I absentmindedly left the cord for my laptop power supply somewhere the last time I used the computer away from home. I was chatting with friends as I was packing up and forgot it. The business said no one turned it in as a found item.

I could order a new one and it would cost me about $20 (US) by the time it is delivered. I decided to make my own from this appliance replacement cord I found at Home Depot for $6.33 (US).

Step 1: What Size Are the Power Supply Pins?

Drill bits make handy sizing samples. By sight guess which drill bit is closest to each pin. All three pins were a different size on my power supply: 3/32, 764, and 1/8 inch.

Step 2: Test Your Guess

It is not easy to get an exact size on the pins by sight. Test to see if your are correct.

Strip some #20 solid copper wire and wrap a loop around the shank of your drill bit. Slide the loop onto the pin. It should not be too loose or too tight. Try a different drill bit if the loop does not fit the pin properly.

Step 3: Wrap a Coil

Using the drill bit as a form, wrap a coil a 1/8 inch longer than the pin in the power supply.

Step 4: Compress for a Tight, Closely Wound Coil

Press down on the coil to push the windings close to one another.

When finished with a coil, cut the coil from the wire and set it aside. Size and wrap a coil for each remaining pin.

Step 5: Solder

Slip the coils onto their respective pins. Insert the correct ends of the appliance repair cord into the ends of the coils and solder each.

When finished, push hot glue into the opening as much as possible to make a plug fitting.

Step 6: The Plug Fitting

This is the plug fitting I got after the hot glue hardened. Actually, the hot glue did not flow into the bottom of the opening on the power supply as well as I had hoped. I have built it up some manually and trimmed it with a sharp knife to fit the opening. If I had not run out of hot glue sticks, I would have built it up more to cover the bare copper and make it safe from electrical shock. I plan to do that yet.

Step 7: Finished

The green power light from my laptop is glowing. I think I will not disconnect the cord from the power supply in the future so that I am less likely to forget the cord. But, my cord works. It cost me about $6 instead of about $20, and I did not need to wait 10 days to 2 weeks for delivery.