See full version: Is it bad to leave chargers plugged in
I have indeed covered some of this before, once or twice, but your question is timely: Just last month, your fine state adopted new energy-efficiency rules for chargers, citing potential residential and commercial savings of $306 million a year. Also, I am all zinged up by your question about leaving chargers attached to gadgets when their job is done — an important, but often overlooked, variable in this multi-pronged energy equation.
I know it’s supposed to be bad to leave your cell phone charger plugged in when it’s not charging, but here’s something I find myself wondering often: Is it as bad to leave it plugged in with your phone attached after it’s been charged? And what about my laptop charger? Does that leak energy? Can’t remember if you’ve covered this before.
Q. Dear Umbra,
T.G.
Oakland, Calif.
The photo above shows a typical coaxial power plug. At the factory, the wires coming from the cord are soldered and/or crimped to contacts on the metal portion of the plug, and then a vinyl jacket is molded around the assembly to provide strength and to form a grip. Too much flexing of the cord causes the connections between the plug and cord to fail inside the molded jacket.
Now you can cut the excess wire off the plug and cut the messy end off the cord. The plug used in these photos had the inner wire crimped into place—the bare wire is slipped inside the inner sleeve, which is then crimped (crushed) to hold the wire in place. To get the wire out, it’s best to “un-crimp” the sleeve by squeezing it back into a circle with needle-nose pliers. Just don’t damage the sleeve. If the center wire is soldered in place you have to heat it up with a soldering iron and pull it out once the old solder is melted. Be careful what you touch when using a soldering iron. Things get hot. Don’t burn yourself. Use pliers or tweezers when needed. The outer negative connection is always soldered and you can simply heat up the solder and pull off the wire, or use solder wick, which keeps things neater. here
To repair the old plug, you have to start by cutting off the jacket surrounding the contact points, as shown above. You can simply slice the jacket down its side with a razor blade and peel it off or cut the plug off and wiggle the metal part out of the vinyl jacket. Either way, what’s important is that you not damage the metal part of the plug, which will be reused. What’s even more important is that you don’t cut yourself when using a razor. Be careful! You’ve been warned. more
As I thought $50, adapts multimeter to peak reading meter. You may need to get a digital meter to use with this. here
Re: Why did my Power pack go bad?
Re: Why did my Power pack go bad? [links]
Answer to the first qeustion. [links]
Ill post the procedure, but given the information that your friend cross polarized the battery, Id be willing to bet that is your problem. That'll toast the rectifier in a jiffy.
If all else fails, take the computer to a trusted repair shop and let them know the symptoms. A good repair shop will be able to check the power supply and advise you depending on the result.
When a hardware fault begins to cause havoc on your PC, it can be hard to tell what is causing all the issues. With a few symptom checks and tools, you can better diagnose your problems and work out whether the power supply is at fault.
If you can confirm the power supply is going bad (such as a noisy fan within it), then getting a replacement is ideal. Note the amount of wattage your old power supply is (usually on its specification sticker), then purchase a new one with the same or higher amount.
Given how the power supply is the central hub for all your computer’s energy, it makes sense that if it has died, the computer will fail to start. What makes this tricky, however, is that a “dead” computer doesn’t always mean there’s a problem with the power supply. It could also be an issue with the motherboard or the power cable, for instance. As such, while not a surefire way to diagnose a faulty power supply, keep it in mind should this happen to you.
You might find that your PC shuts down during boot-up or use. Be extra wary of the power supply if it occurs during moments of high stress, such as video encoding or gaming. This may be due to the power supply failing to keep up with the demands of the computer. However, this is also a symptom of an overheating processor, so make sure the heat sink is kept dust-free and the processor is running cool before pinning blame on the power supply.
If you feel like a bit of an electrician, you can test the outputs yourself using a multimeter to get readings from the power supply’s output. However, this takes advanced knowledge of how a power supply works, as well as how to obtain the readings. Only use a multimeter if you’re confident in your abilities to use it correctly!