Millions Of Dell Power Adapters Recalled

8 Oct, 2004 at 10:21pm ET Article published in Tech

About 4.4 million AC adapters sold worldwide with Dell notebooks between September 1998 and February 2002 were recalled Friday.

Dell sold the adapters with its Latitude, Inspiron and Precision series of computers, as well as separately. Delta Electronics, based in Taipei, Taiwan, manufactured them. As part of the recall, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission advised consumers who suspect they have one of the adapters to contact the company. Dell will send free replacements to customers with the recalled adapters. The recalled adapters can overheat, posing a risk of fire and electrical shock. Dell reported seven incidents of overheating, although no one was reported injured. The Round Rock, Texas-based computer maker has set up a Web site for the recall program.

Source: ZDNet

Comments

9 Oct 2004 ~ 1:31am Nosferatu :-( I'm affected by this.
9 Oct 2004 ~ 2:09am Geeky1 Not surprising really. My XPS's power brick has no fan or anything. And it's a <b>150w</b> adapter. It gets very, very, very hot. Too hot to hold onto comortably for any length of time. I'm seriously considering modifying it, actually.
9 Oct 2004 ~ 6:09pm TheSmJ As soon as I saw the words "power adapter" in the same sentence with the word "recall", I knew it was because they were overheating.

Is it me, or does a major power adapter recall happen every year?
9 Oct 2004 ~ 7:00pm Geeky1 Haven't kept track, but it wouldn't surprise me. People seem unable to design power bricks properly.
10 Oct 2004 ~ 9:21am mmonnin Well its trying to do the same thing as your PSU and most of those have 2 fans. Its not as much wattage but MOSFETS get freakin hot.
10 Oct 2004 ~ 3:23pm Geeky1

mmonnin wrote:

Well its trying to do the same thing as your PSU and most of those have 2 fans. Its not as much wattage but MOSFETS get freakin hot.

Exactly, which is why it should be designed the same way small (~150w) computer PSUs are; you ever seen one of those encased in plastic with no vents and no fan? Thought not. Power bricks are not designed very well.
19 Oct 2004 ~ 6:53pm jon222 dose any boddy kno any pc cases that will fit a dell
19 Oct 2004 ~ 6:54pm jon222 if u do could u e mail me at poppasmurf001200@yahoo,com