If your charger is broken, you will eventually run out of battery and be unable to use your laptop at all. However, fixing broken charger is not trivial since opening a charging brick could cause a short circuit and bears the risk of electrocution.
Normally, users without experience should not attempt to repair a broken charger. If your charger is broken, replace it or get a professional to fix it. However, if the damage is in the cable and you are in a pinch, you might be able to replace the damaged cable.
The two most prominent causes of a non-functioning charger are broken cable due to excessive and repeated flexing and failed electrolytic capacitors in the charger circuitry. Thus, you will need to repair either the cable or the circuitry to fix a broken laptop charger.
The fix below is for users experienced in handling electric circuitry only.
Things to Consider Before Deciding the Charger is Broken
Laptop Charger Components
A laptop charger, also known as an AC adapter, is a device that houses a transformer to convert high voltage of your household AC circuit to a lower voltage, and a rectifier to convert the AC power signal to DC. It also consists of various filters and safety circuits depending upon the capacity and quality of manufacturing of the charger.
Visually, you are able to identify the following distinct parts in a charger:
The power plug, AC cable and AC adapter are part of a single cable that plugs to the AC wall socket at one end and the charging block at the other end. This is a standalone piece of cable that can be detached from the charging block.
The transformer is housed inside the charging block as it is normally not accessible. You must be careful if you intend to open and expose the transformer since the circuitry consists of numerous capacitors.
The DC cable and adapter makes up the rest of the charger. The DC adapter is usually a barrel plug that you plug into the laptop. Unlike the AC cable, the end of the DC cable that goes into the charging block is soldered into the circuit board inside and you cannot remove it.
Tools Required to Fix Broken Charger
If you have decided that you want to fix your broken charger, you will need the following tools to complete the task successfully:
Charger Diagnosis and Repair
You will use a multimeter to identify the problematic area in the laptop charger. ensure you are familiar with the multimeter you are using and then proceed ahead with the diagnosis.
