DC plug for laptop

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. used his keyboard to write :

It's this type of concentric plug -

It happens that williamwright formulated :

The centre hole would be too large, but thanks..

A 1.5mm wire will just fit, but maybe too tight.

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. expressed precisely :

This (top of the listed items) suggests it might be 5.5mmx 1.7mm..

'barrel jack' 'DC power plug'

Common sizes are 5.5x2.1 and 5.5x2.5mm (OD and ID respectively), but it sounds like this could be smaller. There isn't really any standardisation so you might have to hunt around. It can help if you can find a way to measure the pin in the socket. Note that a loose connection may work, but could get worse over time, and can cause problems if it can't handle the current draw (I've bricked equipment due to brownouts caused by this)

Alternatively some vendor of a replacement PSU for your model of laptop might say when size connector it has - search on ebay.

For the connector, once you know the size, I'd look on ebay and aliexpress.

Theo

Harry Bloomfield, Esq. explained :

I have ordered these, hope they fit..

Theo brought next idea :

I tried that a few eeks ago, with no results, to tie it to my actual model. I suspected Acer might have used several sizes of connectors, for different laptop models.

I have now taken a chance on a 1.7mm x 5,5mm from ebay.

My original moulded on plug, rather than just a hole, has a pair of spring 'fingers' in the centre - which will improve the contact.

The laptop is now my spare one, which lives in the caravan for when we are away touring. The actual DC cable, is a coax and the outer snapped some while ago a couple of inches from the plug. As a temporary botch whilst away, I stripped back the outer, wrapped some cooking foil around the break and then tightened it over the braid with thin copper wire.

Maybe searching for your laptop make/model and DC barrel jack will help, but OTOH you might find wrong information from someone who thinks they're all one size, certainly searching for info on the correct size for BT broadband hubs you get a lot of wrong answers.

Your best bet is to get a new psu. Beware cheap imitations though as some do get very hot and also skimp on safety or protection. I'd be a bit wary as to how this happened in the first place. I had a dell go this way and nearly set fire to the table cloth. The welding had been far to enthusiastic creating an almost short.

Brian

Bloody hell, what a long link! Brian

snipping the end off those is a lost artform.

The original link, includes the viewers shoe size and blood type.

Now try this much and see if it works.

There are two potential failure points.

The male barrel connector on the adapter side, can be broken.

But, the female connector inside the laptop, has a small number of solder points. And in some cases, the PCB material cracks from the stress the user put on it (dropping the laptop being an example). Back in the day, some used two-component epoxy, to shore up the PCB material and try to hold it together.

At one time, breaking the female connector inside the laptop meant "you need a new motherboard sir".

Then later, companies like HP, started putting a "module" inside the laptop. The module has two connectors. It has the female barrel connector facing the outside world. The internal connector, then connects to a connector on the laptop motherboard. The module is a sacrificial part which is cheaper to replace.

The purpose of this design is, "you need a new module sir". When you ruin the female side, the replacement module is cheaper to buy, than a whole motherboard. If the female connectors had pulled free of the PCB, without cracking the substrate, then heroics would not be required. But by cracking the PCB, sometimes there isn't enough material left to effect a repair. The module idea on modern machines, solves this problem.

Paul

Paul has brought this to us :

That would be perfect for my most used at home Pavillion, but no use at all for my Acer - Sorry, no cigar.

It happens that Brian Gaff (Sofa) formulated :

Welding ????

What happened is that like many such cables, it is rather rigid and concentrates bending close to the DC plug.

I am loath to scrap anything I am able to repair, even if the repairs costs almost as much as replacement. I like to at least do a little bit for the planet.

well measure the barrel diameter and buy the right plug then

on 22/08/2021, The Natural Philosopher supposed :

Which is precisely what I have done, as posted above.

The example URL is a blue.

My Acer has a Yellow on the end.

I held a 1/16" drill bit, up against the center pin of the Acer laptop power jack, and it appears a reasonable match.

We're really asked to guess, which is a better match.

1.5mm

------ * 16 = 0.94 16ths

1.7mm

------ * 16 = 1.07 16ths

By holding up the 1/16th drill bit against it, your job is to guess whether it is "smaller" or "bigger" than the drill bit ref. Mine looks "smaller", but just barely.

The end on the adapter, the plastic "mask" looks like 1.7 would likely fit through. But the contacts grabbing the center pin, I don't know if they would be happy if I seated the drill bit in there.

Paul

It's the link you posted originally.