I bought a $90 'universal' laptop charger kit that fried a client's motherboard

It was one of those kits with a bunch of different tips and a box that said it auto-detects voltage. I used it on a Dell laptop last week, and it worked fine for about ten minutes before the machine shut off and wouldn't turn back on. The board had a burnt spot near the power jack. I had to eat the cost of a replacement board, which was another $120, plus my time. Anyone have a go-to brand for reliable universal chargers that won't do this?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason2092mo agoProlific Poster

Didn't universal chargers used to be safe?

emery182mo ago

After my own charger fried a board, I switched to Targus and it's been solid, which might answer @mason209's question about safety.

nora_barnes20d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, that exact same thing happened to me with a cheap universal charger and a Dell laptop... toasted the whole power circuit.