Resolved Laptop battery adapter voltage

I need to replace one of my laptop adapters. The original has listed

AC 100V and 1.5A

Now amazon has a replacement (that says works with my laptop model) but has slightly different numbers:

100-240V and 1.2A

What I'd prefer to avoid is buying an adapter that will silently drain my battery or otherwise harm my computer by pushing in electricity at a slightly off-kilter rate.

FWIW, the DC numbers are the same for volts and amperage.

 

I know that isn't much, but I have seen that little cause problems. Have you checked ebay? I have bought lots of stuff there and always seem to find exactly what I need to the numbers and good prices.

 

Hi Paul, Just Google the info on your original Charge Adapter - they're pretty near all made in China and it's amazing what you can get for dollar value.
My new HP Notebook adapter is made in China and is marked dual input voltage -AC 100/240 V~1.7 A 50-60Hz. Output 19.5V=3.33 A 65 W. Neil.

 

I'm looking around. Newegg has some cheap ones as well.

But I'm getting confused.

Should I shop for the EXACT same numbers? Or would it be better to have one (AC or DC) to be higher than the OEM? I'm finding some that are higher.... like instead of 1.5A on the DC, some have 6.3A.

I'm not sure what needs to be the same, or what would be better to have higher.

 

That is just the input voltage. The 100-240V says the power supply is a universal supply that will automatically adjust to the input (wall) voltage, depending on what your country uses. And the 1.2A is how much current it may draw. If the output voltage is the same, the 1.2A vs the 1.5A means it will take longer to fully charge your battery. It could however, be a bit stressed if you use the notebook while a deeply discharged battery is being charged (batteries draw the most current when deeply discharged).

However, it is CRITICAL the output voltage and plug configuration are the same. So that is where you need to concentrate your research.

Think of a 12V car battery. If you connect a 9V charger to it, the battery will never fully charge. If you connect a 24V battery to it, the battery will likely over charge, and may catch fire. And if you connect the positive lead of the charger to the negative post on the battery, sparks WILL fly!

The current (output amperage) does not really matter for charging a battery. Low current will "trickle" charge - it will take a long time, but will fully charge. High current will "quick" charge but because batteries will only take what they need, there really is no such thing as too much charging current.

Plug configuration matters because there are many different types. And even the same type plugs may be wired with different polarities with + on the center pin with this plug, and - on the center pin with that plug.

What you could do is what I did for my toolbag when I make "housecalls" is get a Universal Automatic Power Supply. Then all I have to do is make sure I select the correct connector and the "intelligence" in the supply determines the correct voltage and plug polarity. This Rosewill is a bit more expensive than most universal supplies, but it supports ASUS, ACER, Sony, DELTA, IBM, DELL, Compaq, HP, NEC, Lite on, Toshiba, Gateway, Delta, and Sharp notebooks (and probably many more), and I don't have to fiddle with output voltage jumpers or switches.

 

Looks like I hit the motherlode (of data) here. Thanks for explaining it.