Batteries and Power

[PJB51]

My daughter is an exchange student in Germany studying architecture and depends on her Satellite P105-S6104 for classwork and keeping in touch through Skype and email.  In 4 months she has suffered burnout of 3 power supplies, starting with the original Toshiba brick and then another pair of "universal" Chinese knockoffs.  The jack on the laptop side apparently overheats and melts. She described the rating label on the latest burnout, and it matches the ratings of the "stock" power supply.

Does Toshiba offer any dual US / European power supplies, or make an industrial-strength model adapted to German wiring?  She has been using adapter plugs (obviously), but leaves the battery in the laptop all the time.  I am concerned that she is doing damage to the laptop and/or battery and is at risk of causing a fire.  The computer is a critical tool for her education, and this problem is a most unwelcome distraction.

[ChristopherC]

Has she checked the power supplied at her location?  Virtually all Toshiba power supplies (including the P105-S6104) are rated 100-240V/50-60Hz.  That covers anything that might be encountered in Europe.  I've never tried using them specifically in Germany but they work fine in Italy and the U.K.  Are the outlets she's using grounded ('earthed' in EU parlance)?  It is possible that her location may have a particularly poorly regulated power source or a poorly grounded system but that would be unusual.  Do any other electrical appliances have problems?

[PJB51 · Accepted solution]

I asked her for some pictures of the setup in her apartment, which she sent to me as a Word document.  [I don't see any way to attach images/files to these posts. so I'll try to describe what she sent.]  The "Universal ' transformer brick came in a blister pack with multiple connector tips.  The wall socket is a round, one-plug housing that takes the usual round blades.  There is an led display in-line with the transformer cord that is lit up as "15.0," which must refer to the amperage setting.  The laptop side of the line terminates in a male connector that plugs into one of the multiple tips provided.  Her last picture shows the connector (which looks like an audio jack going from standard size down to a smaller plug) being jacked into the laptop.  This is the area where melting has been occurring.

She determined (after consultation with her school's IT staff), that the power supply works with the laptop's battery removed.  She is sensing "brownout-like" fluctuations and is very uneasy about the entire situation.  She was able to contact Toshiba-Europe and has a factory standard power supply en route.

Like you, I'm suspecting poorly regulated power either in her apartment or at the school.

[ChristopherC]

Under the circumstances, I would want to be sure I was using a grounded outlet with the correct polarization.  Theoretically, it doesn't make any difference which pin of the socket is line and which is neutral but if you encounter a circuit with a fault such as a ground fault it could be important.  In Italy, in a couple of hotels that had ungrounded (2-wire) systems, I used an adapter that connected the ground pin to one of the plate screws - not an ideal situation but better than nothing.  Most places, though, had adopted the 3-wire grounded system.

[PJB51]

Thanks - I'll pass that along.  The wall outlet definitely has only 2 prongs, and could well be ungrounded.

[ksadow]

wallmart sells them in luggage department work fine..$10 power converter also in electronics but luggage had better one,,

[ksadow]

each wire is 110 volts no ground they run everything on 220 volts  it`s nenergy efficient because twice the voltage = half the amperage  and amps are the working force you pay for. some day I hope the U.S.A. will smarten up.

[PJB51]

Thanks for the tip.  My wife is going over in a few weeks.  She will definitely carry a backup converter along.

[ChristopherC]

For what it's worth, I found it much cheaper to buy an adapter over there.  I browsed my local hardware stores as well as the airport shops.  The hardware store got about $5 for their single country adapters and the airport stores liked to sell multicountry kits for up to $30.  When I got to my destination (Assisi) I dropped into a local bottega and found adapters for 1.25 Euro that worked just fine.  I bought 3 so I could plug in my laptop, my cell phone charger and my iPod charger.