Dell power adapter - design flaw or wear and tear?

[Steve]

Hi everyone,

I have a Dell XPS 13 2015 laptop. I've had it a year, so it's out of warranty by about 1 week now. Laptop's still going fine, though.

However, it has this power adapter: http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna...&sku=450-18920

The most "interesting" thing about the adapter is not the end they show you four times over on that product page, but the other end:



Here we see that the cable exits the end at 90-degrees, then protrudes through a "neck" of sorts. This is to protect the root of the cable whilst also allowing it to be wrapped neatly around the brick during transport. Let's take a closer look at that neck, shall we?



It's like a "C" shape, where the cable rests, but can be removed as it fits through the gap. But that's a bit of a pinch-point for the cable isn't it? And the cable boot doesn't extend that far out. And gee, what's the discolouration on the cable?



Ah, we're just about through the insulation of the cable, right where the adapter's hard plastic rubs against the soft insulator. Very silly. A part of the cable that is least protected is subject to significant mechanical wear by design. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a design flaw, and it's resulted in my cable wearing out long before it should have with regular, but careful use.

So I rang Dell support yesterday to raise this issue with them. Can you guess what they said? You're probably right.

After 30 minutes of mostly being on hold while my problem was discussed, during which I e-mailed a photo of the problem, I was eventually told that there is no design issue with that power adapter, and that I would need to replace it at my own cost, even if the machine was still under warranty. I escalated this to the support manager, who confirmed this, and asked him to provide an e-mail stating that there was no design issue with the adapter and therefore I had to replace it myself. Instead, he offered to get the customer care team to call me back, hopefully sometime today.

To illustrate what actual wear and tear looks like, here's the plug end of my adapter:



Clearly it's had some use and wires are being subject to stress over time, but the insulation is fine and there is no sign of breakages near the boot. I reckon it's got another 6-12 months in it at least. That, based on my use of the device, seems reasonable. But to build an adapter that, by design, rubs holes in a minimally protected part of the cable? Sorry Dell, I don't accept your dismissal of my claim.

I decided here was a good place to document this issue, and any further developments, seeing as Dell could have quickly dealt with this problem, but didn't. Perhaps others out there have the same model of adapter. I ask you to check yours and report back on its condition. Or, if anyone else has already had theirs need replacing, what did you do?

[DDY]

I've got two of these new style Dell PSUs, both 65W, one of which I've used nearly every day for about a year and the cable still looks as new.

I'm hesitant to say this, but Steve, I think you're too rough on the cable. It looks like the cable towards the laptop end has been pulled sideways and twisted too much over period of time. Also, the cable has been wrapped too tightly around the PSU case too often.

I say this because the other new style Dell PSU I have was perfectly fine when I had it, but ended up like the one above, though not as bad, after I lent it to a friend for a few months. Other laptop power supplies and indeed laptops themselves that I've lent out have suffered a similar fate, notably my Apple MBP.

That said, I think the cabling on these new style Dell PSUs is too thin and fragile, also the cut out encourages the user to wrap the cable around the PSU case at too sharp of an angle.

[Steve]

I'll agree that, because I wrap the thing up twice a day, the laptop end will wear out eventually - that's perfectly reasonable.

But at the brick end, no. All they have to do is have a slightly longer boot, and that end would wear at the same rate as the other.

[DDY]

Looking at the photos, I'd be more worried about where the cable meets the boot at the laptop end. Here the cable is free to bend in many more directions than the PSU end which would wear out the wires much more quickly, it seems to have taken quite a beating already. This is where most people destroy my laptop chargers and my Apple MBP springs to mind, because not only was the cable incredibly thin, the boot was pathetic and the magsafe connector encouraged users to disconnect it by pulling the cable sideways. The charger came back to me with the cable's metal sheathing protruding just by the boot, surrounded by burn marks.

I digress, because the cable towards the PSU end only really bends in one direction, the wires don't get worked as much. My main concern would be the attrition of the insulation by the PSU case, which judging by the photos is still some way from the point I'd stop using it.

I can see the reason behind the design, but I agree, a longer boot would help. Alternatively, I would move the cable outlet back a bit and deepen the cut out and give it a more gentle curve to increase the bend radius.

[Steve]

I was typing a reply as I got a phone call from Dell customer care. They've passed my feedback to the product team and are replacing the part FOC, with no renewal of my warranty. That all seems adequate. I explained my view of the product's design vs wear and tear and there wasn't much in the way of discussion after that. So, good news!

In response to your post, DDY, the boot at the laptop end is OK. Sure, the cable is wearing and the shielding is shifting within the insulation, but given how it's meant to be wrapped, I'm not surprised. There's a good amount of wear left in that. But yes, the PSU end is the problem, and is not unsafe yet, but it could become so in a matter of weeks, I think.

I'd be interested to see if anybody else cruises by here to share their experiences over the coming months.