2 crappy eBay power supplies. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Nick1296
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 09:12:44 pm
content: Hello.So I was cleaning out my power supply pile to sort it out and I found 2 of these China pride power supplies in the boxes. I figured I'd tear them apart and see how bad they were. As I expected, they were junk.Here's the first one. This is a "65 Watt" laptop power supply for HP laptops. This was made by SIB(Systems Integration Business) and this was bought on eBay at a time my I tolerated it with my dad and his love for eBay. It's to the point he buys almost everything on eBayI think that tells enough of the story on how bad it is, but I'm going to give links to pictures of this thing and let you guys see how bad it was.Here's a link to who made it:http://sibstore.com/65w-185v-ac-adapter-power-supply-for-compaq-presario-cq56-110us-cq56-112nr-cq56-115dx-cq56-122nr-notebooksI don't remember the listing, but finding this one should be easy.Here's the board:Here's the heatsink:And for the record this does have places to solder a heatsink but they never used them. Go figure. Save 0.01 cents that way.The model is PA-1650-02HC and the P/N is 384019-001. The part number is a HP part number.http://www.amazon.com/384019-001-391172-001-463552-001-463552-002-PA-1650-02HN/dp/B00763Y7QCThe reason I put this down isn't because it's junk. I put it down because it fried the laptop. Somehow it fried the motherboard(I'm guessing the charge circuit first) then this extended to the USB VR components. It was killing USB devices, so I had to put the laptop down. It had a Celeron 900 but really? I could have put a Pentium Dual Core in and made it a passable travel laptop with Linux.How for the second one. Once again, another eBay monstrosity. This was made for a PSP. I'd give this one heat sealing.... if a screwdriver didn't get past it. That's all it took to get this one open. Didn't need a Dremel either and left no marks.Here's the board. I also have the spec label in this one:Here's the back of the board:This one worked. I just decided to put it down and get a proper adapter for my PSP. I'm not killing my PSP. Here's a eBay link:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wall-Home-Charger-AC-Adapter-Power-Supply-Cord-for-Sony-PSP-1000-2000-3000-Slim-/360970705365?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item540b87d9d5I'll let the pictures do the work. I have serious doubts the CE mark is real. It's probably there to pass US sales. I even see some on eBay without such a mark. Some have it and some don't. This is what the official adapter looks like:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-PSP-3001-Power-Supply-Wall-Charger-AC-Adaptor-PSP-3000-Official-PSP-100-/271175622345?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f23539ec9Here's a counterfit:http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-Adapter-Wall-Charger-Power-Supply-for-Sony-PSP-1000-2000-3000-US-Plug-SWTG-/331134442187?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d19269acbThere you go. Let me know how bad these look to you.

author: kb3pxr
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 09:33:24 pm
content: CE doesn't mean crap in the US, now that fake UL, fake FCC, and Fake Sony Logos are a problem. This is pure crap even for Chinese counterfeits, let me guess the wires were copper clad Aluminum too.

author: Nick1296
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 09:35:42 pm
content: Quote from: kb3pxr on April 09, 2015, 09:33:24 pmProbably. The power cord that this came with went right in the trash in favor for a better one. It was cheap and WAY too short.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 10:51:05 pm
content: And that's what you get for buying stuff for $5.

author: Nick1296
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 11:29:43 pm
content: Quote from: Monkeh on April 09, 2015, 10:51:05 pmMy dad got these. I know better then to buy this crap.

author: LektroiD
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 11:46:23 pm
content: I bought a "replacement" power adaptor for my MacBook Pro. Since its main use is audio, it soon became evident there was a whining sound on the recordings while the power adaptor was plugged in (which disappeared when powered by the internal battery). Ended up going to the Apple store for a new power adaptor, plus the cost of the "replacement", so a complete false economy... As they say, buy sh*te, buy twice.

author: Nick1296
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 11:49:49 pm
content: Quote from: LektroiD on April 09, 2015, 11:46:23 pmI had one of those, too. It isn't pictured but i lost the computer to it because it made the battery bulge, the charger shorted to the chassis and it made the fans not work the same ever since. I lost a 3k$ computer to a 5.00 power supply. I ended up with a whole new computer instead.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2015, 11:52:30 pm
content: Quote from: Nick1296 on April 09, 2015, 11:49:49 pmIt is reasonably unlikely that it could make the battery bulge.

author: DanielS
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2015, 12:30:16 am
content: Quote from: Monkeh on April 09, 2015, 11:52:30 pmYes and no.The power adapter is nothing more than a power supply and has no direct effect on the battery. The actual battery charge controller is built into the laptop but if power from the external brick is junk, it could cause the battery controller to misbehave or fail and mess the battery up.Directly killing the battery is unlikely but indirectly messing it up is quite plausible.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2015, 12:36:43 am
content: Quote from: DanielS on April 10, 2015, 12:30:16 amKnowing the chip and the implementation I don't think it all that likely.Plus, knowing how common failing batteries in Macbooks were at one point..

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2015, 07:47:02 am
content: I hate those clone supplies. I had a client moan about their charger turning off their laptop a couple of years ago and when they touched the VGA connector they felt tingling. They had a 'genuine' Lenovo charger from eBay.Hooked it up to my DMM which couldn't work out what was going on (cheap one) so put scope across it. Turned out there was about 80v AC superimposed on top of the desired 21v DC!Took it to bits and the soldering was so bad and the feedback traces and isolation so bad that it had a short between live and DC ground. Ohmmeter read 40 ohms between the laptop ground and live! No optoisolator either!

author: Kalvin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2015, 10:22:01 am
content: Bought a cheap laptop mains adapter from eBay. Didn't want to use it for long as the WIFI stopped working due to too high EMI the adapter emitted

author: smjcuk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2015, 12:04:38 pm
content: Quote from: Kalvin on April 10, 2015, 10:22:01 amLOL that's pretty bad.Next time I see one I'm going to see if I can listen to it with my cheap AM radio - they seem to pick up any interference pretty well!

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2015, 12:30:30 pm
content: Oh my, that 65W laptop PSU is really bad. Why can't people see that something is too cheap to be true?

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2015, 04:16:01 pm
content: Quote from: madires on April 10, 2015, 12:30:30 pmyou know exactly why.

author: Nick1296
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2015, 01:36:14 am
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on April 10, 2015, 04:16:01 pmI try to educate my dad on these things. He never listens. He just looks at the pricetag and buys it. He did it again with eBay. Even told him no. He still did it.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2015, 01:52:43 am
content: Trouble is, high price is not an assurance of quality either.You can be rather sure that a brand new $100 Rolex is a fake; but how can you be sure that the $10000 Rolex is genuine?In my view, reputable dealer is a far better predictor than price alone.

author: Nick1296
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2015, 02:08:07 am
content: Quote from: Rick Law on April 11, 2015, 01:52:43 amThat's also true, although price is a good hint in certain cases. It won't work in every case but it's fairly good for many things.

author: kjs
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2015, 05:01:55 am
content: The sad thing is that at least here in the US you can also get these crappy ones in shops which previously sold "good stuff" only.If it has the CE for China Export on it (the centre bar of the E isn't shortened) you know it's crap.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2015, 09:17:44 pm
content: Quote from: kjs on April 16, 2015, 05:01:55 amPrice pressure is getting everyone. Walmart used to be crappy stuff at rock bottom low price; not anymore. Now they are merely crappy stuff and not necessarily at a low price.Worst yet, they have smaller packages, so you think they are priced lower but when you calculate the per-pound (or per whatever appropriate unit) they are minimally less, perhaps even as expensive, or even more expensive.