Power cord only works when I twist it a little

[rty1138]

I have an x220. My power cord sometime sdoesn't work and it only works after twisting it a little. It was working fine until a couple days ago. I have another power cord that works fine. Is this something I can fix myself? Any common problems like this?

[RealBlackStuff]

It has happened a few times.
You can buy a replacement cord here: http://dcplug.net/ibm.html
But a replacement original Lenovo 90W/20V is about the same price or cheaper nowadays.
Try our Marketplace forum (or eBay).

[joester]

"works when I twist it a little" indicates a break in the wires or at a connection.
That also means that when it does work, the electrical current is not using the designed wire/connection capacity to carry the load and that reduction can cause a buildup of heat and present safety concerns.

I would recommend replacing the defective power supply soon. Once the replacement is in use, you can dissect the defective one to see about repairing it. For the record, I have cut open a few Dell power cords with the intent to solder broken connections only to find that they use steel wire and crimp connections. Not solderable with normal solder. I have not yet needed to open up a Thinkpad supply.