How do I open a Dell AC Adapter?

Use a hammer...a rubber one preferably. Hold the device in your hand and tap along the seams. One of them should pop loose, and you can work along the seam with something like a putty knife or sometimes even your fingernail.

If can't get a seam to pop in your hand, try laying it on the floor or bench. I've had good luck with holding the unit diagonally (lay a corner or edge on the bench) and striking the opposite corner or edge.

jak

I tried it.. I'll try more..

The thing is, the place where the cord comes out of the adapter gets hot and makes a strange noise (high pitched hiss). The green light does not come on and the charger does not charge my Laptop.

Now Dell gave up on me.. a94in And I'm sure the problem is the cord, for when I move it - the sound changes.

It doesn't work.. How much should I tap?!

Sorry, thanks.

You need to "tap" it,not tap it.. Give the sucker one good *whack*. The "diagonal" method has worked for me before..

(I hate those damn glued-together-brick cases!)

I always use a gentle cut with a hacksaw when the drop and kick method doesn't work. I start at one corner and hacksaw thru till I get air. Then I use a strong screwdriver to pry the rest of the case open. Sometimes you have to hacksaw partway through the case all the way around before the screwdriver will pop the case open. It all depends on how cheap the case is made. You don't have much to lose, just be sure the power wall wart is unplugged when you do this .

H. R.(Bob) Hofmann

PhattyMo wrote:

If you have a vise, you can try squeezing half of the case and see if it releases. Go slowly!

It should be mentioned that ac adapters are dime a dozen on eBay. I've always been able to replace mine for less than $20. A search on your model # will pull up more auctions than you can imagine.

Beware a low price coupled with high shipping....

jak

It's broke, for sure and you might not even be able to fix it. Get another one ASAP (see my post about eBay). Even if you get it fixed, a second adapter (to keep in your computer bag, leaving the other at your desk) is almost essential these days. They blow up, get lost or stolen...two is a minimum, IMO.

Get another one...maybe two.

jak

I usually soak it for an hour or so in the freezer. Then I set a pocketknife along the crack of the solvent-glued seam and tap _that_ with a wee little ballpeen hammer. Go right 'round the thing 2 or more times. By then you should have one section of the seam that is willing to cooperate for you. And, by then, the case should be a little warmer to permit you to then use the knife blade as a pry under the now-loosened seam.

HNY Jonesy

Hi!

Sometimes even that isn't enough. I had a bad Compaq AC adapter from my old LTE 5000 laptop. Something inside had been sizzling and finally went bang. The whole thing smelled pretty bad. I didn't think it would be fixable, as the wire coming out was already badly frayed and didn't make contact most of the time anyway. All I wanted to do was open it up to see what had gone wrong.

I started gently enough with a small mallet. Then I tried a hammer. It went downhill from there quickly. Even several good whacks on concrete from a distance wouldn't open the thing. I even tried driving over it, and that finally got it to start coming open. Of course, by that point, the insides were not in good shape.

William

Which AC adapter? Dell has had a bunch recalled due to this very defect. Check the Dell recall website or CPSC.gov to get the link.

Failing any better way, whack it on cement until it breaks. It'll be easier to fix than if you saw it open.

What makes you think that it's the cord. It could be a problem in the Laptop. But if you still want to get it open a pnematic drill often works wonders.

It's the cord because when I plug the adapter to the source, it makes a noise - and when I mess with the cable, the sound changes. The problem seems to be at the origin of the cable near the adapter.

Anyway.. This case is dead. Dell won't help, because I'm in South Korea and they don't support my Inspiron 9400/E1405. I'll try eBay! Thanks a lot!

I actually found out it's dangerous to open the adapter.

I didn't know it might be dangerous to open it...

On Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:11:24 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com Has Frothed:

The cord would not hiss when it's broken.

I like this quote:

"These supplies contain internal voltages that can quite easily kill (several thousands). "

Several thousands; Yeah, Riiight!

Ah, yes, it will. Sometime they'll even shoot flames out.