ATTN: All Dell 9400/e1705/m1710/m90 owners!!! - Page 8

I contacted Dell about this issue, they told me that this is the way it's supposed to be. So basicly they are telling me that it's completely normal to have a voltage of 135 volts AC flowing through the the grounded parts of the laptop. Great...

(sarcasm)

Just think of the LED case mods that are now possible! With all the extra juice flowing through those screws, we could turn our E1705's into externally lit M1710's!

(/sarcasm)</SARCASM>

have 6 month old Dell e1705, and I checked it today. With computer off but AC power plugged in, I got about 48-52V AC coming out of the screws. With the computer off and NO AC power, I got about 2.5V AC. I did not check it while the machine was running. This is NUTS! Dell's response seems lame at this point. I wonder (among other things) if the voltage is affecting bluetooth range, or if it is interferring with voice quality.

Yeah, I had an engineer check it out here today, and we hooked it up to one of his $4000 meters, to see if maybe it wasn't anything at all, and that the cheaper dmm were picking up some sort of harmonic voltage or something, but it showed up as being about 50 volts of 60hz ac single phase...

He wasn't wondering if it was something inside of these "worldly" ac adatpers, where they were cheaply made, and since they're sitting there constantly trying to lock into one voltage and frequency, that a little bit squeeks by thru a cheaper diode or scr or some kind of electronic component.

I did end up buying a PA-10 90W 3-pronged adapter off of ebay, (PN 9T703) but instead of getting 50-60 volts, i get 40-50 volts...so it might be an issue with the adapters themselves....BUT! I then checked my fiance's laptop, a HP zv6000, it's got a 3-pronged 120W adapter, it showed 0 V and i slapped one of those cheater plugs on there, to eliminate the ground, and I then got about 60 V out of the ground of the adapter...so it must be some sort of grounding issue with the components inside...

I then tested my friends power adatper from an I6000 laptop, it was the 3-pronged PA-12 65W (PN T7423) and this one seemed to be funtional, 0 volts to ground.

So, so far my results.

PN CF745 (pa-12 65W I6400 2 prong) 57 V
PN DF263 (pa-12 65W I6400 2 prong) 57 V
PN 9T703 (pa-10 90W ? 3 prong) 44 V
PN T7423 (pa-12 65W I6000 3 prong) 0 V

I thought I'd chime in with my own experience. I own two laptops based on this chassis--an E1705 and a Precision M90. The former has the 2-prong 90W adapter, the latter the 3-prong 130W model. Either laptop, using the 130W adapter, shows no stray voltage on any chassis screws. Using the 90W, both laptops exhibit some voltage. But how much is "some"? I'm not sure.

Let me explain. With one lead touching one of the chassis screws and the other against my stainless steel sink (or a couple of other grounds that I tried), the needle on my (cheap) multimeter reads the same degree of deflection whether it is on the 250V, 50V or 10V scale. So the voltage on the chassis reads either 50V, 10V or 2V depending on the scale chosen. I'm sure this has something to do with the way the meter works, but I'm not too knowledgeable about such things. (The reading is also the same with the leads reversed.)

Now for the subjective observations: The M90 has been rock solid for the 4-or-so months that I've had it. The E1705 was solid for a while (I've had it for the same amount of time), but more recently has tended to be a bit more unstable. Using a spare (3-prong) 130W adapter helps, but does not eliminate instability (but it's the difference between locking up constantly or on the order of once per day). When it does lock up, rarely is it the BSOD, but usually just a black screen.

I will be opening a support case with Dell for the E1705, but I am curious what the outcome of this saga will be. I'll stay tuned...

Cheers,
Jeremy

Well, as I have already stated...Dell solved my issue within 2 days of me sending an email....they sent me a new adapter straight away, as they KNEW about the problem...

They sent me a 90W PA-10 Rev A02. It has solved the problem for me...case closed.

Good for you, but others here have problems getting a new adapter.

I was tryinhg to be a smart arse....

I was trying to point out how rediculous Dell have been...how hard is it for them to communicate this issue between contries...

Given how hard it is for us to communicate with their Indian tech support, why should it be any different for them?

Thanks for the diligent work on this...

Putting together a response eh... sounds like they are trying to devise the best way to tell us we are SOL to me. I surely hope they get us set up with some grounded adapters here. They have already shipped me a new computer in an attempt to fix the issue, but I haven't been home to test it for problems yet. I am pretty sure it will be the same as before... Oh well, in any case what they sent me was a decent upgrade, so I guess I can't complain there.

I guess this problem isnt happening in the uk? My power adaptor has 3 prongs on it, i bought the laptop a year ago.

O.O

good to know this,,

my current m170 is a 3 prong,

however im unsure of the m1710 thats gonna be mine soon, guess ill check into that asap and make sure it is.

thx for getting this info out there :O, first exploding batteries.. now this.. no lessons learned i guess?