It is always important that you use the charger that your laptop came with so that you can properly charge your laptop in the safest manner possible. But what if there are times when you forgot to bring your charger or even broke it? Can you use a different charger for your laptop especially when you have a friend who is willing to lend a charger? What happens if you use a different charger for your laptop?
You can end up with a broken laptop or a laptop that charges well if you use a different charger. But the point here is that it may be unsafe for you to use a different charger especially if the specifications don’t match. Such specifications include wattage and voltage.
From there, you can see that it is important for you to look at the specifications of the charger you are using so that you can really tell for sure whether or not it is safe for you to use a different charger. That’s why you need to learn more about laptop chargers and what the numbers mean so that you can properly charge your laptop in a manner that is safe for you and the computer.
Is it safe to use a different charger for your laptop?
When you buy a laptop, it is supposed to come with a charger of its own so that you will be able to keep your laptop’s battery charged or your laptop running while you are using it. In that sense, the charger is an important part of your laptop because you need it to make sure that the entire computer is running and has enough power to do what it is supposed to do.
Speaking of power, you might have noticed that your laptop’s charger comes with certain numbers on the power adapter. These numbers mean something as these are the official specifications of your laptop charger. So, basically, the specs on the laptop’s power adapter should match with the specs that your laptop’s battery needs to charge well and safely.
But what if you happen to run into a situation wherein you needed another laptop charger because you ended up forgetting or losing yours? What if you have a friend who is willing to lend his laptop charger at that very moment because you both thought that it was perfectly fine for you to use a different charger for your laptop just because the charging head on the charger matched your laptop’s charging port? Is it safe to use a different charge for our laptop?
The answer to those questions depends on a lot of different factors. So, basically, it may or may not be safe for you to use a different charge for your laptop depending on certain factors that can end up breaking your laptop or probably charge it safely. As such, if you happen to be using a laptop charger that actually fits the same specifications as the one your laptop should be using, then there is nothing to worry about because nothing bad will happen to your laptop as it is charging with that power adapter. But that isn’t always the case especially if you are using a charger with different specifications.
Why can it be unsafe for you to use a different charger?
So, we did say that it can be unsafe for you to use a different charger for your laptop depending on certain factors. But why can it be unsafe for you to use a different charger than the one your laptop came with when you bought it?
First of all, the one thing that you should know is that different laptops have different power requirements. That means that their chargers have the right power specifications that fit the requirements that your laptop needs to function correctly.
A good example of the power requirements we are talking about is the wattage of your laptop. The wattage is described as the “real power” that your laptop needs to perform properly. It needs a certain wattage flowing from the charger to the laptop so that it can keep itself powered while charging the battery in the process.
So, if you have a laptop that requires 65 watts, you need to have a laptop charger with at least 65 watts as well. You can go over 65 watts because the laptop will only get the power it needs from a charger even though the power adapter can go over 65 watts. But going lower than 65 means that you are not supplying enough power to keep your laptop running at its best. This can affect your laptop’s overall performance.
The other power requirement we are talking about here is the voltage. This is arguably the more important of the two because of how you need to know the voltage of the laptop and the charger you are using as this can affect your laptop’s health. Voltage is basically the rate at which power is being transferred to your laptop.
As such, you need to have a charger that has the same or a close enough voltage to your laptop so that you can charge it safely. If you are using a charger that has a significantly higher voltage than what your laptop requires, you are basically transferring power at a rate that is more than what your laptop can handle. This can lead to damages on the part of your laptop and can even fry its motherboard, which can be quite expensive to repair. As such, this is one of the reasons why it may not be safe for you to use a different charger for your laptop.
One of the things that are not written on the laptop or its charger is the fact that certain companies actually make it a point to manufacture laptops that can only charge when using a charger coming from the same company. This is where proprietary hardware comes in as certain laptops may not charge when you use a different laptop charger on them.
So, even if you have a friend with a charger that fits the exact specifications that your laptop needs to charge well, it might be completely safe for you to use the charger if it came from a different manufacturer. That’s because your laptop’s proprietary hardware might end up rejecting a different charger from a different brand such as when you are using an HP laptop and you used an Asus charger to charge it. The specifications may be the same but the hardware and the manufacturers are different.
All that said, it still is better for you to use your laptop’s own charger or to look for someone with a charger that is completely the same as your laptop’s charger both in terms of manufacturer and specifications.