Toshiba Power Cords

[Warbler]

Has anybody else been experiencing problems with Toshiba power cords fusing? I've had four burn out on my Satellite L750D in the past 12 - 18 months. What's more, there is a notification that Toshiba was having problems on its built-in notification system. The original cord fused and was replaced with a unit that was clearly labelled "Replacement AC Adaptor" instead of "Toshiba AC Adaptor". I had to buy that one because the original was out of warranty. The replacement fused within weeks and was replaced free of charge. The replacement of the replacement was similarly marked, and it lasted about six more months before it also fused. Worse, the wires on the sharp end (the AC end) pulled free from the enclosure. That was replaced by a genuine Toshiba model again. It lasted about four or six months and fused last week when I was working on-site at a theatre. I have had to buy a non-genuine generic replacement made by Belkin. The non-generic has a 12 months warranty, whilst the Toshiba models have a 3 months warranty.

I'm not a happy camper. Even though I use the laptop infrequently, I'm a bit concerned when a large multi-national electronics company outsources its manufacturing to China and serves up dodgy products.

[ameerat42]

Warbs. Are you talking about the actual power supply fusing/burning out, or just the cords?
To add to your woes, I read in today's Herald that some Toshiba batteries are fusing as well -er,
as BAD!!

[Cage]

Thanks for the heads-up Warbs.

I recently acquired a Toshiba Satellite C40D-C004, the bottom of their laptop range, with 2GB of RAM and a 5400RPM spindle drive. Will not go to bed and leave it on charge anymore.

My intention was to upgrade the RAM and fit a SSD but when I got it home and read the Manual it said there were no serviceable parts, and any RAM upgrade was only to be performed at the factory for a service charge of $??? plus $230.00 for the RAM, which I subsequently discovered is made by Kingston, but with a dedicated Toshiba part No.

Yeah, right. Out with the Phillips head screwdriver, off with the back, and in with 8GB of Kingston RAM and a 120GB SSD, total cost around $100.00. While still a long way from being a gaming unit, it is now very usable. The other thing I did was to download (from Microsoft) a clean copy of W10 without all the Toshiba bloatware at start-up. It now boots up in under 15 seconds.

Toshiba, like most large corporations, want to cut-out the add-on brigade, and keep it all 'in-house'. Even the BIOS on the C40 seems to have been specifically written for them. However, with desire (mine is driven by a chronic shortage of the 'readies') and a little perseverance, you can usually beat their 'system'.

[Warbler]

Warbs. Are you talking about the actual power supply fusing/burning out, or just the cords?
To add to your woes, I read in today's Herald that some Toshiba batteries are fusing as well -er,
as BAD!!

I'm talking about the adaptor unit that converts from AC to DC power AM. Sparks and the smell of electrical fusing. Threw out the circuit breakers once, but not the other three times.

[ameerat42]

What an ABsolute PEssst!

I am at preswent upgrading a Toshiba and it has a "HuntKey" brand adapter. It's been on for
hours today and is just warm. The other is for a late model Satellite but it's Toshiba branded.
I do not remember it running hot at all. (Hasn't been on today.)

FWIW, some specs...
HuntKey
Model: HKA 09019047-6D
Input: 100-240V 50-60Hz 1.5A
Output: 19.0V 4.74A
Centre positive
(Made in China)

Toshiba
Model: PA5083-1AC3
Input: 100-240V 50-60Hz 2.0A
Output: 19.0V 6.32A
Centre positive
(Made in China.)

Now another thing, for an ASUS laptop...
For normal use, adapter lies flat on table and is always "just warm".
When hooked to TV with HDMI and sending video the adapter it has become "quite hot"
to being uncomfortable. Standing it on its edge has kept it warmer than "just warm" but
by no means "quite hot". (Lucky it's not "white hot")

I wonder how much work your laptop does and how much it draws. It would be interesting
to see what side of the adapter took the hiding.

[xaiya]

Hmm I'm fairly certain that any new product you buy in Australia has a 12 month warranty...something to do with consumer law...

sorry I don't have any direct links, tapatalk screws up when I leave the app. I'd be checking on the net with the Department of Fair Trading, and the Ombudsman, as 3 month warranty sounds not right!

[Warbler]

Hmm I'm fairly certain that any new product you buy in Australia has a 12 month warranty...something to do with consumer law...

sorry I don't have any direct links, tapatalk screws up when I leave the app. I'd be checking on the net with the Department of Fair Trading, and the Ombudsman, as 3 month warranty sounds not right!

I'm not sure about cords. I'll check.

I wonder how much work your laptop does and how much it draws. It would be interesting
to see what side of the adapter took the hiding.

Very little work. I use it for filing pictures for media when sent out in the sticks to get them, or for showing clients photos, but I never process anything on it. It's always the AC power end.