If your charger is getting too hot during charging, this might be a starting problem or you already got it. Different laptops have different battery types. Some are with 2 cell batteries and some massive machines have 6 cell batteries. These heavy machines may include gaming laptops etc.
If you are thinking Is it normal for a laptop charger to get hot? So the answer is no. That is not normal at all. Chargers do get heat but not overheated or hot. In such case your charger or your laptop’s battery is faulty.
Why Does My Laptop Charger Get Hot?
All laptops also have different power requirements to charge them depending on their battery type. That’s why all chargers are designed for specific laptop models. But sometimes your laptop battery damages the charger.
You will be thinking about how a battery can damage your laptop’s charger. So here’s the thing, if your battery circuit is damaged it will start a reverse flux to the charger. As a result, your charger often gets damaged. Here we will discuss the reasons why does my laptop charger gets hot and how I can fix that.
10 Reasons Why Does My Laptop Charger Get Hot:
1. A Faulty Laptop Battery
As we talked about earlier, a faulty battery may damage your laptop’s charger. The damaged cell in your battery creates an unusual flow of current through it. This current can damage the battery power control circuit. This circuit helps the current to flow in one direction (From the charger to the battery).
If this circuit is damaged, the current will start flowing backward when the battery is full. This phenomenon will heat your charger and in some cases, it can cause a short circuit in the charger too. That’s why a faulty battery may cause your charger to heat.
2. A faulty Charger
Yes, you read it right. If your charger is faulty or any of its components are not working properly, your charger will get heat. Each component has its specific function. But if it is disrupted or altered, it may cause tremendous damage to your charger. As a result, the charger will not work as efficiently as it was and that causes it to get hot often while charging.
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3. Voltage Drop or Low Voltage Supply
Low voltage to your charger while charging is dangerous. It is not just dangerous for the battery but for the laptop’s health too. At low voltage, the charger’s components need to gasps for the voltage constantly. As a result, they overheat and cause your charger to heat.
4. Constant Charging of Laptop
It occurs in case you have a completely destroyed laptop battery or you are using a gaming laptop. A completely damaged battery needs constant power to stay up. The same is in the case of a gaming laptop. They have massive batteries and these batteries drain too fast. That’s why gaming laptops require frequent charging. As a result, we used to keep our laptops plugged in most of the time. Chargers are not built for constant use. They are built to charge and then rest. This constant use of chargers overheats them.
5. Cheap or Bad Quality Adapter/Charger
One of the main reasons your charger is overheating is if it does not meet the minimum requirement to charge your laptop. Sometimes we do not focus on quality instead we focus on the price. Cheap chargers have low-quality components in them. They are unable to supply the minimum power required by your laptop battery. As result, they get overheated. Such cheap chargers can also destroy your battery. So do not compromise on price over quality.
6. Placing Charger on Heat Traping Places
It is a matter of fact that we often use our laptops in beds or sofas. We don’t care about where our charger is if the laptop is plugged in. The charger often gets trapped under a pillow, cushion, or sheet. These materials do not allow the heat to dissipate. As a result, your charger gets overheated.
7. Using Low-Quality Power Cables
Most of the chargers have external power cables attached to them. These power cables allow you to you connect them to different places according to the shoe type. A cheap and low-quality power cable will not be able to provide the constant flow of current. The components of adapters will heat up due to low power.
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8. Using Wrong Charger
Each laptop device has a specific charger that supplies a specific amount of voltage to the battery. If you are using a charger of a small laptop on a massive gaming laptop, you are actually taking more than maximum power from it. The adapter’s components are not designed for such load. It will eventually overheat. In the worst case, you can damage the adapter and the battery.
9. Shortcircuit in Charger
It is one of the most secret problems that can occur in your charger. If any of the adapter’s components get shortcircuited, it will burn your charger. The bad thing about this problem is that you can not see what’s going inside your charger. It just keeps on heating and sometimes it stops charging after a few minutes.
10. Environment of Charger
If your working environment is warm or hot, it will definitely affect the charger. In a hot environment, there is no room for heat dissipation. Maximum heat is captured by the charger itself. This trapped heat increases its temperature with every passing minute. Thus your charger gets overheated and extremely hot.
How To Stop The Laptop Charger From Overheating or Getting Hot?
There are different methods and tests to avoid the adapter overheating. Some are safety precautions and some are tests. So let’s talk about them.
1. Battery Test
Always test your battery first if your charger is overheating. As we talked about earlier damaged battery may cause the charger to heat. For this purpose, you can use applications like BatteryMon. These applications monitor your battery and also detect faulty batteries.
2. Charger Test
If you are not sure whether your battery is causing the heat or is it the charger. Then test your charger. You can test a charger by using a multimeter.
- Take a multimeter as shown. Connect the charger to a power source.
- Set the multimeter on AC voltage settings as shown in the image.
- Now place the Black (Negative -) wire on the outer surface of your charger’s pin.
- Place the Red (Positive +) inside the charger’s pin.
- Now note down the readings. If your charger is a 19-volt charger the readings must be 19. If the readings are dropping gradually and are unstable, your charger is faulty. You can take it to a professional or buy a new one.
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3. Supply Constant and Stable Power
A charger needs constant and stable power to charge your laptop. If it’s not getting the maximum voltage it will cause issues. So try to provide maximum current to your charger. Do not attach your charger on three-shoe or power source have other multiple occupied shoe slots.
4. Rest You Charger
Constant charging may cause damage to the components. You must plug out your charger after the completion of charging. Do not let your charger into the circuit board. It may damage the internal components like capacitors, resistors, ICs, etc.
5. Always Buy Quality Charger and Battery
If you are prioritizing the price over the quality you are doing wrong. You must prefer the best quality charger or battery for your laptop. The poor quality cheap charger will end up damaging your battery. So always buy the exact same genuine charger for your laptop. But from the service providers if it is possible for you. The same is in the case of power cable for your charger. The power cable of your charger must be of the best quality.
6. Avoid Heat Trapping Areas
Avoid using the charger in your bed or sofa where there is no ventilation. These are heat-trapping areas. You can charge your laptop and its charger by placing them on a table. You can also avoid them by buying a small laptop table. It is best for you if you work laying on your bed.
FAQs
Is it bad if your laptop charger gets hot?
Normally laptop chargers do get hot, but if it is overheating, it might be a problem. There are different ways to test your charger some of which we have discussed here in our blog. You can test your charger with a multimeter or you can visit a professional for that.
How can you stop your laptop charger from overheating?
Overheating of a charger may be due to several reasons. Like using a faulty battery, using a cheap charger, using a wrong charger, etc. You can stop the overheating by testing the charger or the battery. There are some important points we also have discussed in our article.
Is it normal for a laptop charger to get hot?
Getting hot is normal for a charger but overheating is not. Overheating is due to some technical fault either in your charger or battery. Sometimes the power source is also involved in causing the overheating. So if your charger is overheating, visit a professional repair shop or customer care service of your laptop brand.
Can a hot laptop charger catch fire?
Anything that’s hot may catch fire. Some charger overheating is due to internal shortcircuit. This may cause a gradual increase in temperature as a result our charger will catch fire. Avoid using faulty or overheating chargers.
Can a laptop charger explode?
Obviously, an overheating charger with an internal shortcircuit may explode easily. It is dangerous for the nearby users and the electric connections of your house. So always check your charger’s temperature. If it is showing any unusual heating, contact the professionals or customer care of your laptop brand.
Can leaving my laptop plugged in cause a fire?
If you are using a faulty charger, it might get caught fire. Overheating of anything can catch fire. Constant use of charger may not get fire but in a faulty charger the temperature increase gradually. As a result, gets exploded or catches fire.
Conclusion
Always keep your eyes on your laptop’s charger. These things may get hot and can damage your laptop or themselves. If you notice any unusual temperature or voltage pattern in your laptop, try contacting the service providers. There are several ways to avoid overheating chargers like placing them in a cool environment while charging, testing your battery, supply constant and stable power.