I finally looked up the actual failure rate for those cheap power adapters

I was fixing a busted laptop charger for a friend, the kind with the thin, flimsy cord. Out of curiosity, I checked a report from a consumer safety group I found online. It said that in their testing, over 40% of these generic, under-$20 adapters failed basic safety checks within the first year, mostly from bad solder joints or insulation breakdown. I always knew they were junk, but seeing that number really hit home. It explains half the 'no power' issues I see come through the door. Has anyone else found a good source for reliable, affordable replacements that don't cost as much as the OEM part?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor30511d ago

That "40% failed" stat is just the tip of the iceberg for cheap stuff being built to break now.

taylor_flores11d ago

My buddy's new coffee maker died after two weeks, and the store just shrugged.

umabailey11d ago

My friend Sarah bought one of those adapters for her kid's tablet last Christmas. It literally started smoking while it was plugged in, left a black scorch mark on her wall outlet. She said it smelled like burnt plastic for two days. I told her she was lucky it didn't start a real fire. That 40% failure rate isn't just about things breaking, it's a safety problem they're selling for twenty bucks.