Repairs

[reldnahkram]

When my parents bought this house, they also bought all of the yard care equipment and deck furniture (it was a package deal). Included in this purchase was a riding mower. We've had it out of the shed once in the last year (it didn't work) and we've hauled it out again today to see if we can get it working. It needs a new battery, some new cables, and lord only knows what else.

My laptop power adapter has decided more or less to fail. I noticed this last night when the power seemed to be intermitently going in and out; wiggling the connection to the computer tended to fix it. This morning, I looked at the adapter and found that the sheathing right at the connector to the computer had come about 1-2 mm out of the connector and there were some frayed wires. Electrical tape has only mostly solved the problem, but it's still a little flakey. However, my adapter is one of the ones Dell recalled, so I put in for a new adapter this afternoon and we'll see how long it takes to ship.

The keyboard is still on the flakey side, but that's a problem with several easy solutions and it is not a major concern. I think this laptop may be approaching the end of its life as my primary machine, but I was planning on replacing it sooner rather than later anyway. What I replace it with depends very much on my currently unknown situation for the future. My gut feeling right now is to build a desktop and to keep the laptop around as a perfectly functional device for poking around on the internet while sitting on the couch watching TV. It's probably not worth the $100 Dell wants for a new battery. They're 40-60 on eBay, but I'd be wary of buying a battery on eBay and I'm still not sure it's worth it. I just don't mind being tethered, and I've got enough battery life to get from point A to B before needing to plug in again.

Comments

[trinfinity2001.livejournal.com]

uh, which battery is it you need? I have a spare leftover from the inspiron 4100 that i just junked. it still works. interested?

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

That just might work. Mine is P/N 75UYF, 14.8 V DC, 3.5 A Charging current. It says replace with 75UYF, 1691P, 5081P, 3149C, 53977. It looks like some 4100 and 8100 batteries are compatible, so let me know what you have.

Thanks much.

[nautiluspq.livejournal.com]

Watch the adapter--I attempted to use a broken one last year and it started smoking. I recall the replacement coming pretty quickly, though.

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

Thanks. The power connection is currently not very stable, so I'll be turning it off when I'm not using it.