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Compaq Recalls Notebook AC Adapters
rotifer writes: "Compaq is recalling 1.4 million power adapters as fire hazards. I have one of these sitting on my living room floor right now. Compaq says in their FAQ on the subject "Compaq urges customers to discontinue use of the recalled AC adapter and to order a replacement adapter immediately." and that "We expect customers to receive their adapters within 5-10 days". Which means, of course, 5-10 days of not being able to use the computer. Has anyone had one of these things blow up on them? How dangerous is it to keep using it while waiting for the replacement part?" Only you can prevent notebook fires.
They weren't kidding when the said 'blazing fast'... little did they know they were talking about the users themselves after having used the computer...
---
Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
Where am I supposed to send the faulty keyboard that came with the laptop?
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
That was fun to explain to tech support....
Techie: "What do the lights do when it turns on"
Me: nothing, it won't turn on... all the smoke came out of it and I can't get it back in.
I guess I know why it was so cheap :)
(dss-5+ old style POS.. v2.0 is much better, smaller power brick and no fan in the unit)
-paul
... who are going to keep using your AC adapters, please read up on your fire safety. /. poll next week around how many reader's homes burned down.
I don't want there to be a new
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." - Jack Nicholson
...talk about a new meaning to the phrase "Crash and burn"...
I have an Armada E500s with the adaptor in question (mine says PPP003), and I have noticed that it gets really hot while I'm using it.
I think I'm going to keep using it until I get my new one in, tho. I'll just make sure the adaptor isn't sitting on my collection of oily rags.
Brant
Argle. Bargle.
...an update to the classic teacher-pupil conversation - "Miss, miss, I can't hand in my homework because my computer caught fire"...
Anyway, what makes these babies that bad, and yet let them past standard testing? Most laptops+accessories get hot, but something of this magnitude really ought to have been caught.
I think slashdot would be a better place if more AC's spontaneously combusted.
And what is Compaq writing in their notbooks about this? Why do they care?
A plug for one sony laptop may not work on another sony laptop for example. Compatable replacements from other companies usually cost quite a bit (granted usually not as much as a "real" one from the true vendor)
They should at least send the replacement out before they get the faulty one back. Well, nobody ever claimed they were thinking clearly...
oh well, back to work for me
-paul
first my quantum fireball harddrive, now this.
compaq should just introduce an athlon with a quantum fireball, firewire, and no cooling devices ever.
if it doesnt catch fire, at least it will make you sterile.
--donabal
Safety First Day?
... to get my laptop serviced, I guess. What's scary is that I have, on many occasions, left my laptop plugged in and in "Standby" mode while I was away. I noticed the thing getting hot, but not THAT hot. I thought.
Anyway, now I can get that pesky external floppy fixed... it never did work quite right...
If I recall from one of the myriad of articles, there have been 5 fires linked to those brands. While waiting for the replacement, I recommend only plugging in the power supply while you are present - that way you can notice the smoke/flame before it gets out of hand.
Does anyone here actually read the link before they start yammering away about fires, etc.?
Compaq received 5 reports of fire that were contained to the cases of the AC adapters. None of these reported incidents involved personal injury. Compaq and its AC adapter manufacturer consider this a potential risk due to the possibility of fire, and are taking these proactive measures to ensure the safety of our customers.
5 cases of fire out of 1.4 million units, and none of them were really all that bad. So don't worry about the fire too much. If it really pains you to go without power to your laptop for several days, which is entirely probable, just don't return it. Then if it does catch fire, you're still pretty safe because Compaq already admitted to a defect.
(As an aside, I could almost have one of these, but it's not the correct series. Woo hoo!)
Where the wind blows, the tumbleweed goes.
When this happened to the adapter for my powerbook, I never even bothered to get it replaced. The chances of it actually catching on fire are remote, so long as you don't leave it sitting next to your box of oily rags...
Really all this means is that notebooks today use quite a bit of power, and in the push to miniturize AC-DC converters they've been sacrificing efficiency and heat distribution to size. All the more reason the companies should be focusing more on making notebooks more efficient rather than just more powerful.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
I mean, sure AC's can be annoying at times given their propensity to flame but please. Packing them in boxes and shipping them somewhere just isn't the answer.
Yes, but part of the danger is not knowing the hazard exists. Since it has been discovered and publicized, corrective or preventive measures (including yours) can be taken.
The power supplies are as dangerous, but the danger level has fallen.
I like fire ants. They are very spicy!
Until the new one arrives go ahead and use the one you have. As a precaution you'd better keep it submerged in a bucket of water, though. Then you won't have to worry about it bursting into flames! :-)
And if you keep the water cold you can store some brew in it for easy access while computing!
(He he)
137 unfunny "AC means Anonymous Coward" posts on this thread. The only halfway original comment gets moderated down.
I'll see your asses in metamod.
-- In the future, everyone will code Perl for 15 minutes. --
http://exchange.info.apple.com/exchange/
Thing is, the replaced the old black slim adapter with the one that now ships with the PBG4 and iBook.... a huge silver UFO-looking thing. I want my old adapter back.
All right, all right. . .Sheesh.
What are you, the Use-Some-Common-Sense-You-Dumb-Bastard Police?
Reminds me of the divorce comic someone sent me, as a gesture of goodwill, the husband gave the wife a brand new SUV for the divorce, then I noticed the firestone tires :)
Whether or not you're without the use of your computer for a few days depends on the efficiency of Compaq's customer service department.
Apple has an ongoing recall program for the AC adapters for first-generation Power Mac G3 laptops, and the turnaround time was astonishingly short. I filled in the form on their website on a Sunday evening, and Monday morning at 8:30 am, there was a courier at my door with a new adapter (the snazzy yoyo-shaped translucent ones that they give out with newer laptops) and a prepaid courier envelope for returning the old one. There was no loss of productivity because they supplied the new adapter first. Now *that's* class.
It seems that companies often outsource recall programs such as this to firms that specialize in recalls in order to speed things up. The address on the courier envelope I got wasn't to Apple corp, it was some local firm in a nearby industrial park.
I hope Compaq owners are this lucky.
----- Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas. --Army of Darkness
At my old company, we purchased a whole slew of really damned cheap (but fast!) Toshiba laptops. The AC adapters were so hot that quite a few users were afraid to touch them. I even caught someone putting their coffee mug on top of the AC adapter to keep it warm.
And if you call within the next 15 minutes, we'll throw in a FREE coffee warmer!
FWIW, I have two of these things - one at work and one at home - for my company-issued Armada M300. I leave both plugged in all the time, and they're barely even lukewarm. The bottom of the laptop itself can get pretty damn hot if I'm doing something CPU-intensive like playing games, but the AC units have never given me any cause to worry.
Slashdot - News for Herds. Stuff that Splatters.
Everybody knows that water conducts electricity very well, crazy man!
You should use something less conductive, like isopropyl alcohol or gasoline.
I was being sarcastic, of course none of the commercial flichts have AC power.
>Do a google [google.com] search before posting.
No, I don't have that kind of time on my hands, thanks.
My compaq AC adapter (presario 1700 series) isn't one of the ones recalled, but i wish it was. 1/2 the time it doesn't make solid contact with the notebook, and the battery runs down while it appears to be plugged in. You have to wiggle it to get it to work.
~William Dunn
sig?
While we're on the subject of AC adapters, here is how one works (I just had a lab practical yesterday in which I was required to build a 120 VAC -> 9 VDC converter):
The AC line is connected to two ends, one positive and one negative, of a transformer. Optionally, if the transformer is center-tapped, the center tap will go to the ground wire in the AC outlet. The transformer merely drops the AC voltage from 120 Vrms to a more manageable value, which is still AC.
On the other side of the transformer, both the positive and the negative terminals of the transformer are connected to diodes (I'm not particularly certain if the type is important, but I used 1N4007 diodes yesterday), which are then connected to the same point. This end of the transformer, which is nearly always center-tapped, has the center tap grounded. It is used as the ground reference on the DC supply.
A resistor is connected in series with where the diodes. For a 9V power supply, this resistance will be around 500 ohms.
What I have described so far is known as a full-wave rectifier. Think of its output as a sine wave with absolute values applied, and the peaks around the target voltage, 9V in this case. The effective voltage at this point is only 9/sqrt(2) = ~6.3 volts due to this.
To smooth out the waveform and keep the voltage constant, we add a capacitor in parallel with the output terminals. For an unregulated 9V DC power supply, a 10 uF capacitor will do the trick. We now have an *unregulated* 9V DC power supply, obtained from a wall socket.
I pledge allegiance to the flag...
of the Corporate States of America...
actually compaq had a battery recall about 6 months ago.
:)
I like it when they do recalls, it allows me to get free new parts for my laptop
Need a Catering Connection
Which models? my Battery on my Presario 1200 went kaput a while ago.
i think it was just the e500, but i'm not sure, i'm biased because thats the computer i've got :)
Need a Catering Connection