Not about computers, but nutsy boltsy. Smart people here, in my experience...

[LAS14]

Can anyone advise me about how to find help in replacing or repairing the cord pictured here? The problem is where the cord fits into the big plug. I know this because for about a year I've been able to make the connection work (light goes on) by wiggling that part. For starters, is there a name for the cord? For the big plug end of the cord? For the other end? Should I/someone be able to take that big square thing apart and maybe do something??? Is there a name for people who fix this kind of stuff? The gadget it is connected to has been out of existence for decades.

tia
las

[mitch96]

1. I would go to a computer repair place if it can be fixed

Usually the big square thing can't be opened.. It looks like a step down transformer and the wire where it joins is open or intermittent. Check to see what the voltage and power requirement is and get a new replacement with the same power and voltage needs. It might not look the same but the computer won't know the difference..
Have you tried looking on Ebay? Lots of times old, out of date equipment can be gotten there..
Good luck...
m

[LAS14]

4. Thanks. What would I call the thing I'm looking for on Ebay?

A step-down transformer with a whatcha-ma-callit at the other end?

And thanks for the computer repair idea.

[think4yourself]

7. A/C adapter

It changes alernating current (AC) to direct current (DC).

[mitch96]

20. Yes, it looks like an AC adapter. Just make sure the power requirement are the same...

LIke, lets say 120volts AC and 5 volts .5 amps out.. Or 5 volts 500 MA out. If the numbers match and the plug that goes into your device is the same you are cool.. The plug that goes into your device is going to be the limiting factor.. Lots of adaptors but you need the correct plug..
Good luck..
m

[LAS14]

13. Could you please look at reply #12? tia las

[Boxerfan]

2. The 90 degree bend at the end of your chord may be tough

Will a straight one work?There is probably a broken wire in the power converter (squarish thingy with plug).
There is a power rating on the side or somewhere on that thingy. Not serviceable molded together. There are many replacements including "universal" units that have switchable voltage I'd go Amazon but there is a faster cheaper way.

The cheapest fastest way is a local thrift store. Our local goodwill has a shelf full in tangles all for $2.00 each or so. it takes time & patience but you should be able to find a match.


Main concern is the voltage should be the same-if your output voltage is rated at 6 volts 9 volts whatever it needs to match. The amperage should also be similar but does not typically need to be exact but try not to get less amperage than your existing unit. Then the plug end-most are straight needs to be the same size. There is a small diagram that shows the polarity (+ or -) and that needs to match. If that is wrong it will likely kill the old pc or whatever it plugs into so be careful.


If it requires the 90 bend then that will be harder. It may depend on someone soldering your wire to a new power converter to make it work. Hopefully not but it is only 2 wires so a simple job. Shielding the wires after is the hard part to do right but I've seen masking tape last for decades used as such.

---------------
On a re-think based on above advice a search on e-bay 1st may be the safe option or a electronic repair service but they may be pricey.

[LAS14]

5. Thanks much. What term do I use for an E-bay search?

[Boxerfan]

10. Whatever the device is plugged into...

The virtual PC matic or whatever it was called by the manufacturer use that term & then add power supply.

I fix these type of things in my own life all the time no biggie. But once I started typing it out I realized it may be a tad complicated.
Hope you find one.

[LAS14]

14. Could you please look at reply #12? tia las

[think4yourself]

3. I wouldn't risk repairing it

I would check the voltage and amperage that this a/c adapter provides. Should be on the back. If you’re like me you will need a magnifying glass. These things step down the voltage from 110 to something more like 9 volts or 12 etc. They get hot because of that resistance.
It’s definitely time to dispose of it because it sounds like it could be a fire hazard.
When you know the exact voltage, amperage and the size of the round plug (measure the width and length)that goes into your device you can find the replacement.
It should be very easy to find online.

I hope this helps.

Hope you’re up and running soon!

[LAS14]

6. And thanks to you, too. As I asked the other helpful responders, what term(s)...

... do I use in my e-bay search?

[think4yourself]

8. AC adapter

Just type in AC adapter and then the Voltage and amperage you need. Should pop right up. There are millions of people who rely on these things! You are not alone!

[LAS14]

15. Could you please look at reply #12? tia las

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

9. May I ask what this item actually does or what it is?

There's probably a replacement available for the converter.

[eppur_se_muova]

11. First thing I (or any repairman) would do is apply a voltmeter (DMM, DVM, VOM, whatever) to the plug

and see if it's producing any voltage at ll. If it's not, you need to replace the A/C adapter, which is pretty simple to do. If it is -- and this is the worse possibility -- it may be the socket you are trying to plug it into needs replacement. Since this may be soldered to a PC board, that could get complicated. A small appliance repairman could probably do the job as well as a computer repairman and possibly cheaper, if it's still worth doing. It may involve bypassing the old socket and installing a new one wherever it will fit.

If you get zero voltage from the adapter, you will need to Google the name and model number of the device which it powers, or find the original owner's manual, to find out what voltage (and current) the adapter needs to supply. Then head to eBay (or Best Buy, or whatever you favor) to locate a replacement.

[LAS14]

16. Could you please look at reply #12? tia las

[LAS14]

12. Refining my question.

My adapter says Input: 120V 60Hz 8.5VA Output: 20V AC 200mA

I've chosen the replacement approach, but my gadget is decades old and hasn't been on the market for decades. So I went to EBay. I entered A/C adapter 20V 200ma, but that got me nothing obviously useful, so I entered A/C adapter OUTPUT 20v

I got a bewildering bunch of hits, but none was clearly what I wanted. Many, many were POSSIBLY what I wanted, but I'm still tres confused. Can someone suggest a better search phrase? Or explain how to read the results? Here are some examples. Many had lots of gadgets to go on the other end. Many pictures looked like they'd work.

Note: The right angle at the other end isn't an issue. A straight thingey would be fine.

Can any of you nice people give me advice on my search phrase, or how to interpret the results?

tia
las


This one has no info about 200mA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HiCapacity-AC-C15-AC-DC-Laptop-Power-Supply-Adapter-Charger-Output-20V-3-16A/303179553958?hash=item4696e8dca6:g:mb4AAOSw~llcPBZ4

This one looks like it has lots of possibilities for the plug in end, but, again, no info that I can see about 200mA

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-15V-16V-18V-19V-20V-24V-Output-Universal-AC-DC-Power-Supply-Adapter-Charger/183752630183?hash=item2ac8829fa7:g:QakAAOSwP2BcnbDy

[Boxerfan]

17. Both listed have more than enough amperage.

20V is odd haven't run across that before so make sure you read it right.

I went to the one in the 2nd link looks like it covers everything imaginable. Pretty safe bet it would work.

[eppur_se_muova]

19. OK, 200mA refers to the maximum current, and is the same as 0.2A (Ampere).

Multiplying the voltage (20V) and current in A (0.2A) gives you the power in Watts, which is 4W. This is the maximum your device will consume.

The old adapter was marked 8.5VA, i.e. volt-amperes, which is the same as watts. So the adapter could draw as much as 8.5W from the power line.

You need the voltage to be the same -- 20V -- but if the adapter can provide *more* than 4W, that's no harm -- you're just paying for a bigger adapter than you really need. Most of these laptop chargers are way more powerful, like 40W to nearly 100W. If you bought one of those it would be "underutilized", to put it mildly, but it should work. You don't want to use an adapter that is TOO SMALL -- that would overheat and even catch fire ! Better surplus power available, than drawing more power than it can deliver.

So any adpater that can deliver 20V and at least 4W output should do. You may not even save any money by buying a lower-power adapter, since they are mass-produced for laptops at low prices. Matching the plug will be your biggest problem for now.

[LAS14]

21. Thanks so much!!! nt

[CloudWatcher]

18. How to replace it ....

First of all, not all AC power adapters do exactly the same thing. If you look really closely at the bottom of the white brick, you'll see four very useful things written on it:

1) the input voltage and frequencies
2) the output voltage
3) the output amperage
4) the + and - polarity (aka tip/ring)

(1) The input voltage will be 110 volts or often a range of something like 100-220 volts if it's made to work either here or in Europe.

(2) The output voltage will be something like 6 volts or 12 volts. It's the DC voltage sent to the device.

(3) The output current (amperage) will be something like 2A (2 amps) or 1500 milliamps (1.5 amps).

(4) The tip/ring polarity is a funny drawing showing whether or not the center of the small plug is "+" or "-" (think of the ends of a battery).

Here's an example off the web, the center of the center part of the diagram represents the inside of the round plug:



So .. how does this help?

You need to just replace it with something that is compatible. A power adapter that has ...

1) Input voltage of 110 or a range that includes 110 volts (assuming you are in the US).

2) Output voltage that matches your device (e.g. 6 volts or 12 volts)

3) Output amperage that is at least as much as your old adapter output. E.g. if your old adapter says "1A" you can replace it with one that says "2A" or 1.5A.

4) Matching polarity on the plug (so you get the + and - showing up on the right parts of the connector).

An example power adapter:



- This example shows 100-240 volts input (at 50/60 Hz which is standard)
- With output volts of 12 Volts
- With output amperage of 2A (2 amps)
- With + on the center connector of the plug (see bottom left of the picture).

So you can either
1) find something compatible to buy on the web, or
2) find something compatible around the house (I keep a bucket of old adapters to reuse after the original device it attached to has failed .. the adapters often outlast the device).
3) get a generic adapter like this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015PXUHYA

This has a switch that adjusts the output voltage, and changeable output plugs so you can use one that fits your device (and reverses so you can match the +/- polarity). Just read the fine print and make sure it generates enough amps at the output voltage you need

I wouldn't recommend trying to repair the existing cable. It's not worth the $ to hire someone to do it and perfectly good adapters are filling up the landfills as electronics get discarded.

Hope this helps!

[LAS14]

22. I don't understand...

... the idea of input V of 110. My adapter says Input V is 120. You probably didn't see my reply #12, with more info in it. Would you look at that and see if any of your advice would change?

tia
las

[CloudWatcher]

23. Input 110

Hi, sorry I was being a little sloppy. Input voltage for the US is standard at 120 volts but I grew up calling it 110. The only real thing to look at is whether or not input is about 120 volts (US) or 220 volts (Europe). Here are a couple of references ... more than you want to know: https://www.hunker.com/12490790/110-volt-vs-120-volt https://www.buildmyowncabin.com/electrical/electrical-faq/difference-voltages-110-220.html

In #12 you say:

> My adapter says Input: 120V 60Hz 8.5VA Output: 20V AC 200mA

So you have:

Input: 120 volts, 60 Hz, so standard for US
Input current (power) is up to 8.5VA (and another poster replied to that part).

So input is not a problem as long as you don't buy something designed to work only in Europe.

And it transforms the input power to ...

Output of 20 volts
Output current of up to 200 milliamps ... aka 200/1000 of an amp or 0.2 amps .. which is pretty tiny.

And while you say output is "AC" .. I suspect you've read it wrong and you have output in DC.

What you don't say is the polarity of the output .. whether or not the + is on the center of the funny diagram or on the outside. You need to match that as well.

The hardest problem is matching the plug .. they come in a lot of sizes and getting a match from a photo on the web can be a challenge. You might want to go with a universal adapter so the odds are better at matching the physical plug size. But I'm a fan of retail stores where you could bring in your old one and compare it to what's in your hand before buying

Your first link ...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HiCapacity-AC-C15-AC-DC-Laptop-Power-Supply-Adapter-Charger-Output-20V-3-16A/303179553958?hash=item4696e8dca6:g:mb4AAOSw~llcPBZ4

... says it's output is up to 3.16 amps ... which is well over 10 times what you need (i.e. it's fine). And it shows + attached to the center connector on the plug ... which is probably what you need, but you should check. So the main question with this one is whether or not that plug will physically fit (and how good they are at refunding if it doesn't match).

The one in your second link looks like it "should" work, and while the text doesn't say what the output amperage is ... if you scroll down and look at the pix of the back of the brick, it says: 20 and 24 volts at 4A. That's 4000 milliamps or a lot more than what you need. But ... it ships from China so it'd take forever to get to you. That would keep me from buying it!

There's a lot of others to choose from, eg. this would work too and ships faster:

https://www.amazon.com/SoulBay-Universal-100-240VAC-Transformer-Electronics/dp/B086JLYBQ7/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=20v+power+supply&qid=1591746715&sr=8-8

Hope this helps ))