My son recently found an old laptop I gave him years ago while he was staying at his mom's. It's an Asus FX53V, which needs a charger that delivers 19V, 120W, and 6.3A. He accidentally tried to power it up using an adapter from his current laptop (a Gigabyte G5 KD) that delivers 19.5V, 180W, and 9.23A. He said nothing happened when he plugged it in, and now I'm worried he might have damaged it. Can you tell me if it's likely fried or if there's still hope?
2 Answers
Normally, the main things to watch for are voltage variations and the polarity of the plug, not the wattage or amperage. The laptop will take what it needs as long as the charger can supply it. Most laptop chargers are center positive, which is usually not an issue. The difference between 19V and 19.5V is small; it's well within what most laptops can handle. So I'd say there's likely no need to panic.
It's probably not fried just from using that adapter. The laptop will only draw what it needs, so the extra amps won't force anything into it. The voltage difference between 19V and 19.5V is minor, and usually not a problem. The main concern would be if the plug size and polarity were correct. If the laptop didn’t power on at all, it could just be a bad connection or that the laptop was already dead.
But what about the bigger wattage? Does that really not matter?
Yep, it should only draw what it needs!