I bought 3 Dell 1525's just over 18 months ago and one by one, every power cord/adapter has gone bad. When plugged into the wall, the big brick (the adapter part) has a green light that should light up but they don't anymore. The batteries charge just fine when another power cord is used so I know it isn't the battery. Dell refuses to replace the power cords because the laptops were 2 weeks past warranty! Any cheap solutions besides buying new power cords? I've bought two already.

Eidilia, March 2010

Power cords - AC input and DC output are not as robust as you may think - if the wires inside are stretched by tugging or tight coiling-up the inner conductors will eventually break (open circuit) - common also on headset wires and vacuum cleaners.

Get yourself a new power cord and work out a storage technique that does not strain the cable - my guess is that it will never ever fail if you treat it right. Avoid tight bends.

How can I say this?

Over time I have diagnosed two or three dozen faults where inner wires have snapped inside the cable at the bend point - my guess is just based on repeated experience nothing more.

My Dell power cords are fine and have never failed (yet) - a total of perhaps 10 years between the four Dell adapters in the house.

I hate it when it happens to me - I have to fix it - so I fight against it and give pompous instruction to wife & son. Nautical style coiling-up may be your long-term solution.

Good luck...

Peccavi, March 2010