power supply.

Either way, good luck!

And next time, make sure it's plugged in when little ratty is around. He'll probably stay away, but if not, he'll either learn a lesson or cease to b a problem (probably just learn a lesson - the braid would prevent much current from going very far in his body).

-Adam

Alternatively, you might be able to call whatever company and request a new adapter. Usually, they cost a bit but sometimes they might send you one for free. I was lucky enough to have one sent to me when I told them it would not charge my computer and I noted that it seemed to be severed near one end. They had me go through the usual 'Do you know how to plug your computer in?' but sent me one anyway.

For reference, the company was HP.

I'm going with the "just get a new power adaptor" crowd. The savings in cost just doesn't seem worth the risk.

Also, even though stienman's advice is expert, if you don't have a multimeter, you'll pay almost as much for a cheap one as you would for a new power adaptor.

Lastly, if your laptop is still under warranty, not only might you be able to get a new adaptor for free, using a self-repaired adaptor will definitely void the warranty if something goes wrong.