Why is my laptop tripping the power in my house?
We have had our third “unusual” question as to why the mains trip switch is tripping when a laptop is connected.
When customers come in or call up asking advice with regards to computer problems, we normally have the answer or solution but this one had me puzzled initially.
Case 1
“Something keeps tripping the mains power in my house and we have narrowed it down to the laptop”.
OK – easy, change the power supply which must be faulty – but no… when we test the laptop in the shop or if the customer has used it anywhere else it is fine.
OK – faulty wiring or bad mains extension – no… it does this on every socket around the house.
The case of this issue had me completely baffled. The repair came in, it worked fine. The PSU (power charger) passed all tests on the safety and VU meters. The computer went back out and did the same.
Case 2
The second identical case a month or so later meant that I had to find a solution to this problem to be able to explain it. Even although none of these computers had actually been bought from us, we had to find a solution to the repair. A certified electrician checked the power supply and also called out to the house to run tests. All tests passed and there was no explanation.
Case 3
Identical scenario apart from that this customer has already had an electrician out to his house to test the mains sockets. This electrician too was baffled by the cause of this problem.
The penny dropped here when the computer came in and coincidently was an HP laptop of similar age to the other two.
Product Recall
On further investigation we discovered that HP had ran a product recall on the power cable of some models sold from September 2010 to June 2012.
Power Cord with code LS-15
If you have an HP or Compaq laptop bought around this time (these will be Windows 7 computers) and the power lead has the code LS-15 then we advise changing this cord.
HP have launched a global voluntary product recall even although only units in the UK are affected. There is risk of overheating, shock and property damage by using these cables.
What to do now:
If you purchased the laptop from Computroon we will replace this cable to give you piece of mind. Although our records show that during that period we sold very few HP computers.
If you purchased the laptop anywhere else you can either contact the retailer or return the cable to HP.
Here is the link to the HP product recall.
Further information on this link.