Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

[goodpsusearch]

Let's start with the case/label:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447624309

According to the label it is a multiple voltage adapter, however I wasn't able to find the plastic screw that serves as a voltage selector... I found a pdf online that claims that the psu changes output voltage according to the DC output pin that you attach. Well, this does not work well, because with the DELL/HP pin attached my multimeter shows 23.5V!

The thing is thin as air. No way it can output 90W.

Cracking it open was too easy. I could do it with my bare hands! Cheap and thin plastics bended when pressed with just 1 finger!

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625016

Oh no! Who stole the parts? Well, they were not installed in the first place! Who needs extra parts? It works without them anyway

Input filtering:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625101

No need for that! Be grateful that they installed a fuse and they spent time and money to cover it with heat-shrink tubing.

The AC socket ground pin goes to nowhere! LOL this is terrible!

Secondary: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625346

Output filtering is there! Let's drink on that And it consists of a core-less coil and 2x "KW" 1000uF 25V "LOW ESR" caps. One cap is slightly bulged, but don't worry about that, we've got the other!

Let's take a look on the soldering side:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625712
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625920

Looks worse than in the pics... It has turned black from heat. And it smells burnt too. This side has no plastic or aluminum cover, so it comes in direct contact with the external case of the psu. If you look carefully you will see the burn marks:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447626031

Secondary soldering:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447626096

Heat discoloration present here too.

And finally the "smart" voltage selector DC Pin:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447626258
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447626258
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447626258

I let the adaptor on AC, with no load connected on its DC output. Next morning I touched it and surprisingly it was quite warm! This means terrible standby efficiency...

[ReeceyBurger123]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

Ohh dear what a pile of trash Thanks for the thread

[kc8adu]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

already losing an output cap.
we see those crummy things come in all the time.customers often buy these to attempt to fix the laptop themselves.i tell folks to return it.and grab a good used original out of my stash.this often gets it running.

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

waaa what a crappy ac adaptor indeed! i think not even everell will wanna save that sheet from the landfill... in fact, it deserves to go into the landfill and be long forgotten.

then maybe centuries later, when aliens discover and visit our ruins on earth, these alien archaeologists will unearth that sheety ac adaptor and discover that in the year 2015, humans made these terrible ac adaptors which caused the eventual downfall of their civilization. man being looked down by imaginery aliens sucks!

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

Well, I don't know... It might actually do 90W for a minute but with terrible efficiency and ripple.

Before you say I've lost my mind just take a look at its silicon:

KBP307 3A bridge rectifier

CS8N60F N-Channel MOSFET
Continuous Drain Current : 8A
Pulsed Drain Current: 32A

MBR20100CT 20A Schottky Rectifier

3843B Current Mode PWM Controller

and LM358 Dual-Operational Amplifier. This should be for the automatic output voltage selection.


Not so bad. Do you think I could rebuild it and turn it into something semi decent?

[stj]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

not in the original casing.
in theory a bigger heatsink and better / any airflow.
combined wih better output filtering and it could be good.

[robert]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

I highly doubt the transformer fulfills any safety requirements. Approved TIW is very expensive and there is no space for necessary creepage distances with this core shape, so they will just have used normal magnet wire and no clearances whatsoever.
Combined with the fact it doesnt have any grounding (ie. Class II device) it IS dangerous. No way this will withstand the 3kV AC inslation testing needed for a class II device.

Also, no EMI filtering at all. Throw it away, right now.

[stj]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

you arent supposed to PAT test switching psu's - only the cables.

[ddscentral]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

Remember the Hantol PSU with fake PFC...

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37611

[goodpsusearch]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

Before:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1454202906

After:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1454202906


The adapter suffered some serious overheat on the underside.

I though this might help:
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1454202906

[Behemot]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

Also add the ground reference to the secondary.

BTW I've tried some chinese adapters too. Last time some 60W +12V ones for about 5 bucks on discount. The voltage dropped to just slightly above 11 V at 3 A already, at 3.5 A it started heavil oscillating and then turning off and on again. Also weights nothing, I'll try to crack it open later.

After that, I think I give up search for something usefull from chinese. if I wanted to make it into something good with the manufacturer, with all the changes, import costs etc. it would cost almsot as a quality one and it will still be no-name chinese…

So I started looking after some decent PSUs in Europe. Got some adepts already…

[momaka]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

Seems like I missed seeing this thread... :\

Wow, what a piece of turd, that adapter.
You can see the primary heatsink extending all the way to the secondary without any insulation on it whatsoever. Similarly, secondary heatsink extends onto primary with very little insulation. And I would be very surprised if that blue-dipped cap next to the transformer between primary and secondary is a safety-approved Y2-class cap.

It's all good, though, because:

The AC socket ground pin goes to nowhere!

Which means you can connect any part of the secondary side to primary side AC or either primary cap positive or negative side, and nothing will blow . Just the user might get some "tingly" sensations if he/she so happens to touch the output
Oh, and only then the adapter might go

Secondary: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625346

Output filtering is there! Let's drink on that And it consists of a core-less coil and 2x "KW" 1000uF 25V "LOW ESR" caps. One cap is slightly bulged, but don't worry about that, we've got the other!

That is some pretty sad filtering. Might be enough for 2 to 2.5 Amps, but not more. (Provided this adapter can even go that far)

Let's take a look on the soldering side:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625712
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1447625920

Looks worse than in the pics... It has turned black from heat. And it smells burnt too. This side has no plastic or aluminum cover, so it comes in direct contact with the external case of the psu.

Yes, you can tell the PCB has gotten a little toasty a few times.

I let the adaptor on AC, with no load connected on its DC output. Next morning I touched it and surprisingly it was quite warm! This means terrible standby efficiency...

Would be fun to check the input and output power going into thing. To get "quite warm", that means it must be burning at least 3 to 5 watts of power doing nothing. Compare that to about 1 to 2 Watts of power momentarily once every 2 to 3 seconds for a genuine Delta Electronics 65 Watt power adapter from an HP laptop.

Well, I don't know... It might actually do 90W for a minute but with terrible efficiency and ripple.

I doubt that transformer will let you do that. But do try - I think it would be fun to see how far it goes.

Do you think I could rebuild it and turn it into something semi decent?

If you move the guts out of the case and attach some bigger heatsinks, possibly. It may still only be able to put out 40-60 Watts max, though.

The adapter suffered some serious overheat on the underside.

Looks like it's mostly from the transformer and the snubber network on the primary side. Possibly some of the other SMD resistors too. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the snubber is way undersized.

Good job with the modding though.

Since there IS a "Y2" capacitor between primary and secondary, I would also suggest you connect the grounding wire on the input plug to secondary ground.

[kaboom]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

I would also suggest you connect the grounding wire on the input plug to secondary ground.

These things, with questionable insulation and unbonded secondaries, are shock hazards. Untrimmed leads, glue/crap on the PCB, or failed transformer insulation will place line voltage on the negative output lead and the laptop's chassis.

If this happens with a bond to the EGC, you get a blown fuse or tripped GFCI.

There were external HDD supplies, w/o the bond/EGC, that liked to backfeed line voltage up the USB cable to the computer (the only return path present), or "give tingles" when not connected to a computer.

Without that bond, you just get a larger version of those fake apple chargers- those were good for shocks in 240V line-to-gnd countries. Touch a radiator while holding your charging iphone and surprise! Or worse w/o GFCI/RCD...

[Pentium4]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

Wow that thing is wimpy. And fake Ltec? I mean, come on...

[Behemot]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

These things, with questionable insulation and unbonded secondaries, are shock hazards. Untrimmed leads, glue/crap on the PCB, or failed transformer insulation will place line voltage on the negative output lead and the laptop's chassis.

If this happens with a bond to the EGC, you get a blown fuse or tripped GFCI.

Better tripped protection but being grounded than not being grounded and getting shocks IMO

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: Hantol worst AC Adapter ever!

There were external HDD supplies, w/o the bond/EGC, that liked to backfeed line voltage up the USB cable to the computer (the only return path present), or "give tingles" when not connected to a computer.

Without that bond, you just get a larger version of those fake apple chargers- those were good for shocks in 240V line-to-gnd countries. Touch a radiator while holding your charging iphone and surprise! Or worse w/o GFCI/RCD...

that explains it. i had a wd power brick for an elements external drive. everytime i connected the usb cable to the computer, i would see a spark. dunno wtf was wrong with it... until now... i disposed of the drive and adaptor in a second hand forum anyway after rma-ing the drive. also no wonder the drive failed! i dont imagine a hard drive likes being connected directly to the ac line!

besides killing the drive, i think it also temporarily corrupted the bios chip and temporarily dmged the southbridge too. the board suffered from esd related symptoms and refused to power on. it behaved exactly like it was an asus p4c800 when u try to plug stuff in or out without shutting down and unplugging the power cord. i had to do the remove cmos battery, hold the power button down trick to get it to start up again. had to reflash the bios as it would keep refusing to start after a shutdown. after reflashing the bios, the board was fully working again! yay!

Better tripped protection but being grounded than not being grounded and getting shocks IMO

i dont mind getting shocked but killing my mobos while leaving me still alive is strictly forbidden territory!