A burning smell from the adapter is a warning sign. It indicates that it either needs to be replaced or monitored from a closer angle. The smell of burning plastic from laptop chargers can be very dangerous and must be looked into immediately. When you smell something like that, you must disconnect the laptop power supply right away. If you fail to do so, you may just end up damaging your laptop. Unplug the charger from the AC/DC jack of a laptop before you go any further.
The smell of burning plastic can be due to the charger itself. You should pay special attention to the plastic insulation of the cables on laptop chargers. If you find any bare wires, you have found the spot where sparking took place and burnt the plastic around the wire. If you find nothing damaged along the plastic insulation of the cable, take a look at the tip. If you see melted plastic at the tip of the charger, it is a sure sign that something has really gone wrong. Such things usually take place when there is a short circuit connection between the tip of the charger and the socket of the laptop.
It is very important not to take any of these signs lightly. Ignoring these signs at an early stage can lead to potential risks later on. A laptop charger is an extremely important accessory that should work well at all times. If not, you shouldn’t hesitate to shell out some money to get it replaced by your laptop manufacturer or purchase the same model online.
A short circuit usually occurs when the power from the laptop adapter is obstructed on its way to the laptop. In other words, the electrical power does not flow smoothly all the way from the socket to the motherboard of the laptop. During this time, a lot of heat is generated. Overheating can quickly melt the insulation around a laptop charger cable or other plastic components near the tip of the charger. When this problem surfaces, you should immediately take your laptop adapter to a professional and get it checked.
While a professional can try to fix your laptop chargers for a small fee, you shouldn’t really rely on something that has failed you in the past. If anything goes wrong with the product again, it can cost you dearly. Safety should always be the number one priority for everyone. It is important not to keep using the same malfunctioning charger once again simply because it seems to be working fine at the moment.
Such a charger may continue to recharge your battery for a while, but can cause something really nasty like a fire or other accident after you use it continuously for a few hours. Instead of allowing such undesirable events to take place, just buy an original laptop charger from a reputed online seller of laptop chargers.