Charger F*#!ed Laptop?

[Flashie]

Hey everyone

My co-worker spun me this story that his laptop he wants to sell; which according to him was working fine before he swapped out the HDD - after which he never tested if it worked again. Now when the customer came in to buy it earlier today he realized it didn't have charge in its battery and went to get a cheap-off-brand universal laptop charger from the regular run-of-the-mill dodge cell-repair shop (Seeing as our workshops universal-charger did not have points that small). He proceeded to plug in the laptop; setting the voltage on the charger and plugging it in to power. No lights appeared and the laptop refused to turn on, plugged in or off.

 

End of the day he gave the laptop to me and paid me some cash to take a look at it for him. I've opened it up and saw no visible-to-the-naked-eye damage to internal components; but proceeded to check the power rating of the laptop on google. I searched for the HP Mini 210-110s power rating on google and found its power rating to be 

19V DC, up to 40W - 65W max

 

The off-brand charger he bought's packaging (has a voltage-switch), is rated at 70W at 20V; but the laptop is 19V; so when switched on 19V its running at 3.5A; which equals to 66.5W. And as you can see above ^ Thats above the recommended setting - and the laptop isnt turning on.

 

Could this be a result of the higher wattage?
 

[tim0901]

I'd assume that the laptop would have the technology to only draw what it can take from the power supply, but I could be wrong. Are you certain that the charger was actually supplying power to the unit? 

 

I'd also try and test the HDD elsewhere simply to remove it from the equation - it shouldn't have any effect but again I'm prepared to be proven wrong.

[imreloadin]

It's also possible the charger he bought was doa, I'd suggest using a charger that is known to be good. If one is not available for that laptop then I'd get to see what an OEM charger costs.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Should really either get an OEM charger or a universal one that's from a reputable brand. For example, I have universal ones made by Kensington and Targus that work fine with the 4 laptops I have around.

[Flashie]

Just now, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Should really either get an OEM charger or a universal one that's from a reputable brand. For example, I have universal ones made by Kensington and Targus that work fine with my Lenovos and Acers.   

 

3 minutes ago, imreloadin said:

It's also possible the charger he bought was doa, I'd suggest using a charger that is known to be good. If one is not available for that laptop then I'd get to see what an OEM charger costs.

We've got a reliable universal back at the shop that we use in the workshop; but this laptop has a charging point thats very scarce on even reputable brands' universals. 
Searching for the OEM charger isnt quite possible because of where i live as we dont have a large variety of options that is cost-effective and doesnt have more than a weeks wait time. The odds are that the charger would cost more than the current selling price of the laptop.

[imreloadin]

3 minutes ago, Flashie said:

 

We've got a reliable universal back at the shop that we use in the workshop; but this laptop has a charging point thats very scarce on even reputable brands' universals. 
Searching for the OEM charger isnt quite possible because of where i live as we dont have a large variety of options that is cost-effective and doesnt have more than a weeks wait time. The odds are that the charger would cost more than the current selling price of the laptop.

Ok, since you know what the charging parameters it requires are then just get one that meets those and try it out.

[Flashie]

20 minutes ago, tim0901 said:

I'd assume that the laptop would have the technology to only draw what it can take from the power supply, but I could be wrong. Are you certain that the charger was actually supplying power to the unit? 

 

I'd also try and test the HDD elsewhere simply to remove it from the equation - it shouldn't have any effect but again I'm prepared to be proven wrong.

His hard drives detected on my PC in my enclosure; however it is on 51% health which is still usable for the next estimated 421 days. I've powered up the laptop without the HDD but again nothing happens; not even a fan kick. Right now the charger being used - I wouldn't say anything about as it wasnt my choice nor my charger. If it was me I'd not even be sitting with this kind of laptop xD. The chance of this charger being just a single red LED with charging points; rather than a universal; is even a possibility

[Flashie]

Just now, imreloadin said:

Ok, since you know what the charging parameters it requires are then just get one that meets those and try it out.

Not up to me that - I'm Returning the laptop on Monday; which is when he planned to sell it. I'll just tell him he needs a new charger