My current charger is broken, but I found another charger which kind of fits, but im suspicious if it will harm my laptops battery in the long run, what commands can I run or what can I look at to see if a new type of charger is harming a laptops battery? as this isnt usb-c or anything really official.
Can you post a picture of the port on the laptop, and of the labels on that charger?
I wouldn’t worry about the battery. Any potential harm comes in before it gets to the battery, and there’s likely a DC-DC converter before that anyway.
The first thing to validate is the listed specs. If your laptop expects 12v (usually listed on a sticker on the device), don’t connect a 19v brick. Same for center-positive/center-negative. USB-C bypasses all of that, since it negotiates a matching spec before charging.
The second thing is how well it adheres to the specs it lists. This isn’t something that you can really test yourself. It would require a lot of specialized equipment and skills, since the answer can change in different circumstances. It might work fine for a while, but eventually deliver rich, chunky volts. This will (likely) fry the motherboard, and maybe more than that. USB-C does NOT bypass this. Some of the worst chargers on the market are USB-C.
The only realistic way to avoid the second is to get a quality charger from a trustworthy source. Many will only recommend OEM, but you also have to be careful about counterfeits on eBay or scAmazon. You can use aftermarket, but only if it’s a trustworthy brand like Anker.
“back in the day” we had a Windows ME laptop (that should tell you the day pretty accurately) - it worked great for about a year, battery was strong, until… we added a PCMCIA slot WiFi card, because: WiFi. Welp, super cool to be able to roam around the house wireless on that WiFi card, for about a week before it bricked the battery. Seems that the battery maintenance algorithms weren’t tuned to play nice with the (rather significant) power draw of that 1st gen WiFi card. So, instead of just needing a network cable, then we just needed a power cable (and insulation to keep the thing from burning our lap).
@[email protected] , if you post the model of your laptop someone can help you figure out if you can damage your battery or computer with a weird charger. Without this critical information all anyone can say is “maybe?”
A. What laptop is it? B. What charger is it? C. What’s the voltage of your old and new charger?
Lots of laptops use 19.5v or 20v chargers, but I’ve seen some that charge on 5v barrel.
Also they are usually smart chargers. Dell uses onewire for communication, idk what HP or other companies use.
You need to match the voltage and have the amperage equal or higher than the original.
Your laptop will only draw as much amperage as it needs but higher or lower voltage would risk damage.
Until you get into “smart” power interfaces like USB-C… really need more info to actually help.
Unless you have something completely esoteric, a power adapter you connect to your mains only provides a specific voltage and max amperage to your laptop. Assuming your connection to the laptop is appropriate you should be good. The charge controller is located in your laptop, not the adapter.
If you happen to have a relatively recent laptop with USB-C charging the key decision is already made - just get an adapter with a wattage that meets or exceeds what your laptop specifies and a decent USB cable.
For USB-C: Tiny little side note here, there are some cheap small-size adapters that overheat. Some adapters thotle down, but some rare ones just blink power on and off, which is bad for lithium batteries.
Search a good brand, preferably reviewed, and GAN-type. Spend a bit more than the cheapest. Check if it has the right protocol (probably Power Delivery at some voltage) to make sure it charges at a normal speed.
For a DC charger like OP asked. Match polarity, match Voltage. And at least match the current/watage to make sure you can charge in a reasonable amount of time
And, anybody who has played in RaspberryPi 5 land will probably know: there’s different voltages delivered in USB-C and each has its own amperage limit in a given charger, so the wattage rating of the charger doesn’t tell the whole story. Like a PC internal supply you need to ask: what’s the amperage capacity at 5V, 9V, 15V, 20V ? A “90W” USB-C charger might only deliver 100mA at 5V and 9V with most of the “juice” delivered at 15 and/or 20V - and what voltages is your laptop configured to be able to consume for battery charging?
It usually works out simply enough for most consumers, but not always…
+1 for GaN adapters - they pack a punch in a small package. I’ve replaced my original adapter for my Thinkpad as well as for my cell phone with a Belkin unit a while back. It takes much less space in my backpack.
Depends on the connector. “Kind of fits” and “isnt usb-c” makes me think you might be dealing with the type of barrel plug that’s very common on pre-USB-C non-Macs.
Unfortunately, barrel plugs tell you zilch about the power supply they’re connected to. They’re a dumb connector with no data capability whatsoever, and I’ve seen the same size of plug on power supplies with output anywhere from 3V to 24V. You need to look for the data panel on the old power supply and make sure the new one has the same voltage, the same or larger amperage, and the same polarity.
Polarity on a barrel plug is marked by a symbol that looks like this or this. Make sure the old and new match. Nearly all barrel plug power supplies are center-positive, but better to get it right the first time and avoid any risk of damage to your laptop.
They’re a dumb connector with no data capability whatsoever
Usually, then there’s Dell and friends:
Brands like HP and Dell use OEM “smart” adapters (often with a central pin in the barrel) that actively communicate with the laptop motherboard. These communicate battery health, authenticate the charger to prevent overheating, and ensure the correct wattage is pushed to the device.
Unfortunately, barrel plugs tell you zilch about the power supply they’re connected to. They’re a dumb connector with no data capability whatsoever, and I’ve seen the same size of plug on power supplies with output anywhere from 3V to 24V.
That’s definitely not true: Dell laptop chargers and desktop power supplies do communicate what wattage they are able to supply.
Hadn’t heard about those, but a quick search shows those aren’t standard barrel connectors, although they look similar. The Dell connectors have a third pin for data. Normal barrel connectors only have two pins.
For the OP, that means that if your laptop is a Dell from the period where they were doing this, you need a specialized cable and charger intended specifically for Dells.
Given the context that we were talking about laptop chargers rather than generic power bricks, I think it’s fair to consider standard laptop power supplies. (HP has the same connectors even though their protocol is different, and I’m not familiar with other brands but I expect they are much the same).
Now you got me curious, so I got up and checked:
2008 HP laptop: Appears to be a standard barrel with no center pin. (Also has yellow trim and is in-line with the cord.)
Circa 2013 HP laptop: Has the connector with the center pin. (Larger than the barrel on the 2008 model, and at right angles to the cord)
So it’s era-dependent (and I used that 2008 model too long). TIL.
That sounds right.
I’m also mostly familiar with the business lines: Dell Latitude and slightly less with HP ProBook.
- you should give less details. model? voltage? amperage/wattage?
- there ain’t a direct line charger - battery, power goes through a buncha stuff before it reaches the battery.
- how’s this linux related?
As others have said, this is something software can’t do, so there’s no linux tools for it. There is charge profiles which may help in the long run, similar than what your smartphone likely has. But that absolutely requires that your charger outputs the voltage and current your laptop requires.
If the physical connector ‘kind of fits’ I personally wouldn’t use it, even if the voltage was correct as it’ll likely damage the connector on the motherboard and then you’re looking for a much more complex repair. Laptop power bricks are pretty cheap.
You might find Prolong Laptop Battery Life in Linux by Limiting Charging Levels interesting.
“How do I?” is a question. “How to” is an explanation.
I would say, just check if voltage and and current are the same as your previous charger. If they are, you are OK. If they are lesser than before, you’ll charge slower. If they’re above, you’re gonna harm your battery.
I was taught that it’s really only voltage that really needs to match to avoid damage. And even that can be a bit fuzzy with modern electronics and their charging circuitry.
The wattage and amperage only measures how fast the charger will recharge the battery. There will be a minimum amperage needed to power the laptop… but as long as you exceed the the minimum the laptop will run fine even if the adapter is capable of crazy high Amps. The laptop will only pull what is needed.
U = R x I
volts (U, probably 19VDC) is constant. The laptop has a resistance ®. This means that the laptop has already dictated the amount of currents (I) that it pulls. You can connect an 100A charger to an phone. The phone dictates howmuch it actually pulling. There is no battery damage/harm in doing so.
If you charge a battery at full-speed, It can heat up. This is in the long term bad for (Lithium) batteries. That’s where the myth might come from?
*fixed formula order
All correct but R=U/I
Its the same equation
