Travel Technology - Problem with Dell charger - starts then dies

Hi,
I have been experiencing a problem on BA (Boeing 777 on last flight) with my Dell D620 power supply. It is the new inflight system so you use your regular power adapter. However, when I plug it in then the power adapter's green light come on, but as soon as the laptop's green power light comes on then everything "powers down". The green light on the inflight power system dies, the power adapter's and of course the laptop's. If you plug out the power supply from the inflight system then the inflight system's green light comes back on. If you plug out the laptop from the power adapter and plug in the power adapter only then everything is fine until you plug in the laptop then everything powers down again as soon as the laptop's green light come on.

I have tried all the obvious things like switching between seats, resetting the inflight system etc.
I also switched to a new adapter, but have the same problem. The last pilot suggested it might be a voltage problem.

Any suggestions will be most welcome, please.

M

The newer more powerful laptops draw too much juice from the power supplies. The BA system can't handle it, and shuts down.

This has been reported previously on the BA forum. ISTR it was generally Dell machines that were causing the problems.

Cheers,
Rick

If it is an issue of power draw you can try pulling the battery out and see if having the system not recharging the battery helps lower the draw sufficiently to keep running. Of course, if it dies, your laptop will shut down, so that isn't great.

Thank you both, that is helpful. Any suggestions in changes I can make before getting on the plane, please? I usually fly long haul, so I lose a lot of working hours.
Anyway, is there a way of knowing how much power a particular laptop draws? Is there a way of measuring it or by looking it up under the tech specs of a laptop?
Then I can compare with ones that does not shut down the BA system and maybe switch to a different laptop?

Thank you for your time and suggestions.

M

Dell offered power supplies in 65W and 90W versions. My Dell 90W says ADP-90F on the bottom of the power brick portion. Most likely the BA power connection only handles 75W. You can purchase a 65W version that will charge your laptop on most airplanes, though it takes longer to recharge.

If it is an issue of power draw you can try pulling the battery out and see if having the system not recharging the battery helps lower the draw sufficiently to keep running. Of course, if it dies, your laptop will shut down, so that isn't great.

Conversely, you can try leaving the laptop turned off until the battery is fully charged, and then try running it with the battery in place. That way it is not charging the battery and running the laptop concurrently. This is more feasible if you start with a mostly charged battery.

Other things you can do to reduce power draw are to turn down the screen brightness, and make sure wifi is disabled.

Dell offered power supplies in 65W and 90W versions. My Dell 90W says ADP-90F on the bottom of the power brick portion. Most likely the BA power connection only handles 75W. You can purchase a 65W version that will charge your laptop on most airplanes, though it takes longer to recharge.

Has anyone tried this successfully? Offhand, my expectation would be that the inadequate 65w PS would overheat and burn out or shutdown.

Has anyone tried this successfully? Offhand, my expectation would be that the inadequate 65w PS would overheat and burn out or shutdown.

The 65W supply is not "inadequate" by any means. It may run at full capacity, but it will still only draw 65W and that is what it is designed for. I've only used a 65W supply for a while now (years), both on the road and at my desk, and I've never had trouble with it.

A great page from Seatguru on power ports in seats to explain what some of the issues may be.

http://www.seatguru.com/articles/in-seat_laptop_power.php