5 Signs Your Laptop Charger Is No Longer Safe to Use

When plugging in your laptop to charge, your biggest concern may be minimizing charging errors that could shorten your battery life or making sure you can stay plugged in long enough to fill the battery’s capacity. However, you also need to pay attention to the condition of the charging brick. If it does not work properly, it could increase the risk of starting a fire, electrocuting you, or damaging the laptop.

Before using your laptop adapter, you should inspect it for physical damage, as this is one of the signs that it is no longer safe to use. Other signs that you should stop using your charger with your laptop include strange crackling sounds or a burning smell, slow (or no) charging, excessive heat from the charger while you’re working, or tripping circuit breakers while the computer is charging.

The laptop adapter is an important part of using the computer safely. If you find that your laptop charger is no longer safe to use for any reason, you should definitely replace it immediately. Repairing these adapters is sometimes possible, but replacement is the safest option.

Physical damage is a telltale sign that a gadget is unsafe to use, and laptop chargers are no exception. Some common types of physical damage a laptop charger can sustain include cracked or exposed cables, bent or discolored cables, cracked plastic blocks, and bent connector pins. Such problems could result in an increased risk of fire, electric shock, or destruction of laptop components. The computer may also not charge the battery when the adapter has visible damage.

In addition to visible damage on the outside, some laptop chargers may have internal damage that you can’t see. Such problems may result in fire or electric shock. For example, spilling water on the adapter or leaving it exposed to constant humidity could cause internal damage that could even damage the laptop. And while most adapters can take abuse without breaking, if you drop the adapter from a significant height, it could suffer internal damage.

Strange smells emitting from the laptop charger could be problematic. If you notice a burning smell or see smoke, the charger may be overheating internal components or arcing, making it unsafe to use. Unplug it and stop using it to charge the laptop.

Laptop adapters may also emit slight humming or buzzing noises during operation. Most of the time this is not a cause for concern, as many units generate a slight noise when converting AC to DC or as current passes through internal components. Sometimes the noise from the laptop adapter increases and decreases unexpectedly. This can happen if the power level of the wall outlet fluctuates.

You may also hear buzzing or crackling noises coming from the laptop charger if the connection between the cable and the laptop or between the cable and the case in the middle of the power adapter is loose, but this noise should not persist after the connection problem is resolved. If you notice that the crackling sound has intensified over time or become more frequent, the unit may have internal damage and require immediate replacement.

If your laptop isn’t charging as fast as expected, it may indicate a problem with the charging adapter. If you regularly pull on the power cord when unplugging it from the wall outlet or if you bend the cord when packing it for shipping, you could damage the wires inside the cord, possibly causing these types of charging problems. Damage to the wiring can prevent the expected level of electrical energy from reaching the laptop battery. Bent pins in the charging port at the end of the cable or in the laptop port can also cause poor charging results.

However, the same effects can also occur for relatively benign reasons. To ensure the charger is not at fault, make sure there is no dust, lint, or pet hair inside the ports, which could interfere with the transfer of electrical energy. You may need to use a flashlight to see inside the ports. An aging laptop battery can cause similar problems. To try to determine what the problem is, you can run a software battery health test.

Although most laptop chargers generate significant heat when operating, excessive heat is a sign of a potential problem. However, unlike the laptop itself, the charging brick doesn’t have interior fans to help move air for cooling. If the charger becomes unusually hot to the touch, you should consider replacing it as it may suffer internal damage. Components inside the adapter may melt from excessive heat, possibly causing a fire.

Chargers may heat up more than usual when the laptop is performing CPU-intensive functions because it uses more power. However, if you notice significant heat during non-intensive tasks, this could be a major red flag.

If you notice sparks when you plug the charger into an outlet, this may be normal if it is a brief blue spark. However, if the charger is sparking yellow or orange and overheating, plastic may be melting inside the device. If you see repeated sparking during operation, this could indicate electrical arcing inside the unit, increasing the risk of fire.

If you trip the breaker on your electrical panel when you plug in your laptop charger, you could have a significant electrical problem. A circuit breaker prevents electricity from flowing through wiring to outlets when it senses the current is too high and serves as a defense against electrical hazards.

If your charger is causing the breaker to trip, you need to replace it, but before that, you can first try plugging it into an outlet connected to a different breaker to see if the problem repeats. Additionally, using a power-hungry gaming laptop charger alongside other heavy devices could cause the circuit breaker to trip. To check if the charger is causing the problem, you may want to turn off other heavy devices before testing the adapter. That said, if the tripping is primarily due to the charger, replacing it immediately is the safest way forward. In the meantime, you can use a laptop charger to operate your device.