Repair your broken Laptop power cord.

Fix your laptop power cord that hasn't been supplying consistent power for the past month, and completely died today. No matter how much you fondle the cord into this position or that, it won't charge your battery or power-up your computer.

Here's the fix that costs zero dollars and only requires patience, some basic tools, electrical tape, and the perseverance that only a true cheapskate can muster. I performed this instructable on my very own HP Pavillion's power cord and adapter.

CONSIDERATIONS:

Where's the Break?: Consider where the break in the power cord occurs. 
- This Instructable is for a break in the coaxial (round, thin) cable, near the adapter instead of near the laptop pin/plug. In my case, the cable break was close to the adapter, so much so that I had to break it apart to get enough wire for the fix. If you're even closer than I was, you may have to solder.

This instructable may not help you if:
- You have 2" of cord on either side of the break. If so, you don't need to read on. Just cut the cord at the break, expose about an inch of cord on each side, twist the separate insides together, insulate from each other w/ e-tape, then wrap the whole mess with e-tape.
- Your cord is breaking on the base-end of the strain-releif (as was the case for Surroundsound). Your fix will slightly differentiate from this Instructable. See Surroundsound5000's comment in the comments at the bottom of the page.  He includes some helpful pics.

Notes: I somewhat followed Morris Rosenthal's example, as well as Prometheus' example for this instructable.

8/31/09 UPDATE: It's coming up on the year anniversary of my power cord repair. I haven't had to repair it again and haven't had any complications. Here's hoping for another year!

12/28/10 UPDATE: Consider epoxy over e-tape when binding the power adapter back together. Epoxy adds a couple bucks to the repair and can be intimidating, but it is less insulating and therefore less prone to causing the unit to overheat... Last month my power adapter started overheating (to the touch) so I decided to unwrap the whole thing, saw some air vents in the plastic, epoxy it back together, and add stick-on rubber foot pads. It helped with the overheating issues.

Step 1: Set up and Evaluation

Tools I used: Chisel, Hacksaw, Electrical tape (or shrink tubing), wire cutters and/or strippers, flat head screwdriver (preferably sharp-ish and wide-ish), optional: two monkey wrenches for prying.

Time: It took me about 1 hour, most of which was spent figuring out how to pry open the adapter box.

Comments

[selorm65]

when i cut the cable i found another blue wire hanging around,what should i do with that wire

[roreru]

I need to replace the shield power cable that connects to the laptop, and not been able to locate that type of cable. Any suggestion where to find it?
thanks,

[actionscription]

I'm not sure Roreru. Anyone else have some advice?

[aonash]

I've found this DIY (do-it-yourself) guide very informative.

A while ago, the adapter-charger of my laptop (Acer Extensa 4630Z) had a short-circuited wire outlet. After following the step-by-step instructions presented in this online guide I was able to repair my adapter-charger for my laptop.

Besides a flat-head screwdriver and duct tape, I had made use of a pair of scissors to serve as a wire cutter and also made use of a household candle and a set of safety matches.

I found it easier to pry open the casing of the adapter-charger using the above-mentioned utilities. I had to heat the end of a rusted screwdriver to quicken the process and pry open the casing; and viola I fixed it in no time at all!

Opening the casing of the adapter-charger by sheer physical force and using a hacksaw was rather dangerous, energy-draining and time-consuming.

To prevent overheating, leave the side open - only tape the center - to permit heat to escape which automatically cools down the adapter-charger to prevent any overheating.

[phuynh4]

my dell adapter works weel, the plugin jack light works but nothing happens after poweron my laptop. (its OK with a new adapter). anyone plz help, i'dnt alow casting away cuz' its my hope.

[diddicky]

This is Good but my wiers are not that long inside the box so i cant do it

[skim23]

hahaha succeed!! Thanks so much !!!

[rfachane]

Please, when i pull out the white cable, i find INSIDE it a blue one :/ its co,fusing should i connect the blue one too ??
And thank you for the guide !

[solopk]

Remarkable, as I was not having the above equipments with me. I directed t.V mechanic as it is mentioned above. IT cost me Just 100 R.S ($2). thank u

[csmith93]

Thanks for the info, just fixed daughters laptop.

[manumanu]

Incredible guide! Thank you. Had the same problem on the very same adapter from HP, and wondered an easy way to open it up. The idea of the knife is charming, I think I'm going to try that first. Thank you sri1ram for the hint and actionsciption for the pictures! Great!

[manumanu]

just an update to let you know that i got it working again! To open the case I used the blade of a cutter, lightly smoothed to avoid scars on the ridges. With a hammer I gave some hits on top of the blade on both the long sides of the case. The blade itself is very thin and once smoothed you can use it as a leverage to split the sides. Didn't have any problem with the rubber relief anyhow needed quite a long work to make the cable slide from the outside to the inside. The entire process took about 1h, but I also had very much care to insulate + and - of the cable inside the case. Bye, Manu

[31mimo]

I use normally an hammer and a peace of wood, Bang the wood on top around the charger, and it will just open gently, almost no dents damage on te plastic. Help with a large thin screwdriver . To close i use contact glue. Looks it as never been openned!(can use also an rubber hammer)

[jgibbons4]

I tried this method but it failed 6 weeks later. I had to get another charger from alphachargers.com which offered me free shipping

[wetnap]

I find solid core wiring is pretty good splint material, especially if you've got some left over from removing a light fixture or any old hardware, it is stiff yet flexible, adding some under heatshrink adds strength to many wire jobs.

[grampafish]

Thanks this fixed my compaq armada charger
The plastic case is hard to get open but I fixed it and I replaced the green led with a blue one.thanks my pappy is happily charging :-)

[mokeyman7]

haha finaly got haalf way through and took all day

[breakallstuff]

End up breaking the adapter case into three pieces lol. Glad I have some black tapes. Notice a pen taped on the side of the adapter. I use the pen as a strain relief. 

[sritchie1]

Thanks so much for this guide! I was going to spend $100 on a new cable, but you gave me hope!

[lwang3]

this is very good guide and very good website.

[lwang3]

it is too simple, don't open case, just peel the cord at the end of the rubber spring thing, like this guide, and be careful not cut too much , then connect outside white wire , that is it . today I just use 20 minutes to fix that, it is difficult to open the case. so I just peel the cord using knife.

[snuñez]

Nice guide :D, i'll try to fix it, im tired of asking my sister to let me use her cable to see how to fix mine :P LOL (>_<@)

[dimitrst16]

Man, was that charger hard to disassemble. But the rest was easy. My charger had an extra ground cable, as it was a larger unit from the above. Be sure to connect this one too if you have one.
Thanks actionscription !!!

[sikamikan]

the same thing happened to my power supplier, im gonna try it tonight.
Thanks for the guide!

[deathnotx101]

I fondled my cord for a while to get it to work....but then one day it was busted. So I googled how to fix it and wound up here. After reading I found out that I had to strip the wire......so I did and low and behold I fund a break that was probably progressively getting worse with the fondling. So I used some hot glue to stick the two ends back together and to my surprise it worked. Thanks for giving me some insight so I could fix the break myself and have an awesome sense of accomplishment. I'm a handy girl now :)

[jayeshshinai]

can anyone help me out with this HP adaptor...!? iv soldered the wires but there no blue light (not supplying power) at the laptop end. have a feeling that i might have soldered the (+) & (-) wrong....but i dint change them coz a bit concerned (actually scared) of the adapter/laptop frying. m posting the pics of the adapter, can u tell me if im right or not? thank you. raj!

[okz19]

i have the exact same issue, ive done mine as per tutorial, it now charges the battery the light on the computer come on to show its connected but windows doesnt actually show it charging, just shows its running on battery even though all the lights on the computer show it is plugged in, kinda scared to leave it on overnight like i normaly do incase something goes rong like it doesnt stop charging even when its full

only difference i notied was my charger has the coaxal, and the white wire but inside the white wire is more coaxal and a blue wire so i think this is where ive gone wrong

[jayeshshinai]

yup, i;d wired them wrong..n no explosions too. the blur light at the connection shines but it doesn't charge d lappy! daim! i was smiling so big! took a blue light to turn me into a fool..

[maliface]

Why are acer chargers so rubbish?? I've had 2 break and the sockety bit for the charger (Im not good at technology) and I know a family with 2 acers which have had 3 new chargers between them. expensive stuff.

If I'm just fixing the wire will electrical tape be enough?? The whole thing can get pretty hot and I'm slightly worried it might melt or something..

[bj75y]

figured it out..the white is the live (positive) while the stranded wire around it is neutral..

[bj75y]

nice tutorial, which wire is positive and which is negative i.e. between the white and the stranded wire round it?

[actionscription]

Anyone else know how to tell? I certainly don't remember, sorry bj75y. :(

[sri1ram]

Wow, I am trying to open up this very same HP adaptor. Thank You! Really did not imagine that someone would put step-step instructions like this, for the Same adaptor! Anyway, at least I won't feel too bad about force-splitting the sealed adaptor - always had me thinking that there is a non-violent way to open it up - but looks like it's glued and hermetically sealed from the inside! Will add a comment if I find some better way "after" opening up .. Cheers, Sriram

[jayeshshinai]

hey sri, can u help me out with the wiring that iv done..posted the pics above. wanted to know if its right or not. thanks

[jayeshshinai]

okay..pic 15 of the tutorial shows tht im wrong... but any chances of explosions if i solder them n they are wrong??

[sri1ram]

Update: Opened up my identical HP adapter, a lot faster and easier than the author's step 2. 1. Instead of the chisel, align a knife along the horizontal ridge as close a possible (very fine ridge, but a normal thickness knife serves the purpose, though thinner is better) 2. Hit with a hammer on the knife. 2-3 bangs (hard enough not to damage the internals) on the knife on both side-ridges were enough to get the casing to separate without any damage whatsoever !! except to the hermetically sealing glue.. 3. Voila, done in 2 minutes.. The adapter won't later look so chewed upon, with the fine, originally chiseled look :-) All the other steps are the same. Attached is a snap of the end results, the tape can be put better, but who cares!) Thanks again Actionscription for showing me that it's not a stupid waste of time (also saved my all time favorite store, Costco, 60-70 bucks for providing me a warrantied, new 'backup' adaptor at a time when all stores are closing down) Cheers, Sriram

[sweetiex3]

that was so helpful! thank u!!! :)

[sri1ram]

Oops, here are my images..

[andrew101]

ahaha thats what you call a fail repair...

i have to repair my plug (where it meets the pc) im going at lunch toget a new plug, so hopefully i can make it look good.

[ReCreate]

That looks just like mine! DID you Steal it? :P