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Hardware

Compaq Recalls Notebook AC Adapters 182

Posted by michael from the toasty! dept.
rotifer writes: "Compaq is recalling 1.4 million power adapters as fire hazards. I have one of these sitting on my living room floor right now. Compaq says in their FAQ on the subject "Compaq urges customers to discontinue use of the recalled AC adapter and to order a replacement adapter immediately." and that "We expect customers to receive their adapters within 5-10 days". Which means, of course, 5-10 days of not being able to use the computer. Has anyone had one of these things blow up on them? How dangerous is it to keep using it while waiting for the replacement part?" Only you can prevent notebook fires.
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Compaq Recalls Notebook AC Adapters More

Compaq Recalls Notebook AC Adapters

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  • anyone else noticing a trend of recalls on laptop power supplies? Dell had one.. now compaq.

  • Hot! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Quasar1999 ( 520073 )
    They weren't kidding when the said 'blazing fast'... little did they know they were talking about the users themselves after having used the computer...

  • Other faulty hardware (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kozz ( 7764 ) on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:16PM (#2393012)
    Where am I supposed to send the faulty keyboard [bbspot.com] that came with the laptop?
  • ok. now these AC adapters cant come on airplanes. worse than box openers.

    Compaq. Leaders in quality explosiveWare (tm)

    --donabal
    • Shame, all the major airlines just finished installing all those 120V AC outlets on all their planes too!
      • Do you have a source on that? I fly a lot and I have yet to see a seat with power. Luckily my Powerbook lasts for the whole flight usually.
        • I was being sarcastic, of course none of the commercial flichts have AC power.

          >Do a google [google.com] search before posting.

          No, I don't have that kind of time on my hands, thanks.
        • I've only seen a power outlet on an airplane seat once, and I fly a few times a year. I believe it was on a very recent Airbus jet. Of course, it doesn't help that I always fly coach; most of the time, power outlets are reserved for the beautiful people in First Class or Business Class.

          There was more than enough demand for those power outlets on airplanes, though; in the mid-90's, many airlines were complaining that passengers would camp out in the bathrooms using the shaver outlets for power! As any Slashdotter can tell you, a working computer is much more important than the appearance of hair on one's face.

          I imagine that power outlets are cropping up chiefly on long-distance flights, especially trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights. My laptop easily makes it from Pittsburgh to New York, a one-hour flight, with no recharge necessary. :)

  • Similar problem (Score:5, Funny)

    by MentlFlos ( 7345 ) on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:17PM (#2393021)
    I had a d-link switch once that had a major meltdown. The brick got so hot is discolored the powerstrip it was plugged into. Not to mention the funny smell in the room and slight haze from the switch itself :)

    That was fun to explain to tech support....
    Techie: "What do the lights do when it turns on"
    Me: nothing, it won't turn on... all the smoke came out of it and I can't get it back in.

    I guess I know why it was so cheap :)
    (dss-5+ old style POS.. v2.0 is much better, smaller power brick and no fan in the unit)

    -paul

    • I've seen problems with 2 switches so far, one was a hawking technologies 16 port baby switch, and the other (can't remember manu off top of my head) was a similar looking 16 port mini switch. Both had external power supplies that fried themselves over the course of the first 6 months of use.

      The interesting thing, though, was that the lights on the switch were "dimmed", but not all the way out. Pings were intermittent, and each time I'd troubleshoot it, it would take me about an hour of messing with the linux gateway, file server, and my clients to see what the connectivity issue was.

      These supplies put out 5v at 5a. That's not something that is wholesale at the local Radio Shack, so I've ended up using the +5v lead out of an older at power supply.

      The switches (one's not mine) are still in use to this day (1+ years after the PS's blew). Makes me wonder how hard it is to design a power supply under a budget?

  • For All You Compaq Users... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Lizard_King ( 149713 ) on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:18PM (#2393024) Journal
    ... who are going to keep using your AC adapters, please read up on your fire safety [nfpa.org].
    I don't want there to be a new /. poll next week around how many reader's homes burned down.
    • Thanks for the recommendation.

      I stopped by Best Buy today to check out the Compaq's as I can get a hands on and I found them very clean. The keyboard was very comfortable and the touchpad is much nicer than the nipple that IBM and Toshiba have.

  • Oh no... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Snootch ( 453246 )
    ...talk about a new meaning to the phrase "Crash and burn"...

  • I have one... (Score:4, Funny)

    by banuaba ( 308937 ) <drbork@hotmaiEULERl.com minus math_god> on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:20PM (#2393037)
    I have an Armada E500s with the adaptor in question (mine says PPP003), and I have noticed that it gets really hot while I'm using it.

    I think I'm going to keep using it until I get my new one in, tho. I'll just make sure the adaptor isn't sitting on my collection of oily rags.
  • ...an update to the classic teacher-pupil conversation - "Miss, miss, I can't hand in my homework because my computer caught fire"...

    Anyway, what makes these babies that bad, and yet let them past standard testing? Most laptops+accessories get hot, but something of this magnitude really ought to have been caught.
  • Well, if 1.4 million of these things are in use by people who *haven't* started fires, I'd imagine it'd be safe enough to use if you kept a close eye on it.

    To put it another way, just because Compaq has issued a recall does not make them any *less* dangerous than they were yesterday...
  • Apple had to do the same thing a little while ago. They couldn't get their crap together though. The first few hundred thousand plugs they sent out didn't fit the machines. People had to reapply and wait another eight weeks to get a replacement for their replacement.

  • AC (Score:4, Funny)

    by ElDuque ( 267493 ) <adw5&lehigh,edu> on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:22PM (#2393047)
    I think slashdot would be a better place if more AC's spontaneously combusted.
    And what is Compaq writing in their notbooks about this? Why do they care?

  • notebook of death. (Score:3, Funny)

    by donabal ( 116308 ) on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:23PM (#2393056) Homepage
    first my quantum fireball harddrive, now this.

    compaq should just introduce an athlon with a quantum fireball, firewire, and no cooling devices ever.

    if it doesnt catch fire, at least it will make you sterile.

    --donabal

  • Yet another example (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    of Wintel systems copying Apple "features"!!!! At least Compaq was careful to make it the adapter, rather than the battery, that ignites, thus avoiding more infringement lawsuits from Apple.
  • ... to get my laptop serviced, I guess. What's scary is that I have, on many occasions, left my laptop plugged in and in "Standby" mode while I was away. I noticed the thing getting hot, but not THAT hot. I thought.

    Anyway, now I can get that pesky external floppy fixed... it never did work quite right...

  • Laptop Fires (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Mondrames ( 242558 ) on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:29PM (#2393083)
    If I recall from one of the myriad of articles, there have been 5 fires linked to those brands. While waiting for the replacement, I recommend only plugging in the power supply while you are present - that way you can notice the smoke/flame before it gets out of hand.

  • Does anyone actually read the link? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MikeyNg ( 88437 ) <mikeyng.gmail@com> on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:31PM (#2393087) Homepage

    Does anyone here actually read the link before they start yammering away about fires, etc.?


    Compaq received 5 reports of fire that were contained to the cases of the AC adapters. None of these reported incidents involved personal injury. Compaq and its AC adapter manufacturer consider this a potential risk due to the possibility of fire, and are taking these proactive measures to ensure the safety of our customers.


    5 cases of fire out of 1.4 million units, and none of them were really all that bad. So don't worry about the fire too much. If it really pains you to go without power to your laptop for several days, which is entirely probable, just don't return it. Then if it does catch fire, you're still pretty safe because Compaq already admitted to a defect.


    (As an aside, I could almost have one of these, but it's not the correct series. Woo hoo!)

    • 5 cases of fire out of 1.4 million units, and none of them were really all that bad. So don't worry about the fire too much.

      Do you really want to be number 6? If there is an increased risk of the thing spontaneously combusting, I don't want to have anything to do with it. Plus, if the thing catches on fire and burns down your house, Compaq is much less responsible because it was a known problem which they fixed.

    • Safe how? You seem to imply that if it catches fire it's compaq's fault.

      This is wrong. If they issue a recall telling you that you should replace and you DON'T. Then it's YOUR fault if it causes a fire after the fact.

      Their fault it breaks, but they have offered to replace them. If you refuse that offer, no one's going to help you if your house burns.
    • if you go to the apple recall site - their's was 6 cases. I don't know out of how many - but I'd assume it is similar or acutally probably even larger since it spans several years of powerbooks.

      you have to admit, with those 5-6 people, it was probably not the one where the power supply was out in the open on a hardwood floor, but somebody had it under some drapes, or left a polyester shirt on it or something.

      let your devices BREATHE
  • When this happened to the adapter for my powerbook, I never even bothered to get it replaced. The chances of it actually catching on fire are remote, so long as you don't leave it sitting next to your box of oily rags...

    Really all this means is that notebooks today use quite a bit of power, and in the push to miniturize AC-DC converters they've been sacrificing efficiency and heat distribution to size. All the more reason the companies should be focusing more on making notebooks more efficient rather than just more powerful.
  • I mean, sure AC's can be annoying at times given their propensity to flame but please. Packing them in boxes and shipping them somewhere just isn't the answer.
  • Are those the things that force anonymous cowards down to -1? No wonder they're overheating...

  • Perhaps the trend of power supply failures which tend to be in a somewhat "flammable" failure-mode should indicate that better standards should be set by the certification angencies. Maybe UL should start denying seal rights to designs not able to function under rated load at a lower temperature.

    I wonder if there is a trend that would show up if we looked at all the 3rd party manufacturers of these adapters. I know that the AC adapter for my Thinkpad was proudly made in China by Astec electronics. Well, at least the third adapter I received from IBM. :) The other two really didn't last very long. I don't think they were meant for continuous duty for some reason. Maybe they expect the laptop to be used in more than one location..

    For those of you who wish to keep using your adapters, I would suggest using a fused power strip, with an easily accessable switch. Oh yeah, and seal the rectifier in a large concrete bunker.
    • OK, here's a test for you. Without looking, can you tell me if your laptop power supply has a UL seal? How about your phone? The power strip under your desk? The flourescent light above your head?
      The point is, yes they could make the UL seal harder to get, but at some point manufacturers would stop bothering because it really doesn't mean jack to most people.

      • >but at some point manufacturers would stop bothering because it really doesn't mean jack to most people.

        Until your house burns down because of a non-UL approved product.

        I _always_ look for the CSA seal (same thing as UL but Canadian) on anything that's going to remain plugged in for any amount of time. If I didn't and it blew up, and the insurance company found out the non-CSA approved product caused it, there a good chance I wouldn't get any insurance money on the house.

        Heck, I prefer to use wall warts on my electronics projects simply because while they often cause fires, most are 100% CSA approved. Home-made power supplies normally aren't.
    • The problem is that these things only catch fire if you keep them under a blanket, or in your bag while they are plugged in.
  • "Compaq urges customers to discontinue use of the recalled AC adapter and to order a replacement immediately."

    Serves Compaq and their user base for attempting to adapt to the ways of an Anonymous Coward!

    It makes me sick to think of thousands of people changing their ways to speak of Hot Grits, Sporks, Natalie Portman, Penis Birds, First Posts,imagining themselves possessing Beowulf Clusters of any type of hardware and just general flame baiting everything in sight.

    Hopefully they'll recall these things and never replace them!

  • Use a bucket of water (Score:4, Funny)

    by drodver ( 410899 ) on Friday October 05, 2001 @01:44PM (#2393135)
    Until the new one arrives go ahead and use the one you have. As a precaution you'd better keep it submerged in a bucket of water, though. Then you won't have to worry about it bursting into flames! :-)

    And if you keep the water cold you can store some brew in it for easy access while computing!

    (He he)
  • at least, as far as my linear algebra class was concerned... you see, the professor happened to have one of those toasty Dell laptops... well one day the computer actually did catch fire, and happened to take out a good bit of the bookshelf , along with a stack of linear quizzes for that week... didn't really affect me personally, since this was fairly early in the quarter and the quiz wasn't all that difficult... it did end up delaying the next quiz though ;)

  • Maybe... (Score:1, Redundant)

    by mrfantasy ( 63690 )
    We have about 1000 Compaq portables, about 1/4 of them have suspect adapters, and we did have a small fire last year started by an AC adapter from one of these computers. (the public safety officer disposed of the charred remains of the adapter before we could identify it, though.)
  • http://exchange.info.apple.com/exchange/ [apple.com]

    Thing is, the replaced the old black slim adapter with the one that now ships with the PBG4 and iBook.... a huge silver UFO-looking thing. I want my old adapter back.
  • It's frontpage news because a lot of people use Compaq laptops and desrve to know about this recall. Since /. is read by so many people everyday, it only seems fitting that this would be one of many places used to inform people of the problem. It's not news really, but people need to be aware of it. I kinda thought that's what /. was all about, keeping people informed on a wide variety of subjects regardless of personal interest. I agree that this item isn't really 'news', but people need to know. If it wasn't posted here then I probably wouldn't have heard about it for another week or two.


    Now, on topic:

    Dell had this problem with batteries, and it was a real issue. If I recal correctly, Gateway also had an adapter issue some years ago. Now Compaq does. I wanna know what these manufacturers are trying to accomplish. They all more or less seem to be making the same basic mistakes with their overall system designs. Might I suggest that instead of using transformers in the power packs instead use a capacitive power supply [eagle-research.com] that produces much less heat and is more effiecient than the transformers of old. Folks in California might actually purchase one laptop over another if it was energy effiecent and didn't start fires.

    • You're sure you know what you're talking about? A typical AC adapter has to deliver 50 to 95 Watts. The new and "powerful" laptops tend to use even higher-rated AC adapters.

      Please explain how a capacitive-coupled converter can pass this amount of power.

      Serban
  • We've got a million of the Armada M700s which have a poor cover for the ports in the back of the PC. They simply use a piece of rubber to seal these ports and its very easy to lose since it's not affixed to the PC. If you lose this item, the ports are always exposed. A girl at my place of business was unfortunate enough to turn on the PC after a piece of pencil lead (from the bottom of her carrying bag) became wedged in the replicator port. It caught fire and the entire building smelled like burned circuit board.

    "You've let the smoke out - we'll have to order some more..."
  • Give the powersupply to your ex as part of the divorce settlement (if applicable).
    • Reminds me of the divorce comic someone sent me, as a gesture of goodwill, the husband gave the wife a brand new SUV for the divorce, then I noticed the firestone tires :)
  • Here are some ideas for things to do with your old AC adapter after recieving a replacement...

    -Keeping the coffee pot hot at your desk.

    -A foot warmer that works even through the thickest of shoes.

    -Use it to run a still... You don't have to keep adding wood to the fire!

    -Play practical jokes on your office friends by placing it on their chairs.

    -On a cool autumn evening, sit around it and roast marshmallows and sing kum-baya.

    Finally...

    -Let it sit on all day to see exactly what the response time of your local fire department is.

  • Whether or not you're without the use of your computer for a few days depends on the efficiency of Compaq's customer service department.

    Apple has an ongoing recall program [apple.com] for the AC adapters for first-generation Power Mac G3 laptops, and the turnaround time was astonishingly short. I filled in the form on their website on a Sunday evening, and Monday morning at 8:30 am, there was a courier at my door with a new adapter (the snazzy yoyo-shaped translucent ones that they give out with newer laptops) and a prepaid courier envelope for returning the old one. There was no loss of productivity because they supplied the new adapter first. Now *that's* class.

    It seems that companies often outsource recall programs such as this to firms that specialize in recalls in order to speed things up. The address on the courier envelope I got wasn't to Apple corp, it was some local firm in a nearby industrial park.

    I hope Compaq owners are this lucky.

  • It's a feature! (Score:3, Funny)

    by mrsmalkav ( 33086 ) <lisa2006@@@travivi...net> on Friday October 05, 2001 @02:23PM (#2393272) Homepage
    At my old company, we purchased a whole slew of really damned cheap (but fast!) Toshiba laptops. The AC adapters were so hot that quite a few users were afraid to touch them. I even caught someone putting their coffee mug on top of the AC adapter to keep it warm.

    And if you call within the next 15 minutes, we'll throw in a FREE coffee warmer!
  • Well, we would have said something sooner, but our notebook caught fire.

  • I just ordered my replacement online. It's fast and the only information they need is the model number and the serial number of the computer. (oh .. .and the shipping adress)

    Compaq says they take 48h to ship via UPS Ground in the US...

    Way to go !

  • Arg (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by donglekey ( 124433 )
    I love Slashdot, but I feel that this story is insignificant and this [pennnet.com] really should have gotten through. Linux is making inroads in production studios and that's a very big deal. So at the expense of my karma... http://cgw.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cf m?Section=Articles&Subsection=Display&ARTICLE_ID=1 18664 [pennnet.com]
  • .....http://exchange.info.apple.com/exchange/ [apple.com]

    I had one of those power supplies, but it only got warm when my laptop was charging. As a matter of fact, I believe my new one gets hotter imo.... =-P
  • Compaq (Score -1,Flamebait)

  • FWIW, I have two of these things - one at work and one at home - for my company-issued Armada M300. I leave both plugged in all the time, and they're barely even lukewarm. The bottom of the laptop itself can get pretty damn hot if I'm doing something CPU-intensive like playing games, but the AC units have never given me any cause to worry.

  • Power Supply modules are made with components that can easily overheat, and although they may have met UL and CE requirements, construction variations can lead to failure. (Consider a stamped heatsink that is not flat, so the transistor cannot dissipate its heat well or a feedback circuit whose component variations leave it unstable and it "rings" as it switches.) Although power supplies have fewer percent failures than mainboards (last I heard) the are in the power line and failure can more easily cause overheating. As an analog/digital/power design engineer, I do not leave devices on that get hot (not just warm) to the touch, and since I do not trust cooling fans, my computers get turned off when I am not there. (Note that most new AT-X desktop power supplies go into sleep mode and are not using power after a while. Laptop "bricks" and plug-in power line modules are always on, so they may remain hot even under no-load conditions.)
  • Surprisingly enough, this comes only 1 day after Cisco's similar announcement [cisco.com], recalling power supplies for their 826, 827, 827-4V and SOHO 77 routers.
  • I've had an Armada V300 for 5 months (happily running Mandrake 8.0), and I have had the AC adaptor get hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold a few times. It only seems to be a problem when it's charging the battery. I'll be swiftly replacing the thing so I can sleep. (The inside of my house was destroyed by an electrical fire a year ago, I still am bothered tremensly by my cats playing with plastic bags)
  • Wonder if submitter is still with us to see repiles? Or perhaps he can't as he discontinued using it thus he has no power to use his computer?

  • don't know whether they're getting slashdotted or what, but their multiple entry form doesn't work.

    got 30 of these suckers to get exchanged.
  • This really isn't an uncommon problem with switching power supplies. The company I worked for had this problem at least three times, and we always "solved" it by switching vendors. This seems to be the case with Apple, IBM, and Compaq, all of whom have hit this problem in the recent past.

    I'm just wondering how they know that this new vendor's supplies are any better than the old ones. Remember that we're talking about a 0.003% failure rate here. What possible QA tests could you use to verify that the new supplies don't have the problem?

    -Zandr

  • My compaq AC adapter (presario 1700 series) isn't one of the ones recalled, but i wish it was. 1/2 the time it doesn't make solid contact with the notebook, and the battery runs down while it appears to be plugged in. You have to wiggle it to get it to work.

    ~William Dunn

  • Danger. (Score:1)

    by rew ( 6140 )
    How dangerous is it to keep using it while waiting for the replacement part?"

    If an electrical apparatus consumes 10W of power, then that's about the amount of "heat" that it will produce (unless it moves stuff in the real world).

    Normally that would require say 20 degrees heat-difference between the adapter and the room. So, the adapter will become 40 degrees if your room-temperature is 20.

    If you thermally isolate the adapter, then still that 10W of heat will have to leave the adapter+isolation. If the isolation is good it will increase the thermal resistance by a factor of ten, and by that time the temperature of the adapter will become 220 degrees centigrade. At that point, some components will give up, and they might start a fire.

    Thus: DO NOT use the adapter while thermally isolated. Keep it cool. Ventilate well. Don't put it on the couch, especially not with a cushion on top. Put it on a table.

    Roger.
  • While we're on the subject of AC adapters, here is how one works (I just had a lab practical yesterday in which I was required to build a 120 VAC -> 9 VDC converter):

    The AC line is connected to two ends, one positive and one negative, of a transformer. Optionally, if the transformer is center-tapped, the center tap will go to the ground wire in the AC outlet. The transformer merely drops the AC voltage from 120 Vrms to a more manageable value, which is still AC.

    On the other side of the transformer, both the positive and the negative terminals of the transformer are connected to diodes (I'm not particularly certain if the type is important, but I used 1N4007 diodes yesterday), which are then connected to the same point. This end of the transformer, which is nearly always center-tapped, has the center tap grounded. It is used as the ground reference on the DC supply.

    A resistor is connected in series with where the diodes. For a 9V power supply, this resistance will be around 500 ohms.

    What I have described so far is known as a full-wave rectifier. Think of its output as a sine wave with absolute values applied, and the peaks around the target voltage, 9V in this case. The effective voltage at this point is only 9/sqrt(2) = ~6.3 volts due to this.

    To smooth out the waveform and keep the voltage constant, we add a capacitor in parallel with the output terminals. For an unregulated 9V DC power supply, a 10 uF capacitor will do the trick. We now have an *unregulated* 9V DC power supply, obtained from a wall socket.

    • Yeah, power supplies are pretty simple to build. The downfall is unregulated power supplies is that they're... unregulated. Which means that it's pretty much useless with any circuit that doesn't draw the same amount of current 100% of the time... Which is pretty much every circuit on the face of the earth. :P

      I've got a couple of nice books on building regulated power supplies (with other features as well), I just haven't had much of a reason to build one yet.
    • Sorry, no laptop powering AC adapter works like that. You really don't know what you're talking about!

      The adapter uses a so-called "off-line" DC/DC converter. The outlet voltage is rectified (using a diode bridge) and filtered with a High Voltage rated capacitor (since the adapter is usually made to be plugged in either 110 or 220V outlets).

      This HV DC voltage is powering a high-frequency (typ. 200kHz) DC/DC converter. The power transfer and line isolation are realized through a transformer with high mu core.

      The regulation feedback (from the output to the DC/DC controller which sits on the primary side) is done by using opto-couplers. This way, there is absolutely no common connection between the AC line and the regulated DC output.

      The reasons for all this complex circuit are:
      a) switched power conversion has much better electric efficiency;
      b) the transformer size is inversely proportional to the operating frequency; 200kHz is much better than 60Hz.

      The failing adapters most probably use a poor quality or under-dimensionned transformer core. This leads to heat and, because the AC brick is placed in a very small, all-plastic waterproof case, the temperature raise can further increase the risk of failure.

      Serban
  • This is just yet another example of the Wintel world copying Apple's lead in technology. They had explosive notebook components all the way back in 1996! This does have an overall impact on sales, that little incident pretty much sank the Powerbook 5300...

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