Use notebook power supply without earth?

Good day dear Girlfriend community,

At the beginning of the week, ask a little question to the technicians among you.

On my old HP laptop, the original power supply 18.5 volts about 6.5A suddenly gave up his mind…

Now I have a universal power supply at hand. However, without a protective contact (!) So only with Euro plug. The performance would be analogous to the original.

The indicator light on the input does not light up, but the device seems to run without any problems. The operating instructions advise against it.

My question; Can I use this "temporarily" without danger? The part is about 11 years old. A new would certainly have to be ordered.

In short: therefore no risk of electric shock. Should nevertheless get a grounded soon. Keep your laptop as far away from other devices as possible.

Long and technical:

The laptop belongs to the so-called "protection class III". These are the devices, which are operated via a power supply with low voltage and where the supplying power supply ensures that the 230V from the socket under no circumstances be led to the device. Inside the laptop, there are no dangerously high voltages that could get to the outer housing.

The grounding is usually used to avoid radio interference (shielding). On the one hand, that the computer can't be disturbed by other devices. Second, that he does not bother other devices.

The part is about 11 years old. A new would certainly have to be ordered.

It does not necessarily have to be the original power supply. The main thing, the technical characteristics are equivalent and the quality is right.

If the power supply has a "normal" plug, then it is designed to do so.

A mobile phone power supply runs without protective contact.

Do not worry about that.

Important is the voltage.

The amperes indicate indirectly only the power of the power supply and can be arbitrarily high. (Voltage x current = power.)

On the control lamp you can do without.

We already know each other fleetingly for several months. Thank you very much for this detailed answer! The touchpad is just a kind of metal, just like the edges. Alone the name "protective contact" inspired me with respect. I will buy a universal power supply with earthing contact. The voltage, ampere power and polarity of course match exactly. The original would otherwise cost to the 100 euro (if there should be any spare parts for the old box mind you).

Thank you so much for your kind reply! The voltage can be adjusted exactly to 18.5 volts. The performance is also correct. I'm just wondering how the laptop with two poles is even able to detect that the earth is missing on the plug. The main thing I can use that way for the first time.

Way too many things in the picture that have nothing to do with the problem…

> without protective contact (!)

If your laptop works and is not connected to other devices with network cables, then I do not see a problem. For many reasons.

1) The universal power supply (but also the original one) is built so that it does not generate dangerous voltage. Neither between the two connections, nor between a connection and earth. This eliminates the need for a protective conductor.

Applies to power supplies manufactured according to local standards. There's no security with China import:-(

2) A dangerous voltage coming from other devices would be dissipated by grounding. That is the one task of the protective conductor on the laptop PSU. But that can't come over the WLAN, but only over the LAN cable.

> The warning light at the entrance does not light up

Should the lamp indicate that the battery is charging? Then maybe the power supply is not quite equal - you may need to operate the laptop for a few days stationary.

If the laptop is already 11 years old, I would rather buy a new laptop instead of a new power supply.

Thank you very much for such an accomplished answer! The lamp only signals the earth! I'm quite sure! It always lights up; with and without battery. The laptop per se is hardly of interest. However, the two well-filled hard drives with 8 partitions and two operating systems data backup but was already running. Well. In operation, two speaker systems are attached to the machine (it even has two separate outputs). Otherwise still ready boost USB sticks. Reason; The part has despite a purchase price of scarcely 1600 euro only once again 4GB RAM. The Q9000 processor should be the best thing about the device. The graphics card is undersized despite 18.4 "screen… But everything runs very smoothly, I could not dispose of it without tears. The battery was never really usable, for more than 120 minutes were even in Angang not in it… The box weighs too a lot to walk around with it even has a fall stop for the two hard drives.

Achso, a Smart TV is of course as an extended monitor synonymous with it. Hardly any other way these days…