Are any of these laptop bricks compatible/interchangeable?

0

Over the years I've acquired several laptop charger bricks. I haven't disposed of any of them because I've always felt that they're probably interchangeable, but I never really knew what would make them so.

Of these 7 bricks, are any of them interchangeable? Will I do damage to my machine if I use the wrong one (of course, I'm not going to try to jam one into a hole it doesn't fit into :)? Also, if someone could tell me how to tell, that'd be awesome too.

Jason

Posted 2013-07-01T19:44:13.123

Reputation: 759

Answers

5

The plugs are the first thing to look at. If the plug doesn't fit, you obviously can't use the brick with the device.

Following that is the voltage. If this doesn't match the device, don't try it since you could damage the device.

After that is the current. It's acceptable to supply more current than required, but don't try one with less or the voltage will drop (see above).

The last thing to check is the polarity, if that is not an exact match, there is a very high likelihood that it will damage either the laptop or the brick itself (For reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarity_symbols).

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

Posted 2013-07-01T19:44:13.123

Reputation: 100 516

if the voltage doesn't match exactly? or is higher or lower? how much can it be off by? – Jason – 2013-07-01T19:49:14.683

I would go no more than 2% either way. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2013-07-01T19:54:07.393

@Taegost: Center-positive is pretty much universal for all bricks. – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2013-07-01T20:09:12.617

Minor detail: The first thing to check is polarity. As to voltage I'd accept +/- 5%. Current can be a hair lower (maybe 5-10%), unless the laptop is used in heavy computational/graphics situations. Should not be incredibly higher (eg, 2x) or the laptop may not "load" the supply sufficiently. – Daniel R Hicks – 2013-07-01T22:52:26.130

Asked: 2013-07-01T19:44:13.123

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Active: 2013-07-01T20:56:51.147