Power adapters for laptops

Lethul

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I have a Lenovo y50-70 at home. My wife just got a Lenovo Thinkpad 13 as a work computer. Will my power adapter work for her computer or are there any risks plugging in a more powerful adapter?
 

TdC

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No. modern batteries draw through what they need and have all kinds of built in protection against overvoltage and stuff. A lower rated charger will take longer to charge your battery. The ratings on the charger indicate the current it *can* supply, not what it *will* supply. The charger doesn't force volts in to the battery you know :)
 

soze

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Sorry if this is stupid but is that a modern feature? I remember years ago being told not to use a power supply that over juiced unless it was a switching one.
 

Hawkwind

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you still need to be very mindful of the + and - and which is which (inner & outer). Better just ordering a new PSU off Amazon, ebay or thelaptoppowersupplyshop.co.uk
 

Lethul

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you still need to be very mindful of the + and - and which is which (inner & outer). Better just ordering a new PSU off Amazon, ebay or thelaptoppowersupplyshop.co.uk

What do you mean? + and - ? :)
 

Syri

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On a round laptop plug, the positive and negative (+ and -) are usually arranged with one on a central pin, and the other on a strip, some laptops have the positive on the pin, others have it the other way around. Even if it's the same brand they can sometimes be different, for example, they might outsource the cheaper models to another company, who make them the other way around.
Most of them have voltage checking now, so they can automatically adjust the current to match the device, but some don't. If it has a single number for the voltage output, and a single number for the wattage, then it likely won't work, even if the pins are the same, unless the numbers match. A lot of adaptors and laptops have a range of numbers though, and automatically adjust, so if it's something like "9v 120w output" then it will only work with a laptop that requires 9 volts and 120 watts. If it says "7-9v, 120-140w output", it can power anything that requires any in that range. The laptop should say somewhere what voltage and wattage it requires, and also the pin layout.
Hope this helps
 

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