Either there is something obvious here I can't see or I have one of the worst cases of dry joints in recorded history
I am trying to use a laptop in a car. I have an inverter rated at 50w. It worked for a few months and then peremptorily stopped with a sudden rattle from within and no light going on to show that it is ready. When I opened it up I found a whole power transistor rattling around inside with all three joints seemingly not connected and the glue from the rear of the transistor seemingly having come off. Curiously the ends of the connectors don't actually look as if they were ever connected?? (The holes on them from the motherboard do look as if at least something was once connected to them as they are filled with slightly disturbed-looking solder)
Is this just a lousy joint on some cheap chinese-looking inverter which worked while the pin ends merely touched the mainboard slightly or does the power charger need SUBSTANTIALLY more than a puny 50 watts to work: The charger reports that it needs an input of from 100 to 250 volts at 1.5 amps to give an output of 18.5 volts at 2.7 amps. Can someone do the maths for me and let me know what power inverter this charger will need please?
I am suspicious of the puny nature of the inverter because although I can't see a laptop using all that much power, I have also got a huge heavy duty Coleman PMP400 inverter with fins all over the place and a heavy duty sounding onboard fan rated at 400 watts (peak surge 800 watts at 3.5 amps) and after about ten minutes of use, IT starts to overload on this laptop charger (meaning the red warning light comes on and the inverter starts giving symptoms of blowing): The red light won't now go off: I am wondering if I have blown this inverter as well? (Curiously it didnt last as long as the 50 watt one).