Thinkpads Forum

My AC adapter has been getting warm enough that it ALMOST burns your hand if you hold it, very borderline. Is this normal?

verbs wrote:My AC adapter has been getting warm enough that it ALMOST burns your hand if you hold it, very borderline. Is this normal?

I wonder why are you holding it?

The T61 in question has a discrete or integrated GPU?

ryengineer wrote:

verbs wrote:My AC adapter has been getting warm enough that it ALMOST burns your hand if you hold it, very borderline. Is this normal?

I wonder why are you holding it?

The T61 in question has a discrete or integrated GPU?

I was just moving my computer from one place to another.

I'm not sure what GPU I have, whatever came with my CPU.

since you said you moved the computer, is the battery charging as a result?   adapters run hotter when charging and stay warm during normal use.

is it a 65W or 90W adapter?   if it's a 65W then it could be working overtime on your system.   this would also cause it to run hot.

erik wrote:since you said you moved the computer, is the battery charging as a result?   adapters run hotter when charging and stay warm during normal use.

is it a 65W or 90W adapter?   if it's a 65W then it could be working overtime on your system.   this would also cause it to run hot.

The pack was hot because it had been charging for about an hour, I just didn't think it'd get THAT hot. It's a 65W.

erik wrote:is it a 65W or 90W adapter? if it's a 65W then it could be working overtime on your system. this would also cause it to run hot.

What determines whether a T61 ships with a 65W or 90W adapter? My new T61 (2.4GHz core 2 duo) has a 90W adapter, as does the advanced minidock I purchased with it.

I also have an aftermarket Targaus 90W auto/air/wall charger, which also charges my cell phone, ipod and bluetooth headset -- it's a little heavy, but net is lighter than taking the separate chargers for the other devices. Got it at about 1/2 price on woot.com...

verbs wrote:The pack was hot because it had been charging for about an hour, I just didn't think it'd get THAT hot. It's a 65W.

the 65W gets quite hot because it's smaller and in turn has a smaller heatsink to dissipate heat.   but, even the 90W gets hot when charging a battery while the system is running simultaneously.

robpm wrote:What determines whether a T61 ships with a 65W or 90W adapter? My new T61 (2.4GHz core 2 duo) has a 90W adapter, as does the advanced minidock I purchased with it.

typically it's determined by the GPU.   systems with integrated video get a 65W where systems with discreet GPUs get a 90W.

90W adapters are backwards compatible with everything where the 65W shouldn't be used with discreet GPUs because of the extra power draw and load on the system.

there was a recent thread about this here; Power supply - can I use 90 watt with a 65 watt T61