Hey guys,
Out of the blue the power supply for my ZT3000 has started making this high pitched 'singing' sound, and its quite loud too. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Though now quite annoying to use, is it still safe to use it at all?
I mostly use my laptop with the port replicator which has a separate power supply, but on the rare occasions that I used the laptop in a mobile setting, having a second power supply was quite handy.... now I'm wondering if I should still use it from time to time, or just write it off altogether? Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Cheers,
Saq
Hello,
Most likely your cable is broken. My English is far away to be perfect, so I made a photo:
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5766/netzteilfix01na8.th.jpg) (http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=netzteilfix01na8.jpg)
At this point the cable likes to break. If you bend it here slightly, the singing sound should vary/disappear. The cable also gets very hot at this point, especially if you're charging the book at the same time. If your symptoms look similar, the cable can be fixed by cutting, removing a centimeter of it and solder it again. Of course this position is susceptible in the future, so a protection is inevitable. Maybe half of a ball pen or something like this.
(http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4497/netzteilfix02pz3.th.jpg) (http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=netzteilfix02pz3.jpg)
... or you buy a new one :)
That's probably similar to what happened with my power supply. It actually got to the point where metal was coming out of the covering and I could no longer charge the laptop. I ended up calling HP because my laptop is still under warranty and got a replacement for free. Don't bother calling them if you don't have a warranty, it costs $71.00 for a replacement power supply from their replacement parts site, but only $69.99 to get it from hpshopping.com and hpshopping gives you the wall power cable too.
and there's always eBay for $10-$20... though you might not get a great power supply.
Hey guys, thanks for all the replies. Strangely enough, I try it today and its quiet as can be! I'm headed out of the door now, but I'll leave it running once I get back and see what happens. I'm wondering if overheating may be the culprit.
Thanks again,
Saq