Thinkpads Forum

I traveled recently and failed to take the cord that connects my x60 adapter to the electric outlet. I bought a cord at Radio Shack that fit into the adapter and used it for several days. After four days the charge light on my computer started flashing orange, and I have an error message telling me that my battery is dead.

Could this have been caused by using the Radio Shack cord that runs between the adapter and the wall socket? I don't know enough about electricity to know and hope someone on the forum can help me. I've gone ahead and ordered a new battery, but still would like to know whether the loss is connected to the new electric cord.

Mary Tw

I don't see how that cord could have made any difference. Either it works or it doesn't. In other words, either it fits or it doesn't.

If you traveled out of the USA, you may have plugged into an outlet with a higher voltage, but I beleve the ThinkPad AC adapters automatically sense the voltage and correct for this.

maryt wrote:I traveled recently and failed to take the cord that connects my x60 adapter to the electric outlet. I bought a cord at Radio Shack that fit into the adapter and used it for several days. After four days the charge light on my computer started flashing orange, and I have an error message telling me that my battery is dead.

Could this have been caused by using the Radio Shack cord that runs between the adapter and the wall socket? I don't know enough about electricity to know and hope someone on the forum can help me. I've gone ahead and ordered a new battery, but still would like to know whether the loss is connected to the new electric cord.

Mary Tw

Within the USA no.

Perhaps you should've also given a thought about verifying whether the battery wasn't a part of one of the two battery recalls:

Battery recall

In addition how old was the battery? Was it under 1 year? If so then it was meant to be covered by lenovo's standard 1 year limited warranty.

Thanks, Ryan. I hadn't thought of that. Unfortunately, neither applies to me. the battery isn't on recall and sadly, I bought this machine from a reseller on ebay and his warranty is worthless. I've learned my lesson.

but as to the adapter question--does anyone know whether it's safe to buy a new adapter cord from radio shack (wall to adapter, not adapter to machine) or whether one might run the risk of somehow damaging the battery?

MaryT

Sorry, folks who replied re the adapter cord: I didn't see your messages. Thanks for the info.

Mary

Radio Shack sells satisfactary quality products and I don't believe wall to adapter cord can damage your machine. GomJabbar has mentioned it previously too. I think the battery had enough usage out from it's life span, i.e. worn out.

EDIT: Sorry I didn't see you posting again.