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General discussion

PA-10 AC adapter gets hot - Inspiron 8600

Aug 29, 2009 10:21AM PDT

(Note: I posted this message in the official Dell community forum but got no answer so I'm trying here.)

I recently got an Inspiron 8600 and a PA-10 power adapter (90 Watt). The adapter gets rather hot but I do not know whether or not this is unusual for this type. As a test, to achieve maximum load, I put in a fully discharged battery. I then let the battery charge while running a 3-D demo at 100% CPU utilization and a good workout for the graphics card too. With an AC power meter connected in front of the adapter input, under these conditions it consumes about 75 to 80 Watts of actual power. It gets so hot I can only touch it with my hand for a few seconds. How hot do these adapters normally run?

Discussion is locked

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Let's pick a value of 60C?
Aug 29, 2009 12:01PM PDT
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Hot adapter -- additional info / question
Aug 30, 2009 3:50AM PDT

Yes, obviously it should get warm. I've just never had an adapter get this hot before. 60C is about right. Actually placing a thermometer under it I got just a bit over 140F. Of course that's not a very accurate way to measure it but it does show that the temperature is at least in to 140 to 150 F range. As I mentioned it is almost untouchable. In general is this typical with adapters that put out this much power? (90 W rating; using about 80 W real power using AC power meter.)

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Sorry.
Aug 30, 2009 4:58AM PDT

But that's quite normal. What will frustrate many is that this temperature will vary from brick to brick but I offer the product safety link so you would be armed and ready for battle if the temperature exceeded a safety spec.

But there is something going on with that 80 Watt reading. Is that laptop busy at the time? I only see such high readings with my P3 Watt Meter when my kid is playing games.

Bob

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The Watts
Aug 30, 2009 9:12AM PDT

The 80 W is fine; that's under heavy load. As I mentioned in my original post, that is with the laptop battery charging and running a 3-D graphics demo. At idle with the battery not charging it will be in the 25 W range, which is just fine. I'm not concerned about how much power the laptop is drawing since it seems just fine; I was only worried about the adapter temperature. Incidentally, with my P3 meter, when it is consuming 80 W the apparent power is 110 VA (power factor of about .7). At lower power consumption the power factor dips to about .6 which is not great but I don't know what's typical for adapters of this type.

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I'm unsure
Aug 31, 2009 12:34AM PDT

Here's the deal. I've found a lot of people worry about normal operation and temperature of such devices. What more can be offered?