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I have a Dell Optiplex 7040 Micro, which is a device about the size of a flattened NUC, that uses an external 65W power adapter for its juice. Dell usually uses for every laptop they built the same adapter, but for some strange reason decided not to use the same connector on their micro form factor desktops, meaning you have to buy separate power adapters for them.
In theory it should work, they're both 19.5V, the desktop adapter rated 3.33A for the 65W it has to deliver, the laptop adapter rated 6.7A for what I presume is the 90W version (doesn't explicitly mention anywhere), so it should have plenty of juice on the right voltage. The only technical problem is that the connectors are different.
My question is basically, has anyone tried to replace the connector on either a spare laptop adapter or the optiplex itself? Or does anyone know of a converter plug that can be used between the two? The Optiplex connector seems pretty standard/common, Laptop adapter is much more specific to Dell, perhaps someone already created a plug and put it on aliexpress or amazon somewhere, would anyone happen to know? Has anyone had any other experiences with these kinda NUCs and non-standard power adapter replacements?
All thoughts welcome, Thanks in advance!
PS: This thread was on HardwareRecommendations stackexchange before but was deleted there with the note that I might get help over here at SuperUser. If that's incorrect, please move it to the proper place, it'd be much appreciated! Thank you.
Alex
Posted 2019-11-21T08:50:43.610
Reputation: 224
It will work with no issues, I do it all the time with Dell, Lenovo and HP, as long as the voltage is close (+- 1volt) and the amps are equal or higher it will work. Just be sure you get the polarity correct when spicing the connectors or smoke will come out of the laptop. – Moab – 2019-11-21T17:12:36.040
Thanks for pitching in, I am assuming it should work unless there's some negotiation protocol inside it that talks with the adapter but I don't think there is. I've ordered a set of converter plugs from AliExpress to see if any of them fits between the Latitude and Optiplex plugs, it seems to look a little bit like some specific HP laptops (mostly consumer stuff like their Pavilions), if any of those fits I'll be sure to post it here! – Alex – 2019-12-01T08:01:53.047