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4 Operator

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August 20th, 2019 13:00

ALERT! The AC adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. "Tutorial"

If you wrap the cord around the adapter for transporting???

Have it plugged in and bent to the side at a 90° angle???

This can happen to your AC adapter jack.

Today I was preparing an E6420 XFR for shipment to a customer.

While testing I use the AC on my bench that I know is good and tested.

The last thing I do is test an AC adapter to ship with the laptop.

And the very first one I tested this happened.

BadPin#1.PNG

So I thought I would take the time to show what the cause of this "Alert" can be.

First thing I did was slice a few inches of the cord from the jack back towards the AC.

And guess what I found???

BadPin#2.PNG

The wire from the "Center Pin" going to the AC adapter had worked itself loose.

Now everyone should know that this wire from the center pin carries no voltage.

The other two wires are for the 19.5 volts.

The center pin wire is for communicating with the system and BIOS.

That is why it gave the "ALERT! The AC adapter wattage and type cannot be determined."

BadPin#3.PNG

For demonstration purposes I just lightly soldered the wire back to the center pin.

Plugged it back in and powered on.

BadPin#4.PNG

And now the "ALERT" was gone.

Now this is not to say that every time this "ALERT" is displayed it is a broken wire going to the center pin.

It could also be:

1. The AC adapter.

2. The center pin is missing/bent in the jack.

3. A non-Dell AC adapter.

4. The DC jack on the laptop.

5. And some times the system board.

Best of luck and kind regards,

U2

9 Legend

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12.4K Posts

August 20th, 2019 19:00

Very nice piece of diagnostic work and a fine tutorial.

4 Operator

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6.2K Posts

August 21st, 2019 03:00

Thank you for your reply @JOcean 

I thought it was a subject that others would find helpful.

I have others that I plan to post in the future.

Best regard,

U2

4 Operator

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6.4K Posts

August 21st, 2019 10:00

Good darn information here, hopefully everybody that have a problem with their AC adapter will take a look at this thread.

Thanks

4 Operator

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6.2K Posts

August 21st, 2019 12:00

Thank you for your reply @LSUFAN51 

I go through so many AC's a week and run into a few that are bad.

So I thought it was time to post what I found with most of the ones that give the "Alert"

The second most common failure is a bent or broken center pin.

Best regards,

U2

4 Posts

November 19th, 2019 07:00

they say genuine...  for that price  i wonder

4 Posts

November 19th, 2019 07:00

good info, thanks. i see new genuine Dell adapters on ebay for $13...last year I soldered a genuine Volvo tailgate wiring harness....many many wires. fun: eek.  so i am capable. but for 13$ i will avoid becoming intimate with a center plug:)

 

4 Posts

November 19th, 2019 07:00

btw i have a non-Dell adapter

2 Posts

November 19th, 2019 13:00

Good find. Thank You.

For me solution is a bit simpler - trying to reposition the center pin and the matching center connector in the laptop with a match. It is because Dell has it's arms growing from their arses and not able to create a proper charging connector. The center pin in these connectors which tells laptop that the charger is original Dell's charger is crappy. When the center pin does not connect laptop thinks that charger is not original and decides not to charge.

Sadly it is not a permanent fix as the center pin from time to time gets loose andwiggling, adjusting it is necessary. Permanent solution would rewire or change the connecor on both laptop and original charger. But Ido not want to do that.

 

What do you suggest me DELL as a solution for your design fault?

 

2 Posts

January 7th, 2020 05:00

How do I remove that silver part out of the end of Adapter wire? 

4 Operator

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6.2K Posts

January 7th, 2020 06:00

Welcome to the Dell Community @Chittu 

What is the model/part number of the AC adapter your working on???

Can you post a picture of the end your talking about???

https://www.dell.com/community/Tutorials-How-To-s/How-to-post-a-picture-in-the-body-of-your-reply/ta-p/7277707

Best regards,

U2

June 13th, 2020 08:00

THIS METHOD WORKED FOR ME

I opened the AC ADAPTER charger jack pin and the center wire was broken so i fixed and it worked for me.

 

WhatsApp Image 2020-06-13 at 8.46.18 PM (1).jpegWhatsApp Image 2020-06-13 at 8.46.18 PM.jpeg

detailed version of how to do it is given in this post :

https://www.dell.com/community/Latitude/ALERT-The-AC-adapter-wattage-and-type-cannot-be-determined-quot/td-p/7357817

 

 

All BELOW MENTION METHODS DIDN'T WORKED FOR ME:

1.I cleaned the AC adapter charging pin and also laptop jack both but didn't worked for me

2.I tried disbale "Battery ACPI" driver  then turn off the PC and put battery out from the laptop and wait for 1-2 hours then put battery again. this didn;t worked for me.

3.Update windows to latest . this also didn't worked for me.

4.I updated bois to latest using usb tool and  code "boisn34945a19.exe/forceit"  without 10% battery but on "UPS" also this didn't worked for me.

5.I installed all the latest drivers using "auto update our internet" this also didn't worked for me. 

6.Installed Fresh Copy of windows i thought it will just refresh everything but it didn't worked for me..

 

(please note this only happens most of the time with dell laptops only they don't update their jack design my friends have cheap hp laptop and they never faced any problem like this and i bought very expensive laptop and this happened there I recommend not to buy from Dell Until they don't update their Laptop charging design)

and 

I found all these solution here on dell community this community is great, thanks for your help everybody even which methods didn't for me.

thanks

 

 

2 Intern

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436 Posts

July 11th, 2020 07:00

Stripped the wire back a little, soldered it back to the center post, laptop is charging again, no warnings about incompatible charger.

2 Intern

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436 Posts

July 11th, 2020 07:00

Dellpsucable.jpg

This is the opened cable for my Inspiron 15-7579.  I'll solder it in a little bit and test it.

4 Operator

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6.2K Posts

July 11th, 2020 13:00

@F34R  and @bilalpervaiz58 

Thanks for posting your results.

You as many others have found the "Defect"

Best regards,

U2

2 Intern

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436 Posts

July 11th, 2020 19:00

I only found it thanks to the community sharing their ideas and progress.  We were literally talking about getting a new Dell, but this has kinda put us on hold. 

I would think Dell would fix this, offer a replacement, or at least a discount for a replacement.  /shrugs

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