Help with Inspiron 1520 adapter issues please?

See if a replacement power supply solves the problem.  If it does not, have Dell replace the system board under warranty.

 

Thanks for the reply. I guess because it does not happen all the time, even if I purchase a new power adapter, it may be a bit before I find out for sure if that is the problem or it's the system board.

 

What about the beeping though? Do you think that could be related with a possible power issue on the board itself?

tHIS IS EXACTLY my problem and it's driving me crazy, but I don't want to lose the laptop to a shop for weeks as I use it daily. It frequently  gives me this message, and I usually have to remove the power plug and replug in, but sometimes it simply needs a wiggle and that should not be happening. It continues to charge even when this message appears. It was a problem I had with a Toshiba and the time in the shop to replace this "mother board" situation 4X is why I switched to Dell this time around. Is there a place I can take it locally as I bought this over the phone. It must be a common problem since it seems to be something that is not a brand situation. Only thing different is that eventually the Toshiba DIDN'T charge when this happened. Waiting for your ans.

If your system is in warranty, call and buy an upgrade to onsite service.  Then call for repair.

Thank you, I will call tomorrow..

I had the same issue with my AC adapter. After 6 months of using my laptop, it told me it couldnt recognize the charger. I chatted with a dell person online and they asked me a bunch of questions and took over my computer. In the end I never found out what the issue was but they sent me a new charger. Ive had that charger now for just 3 months and it just died on me. I have no idea what to do. I cant even get on my laptop. This time there were no messages saying it wasnt recognized it just simply quit working. It's aggrevating.

Glad to hear it's not just me and my problem. It is totally frustrating, and I think it's a defect that the companies are NOT addressing. I am going to try and find the time to do what you did as it is only 9 mos. old. I DON'T think replacing the adapter is going to fix the real problem, I think as soon as the adapter gets taken in and out often enough, the inside where it gets plugged in gets "loose" and it keeps falling out and breaking the connection.. then there is a situation where you have to let them replace the innards.. I had that done 4 times with the Toshiba and now it looks like the Dell is not better at all. The gal in the repair shop I took it to (sent by Toshiba) said I should have forced them to replace the whole computer after the 3rd time.. this time I'm going to keep on top of it and won't wait until I', going crazy to get this attended to. It's just so time consuming to do this and to have to take it or what takes even longer is sending it in to someplace and being without it. I think it should be a higher priority on permanently finding a fix for this problem as them seem to have been having it a very long time and doesn't seem to be any improvement. Thanks for writing.

OUTSHINE on Long Island, NY

So it seems everybody is having trouble with their adapters? I am so glad that there is more than me having an issue with adapters. I have had my computer since Jan 08 and my adapter died in June. I will talk to them tomorrow and see if there is anything they can do for me. I really believe they need to address this issue though. Its a little ridiculous that so many of us are having this issue.

Hey all, just to give an update on my situation..

 

Since my original problem, I have called Dell and they had me update the bios, and that still did not work. Therefore, they sent someone to replace the adapter and the motherboard. Fortunately the adapter problem has not surfaced since then, however the beeping still occurs.

 

I've spoken to two other persons with similar Dell laptops (one with a Vostro), one of them gets both of the problems I listed, and the other gets the adapter issue sometimes.

 

I'm with you kendy2001, it's a bit worrying that soo many of us seem to be getting these issues.. Dell support seems to be pretty good, but to inspire confidence in people and continue doing well in the laptop market, their laptops have to be pretty good as well. I hope someone is looking at these issues.

i had the same problem with my dell inspiron 1520 laptop and SOLVED!

firstly i spend hours on internet and now i know a lot of dell laptop owners have the same problem.

this is a connection problem between laptop mainboard power card - ac adapter, if laptop doesnt get the accepted signal from the adapter, it doesnt allow it to charge the battery (only the power accepted <--- GOD SAKE! :)

you can test it with looking to bios screen while the ac adapter connected, bios would say "UNRECOGNIZED AC ADAPTER" or something like that depending to your bios version.

i tried several suggestions to get out this situation; flashed bios to the LAST version, result: ADAPTER STILL NOT RECOGNISED!

NOTE: u CAN flash your dell bios without battery with booting the system with a pure msdos and starting the dell bios flasher with a SWITCH! , dont remember the switch right now, search for it, flashing worked for me.

testing the adapter if it is ok or not <-- this test needs professional electronic knowledge, an oscilator, etc.. etc..

i tested my adapter this way: my dell laptop was connected to ac adapter wall outlet and my battery also in laptop (with %1 power), i started system, get into bios screen which shows "AC ADAPTER NOT RECOGNISED", at this screen i quickly pull out dc cable and put it again (becouse my power %1) just to SEE if any CHANGES appear about ac adapter recognision, yes i see, "ac adapter not recognised"  message flashed!, which gives me a hope about the laptop power card is still alive. (i know this test does not give a sure answer, but if NOTHING happens this means your laptop does not sense the incoming signals from the adapter, which means your laptop power card is probably died)

so at this step i know (hope) there is a HARDWARE problem in adapter  

well after this test i decided to buy another adapter (decided to use my luck) but NOT A DELL ADAPTER, coz this lesson teached me to NEVER buy any dell product again.

i used my chance to buy the cheapest (another manufacturer) adapter which is pa-12 (compatible to my dell inspiron 1520)

its 31$ and now i am using it, bios screen shows now "65 watt adapter" and it charges my battery, everything is OK NOW!

IMPORTANT NOTE: the adapter chip or cable is  faulty so adapter (ep)rom chip may burn easly, my advice to you, if you have a WORKING ADAPTER,  do NOT plug out/in the dc cable to laptop while ac adapter connected to wall outlet, use the walloutlet socket for enegry on or off!

how my adapter burned: i was working on my dell laptop on battery, when battery is out of power the laptop switched off itself (this is normal), but my mistake, my ac adapter was plugged on the wall outlet (adapter light was on) and i connected the dc plug to laptop <--- yes this was the starting.

happy days!