HP Laptop Power Cord Safety Recall and Replacement

Looking around some more, I found this:

IIRC the recall is because the cord can come out of the insulation near the charger and cause a fire. I've seen several LS-15 cords come out of the insulation. The recall is only for the cord, your power brick has nothing to do with it.

Source: VexingRaven comments on HP Laptop Power Cord Safety Recall and Replacement - Reddit

The connector in question is a C-5; Couldn't find any specs on the HP LS-15, so I found an example at a Tripp-Lite site, made with 18AWG wire. It is rated at 10A or Amps, best I can remember that's what the A stands for: http://www.tripplite.com/laptop-power-cord-nema-5-15p-to-iec-320-c5-6-ft~P013006/

So keep an eye on the end that plugs into the adapter. There must have been some problem in the molding process or HP's vendor used inferior plastic/vinyl or both.

Elljay said:

Whoa! Oh My Gosh... I'm not 100 % sure because I'm not an electrician but I think I just realized something. Thought I would post it here.

No harm in seeking additional insight.

Elljay said:

I think I had a melt down.
I was unplugging my Net Book from my power bar a few months ago and got a shock. Prior to that, it was my cell phone charger.
The second time I got zapped, I went to my sister and told her, I get zapped when I unplug things from my power bar. What's up with that? I hate getting zapped...

Can you describe the power bar, also known as a power strip?

Was it one like this?

Elljay said:

I live in the suite downstairs. When I moved in, my brother-in-law explained to me how he wired this part of the house I reside in and don't do this when you're doing that; like use the microwave if I have the heater going... or I'll blow a fuse. LOL!
(He built onto and wired their house himself years ago)

That's not a laughing matter. Using or working with electricity can be deadly.
Your in-law either from lack of experience or frugality found out the hard way that he didn't re-wire the suite properly whether using undersized wire, undersized fuses or breakers, crossing circuits, not adding extra circuits or all four.

Elljay said:

Anyways a month or so ago, I decided to change my living space around. I wanted to move my desk. I was afraid to touch the power bar.
So... I got a pair of those silicon oven mitt thingamajigs and pulled everything out of the bar.
LOL! I didn't get a shock.

Good choice when there's nothing else around, but silicon can be formulated to either conduct or insulate electricity. Next time, even with mitts on, test the energized plug or surface with the back of your hand.

Here's why, electricity causes your muscles to contract and if you test a surface with the palm side of your hand, and the surface is energized your hand will contract and grip the surface; If you use the back of your hand it will still contract, but away from the surface.

Elljay said:

After doing so, I noticed a melted area around one of the receptacle outlets...
Well now I'm ticked, so again go to my sister and I show her my power bar and I then blurted out that her husband is a lousy electrician and she ought to have this looked into before there is a fire!
That isn't normal. LOL!
My sister felt terrible and bought me a new power bar.

I don't blame you, I'd be ticked also, and have the same impression of my in-law.

A melted area would indicate something's wrong. The current draw for a lamp (using an incandescent bulb, a CFL would be lower), Laptop, Netbook and a cell phone charger all on at the same time.

The watts are maxed here, but reasonable assumptions:


2.55amps isn't much, I would go with the reasons given above. Did your in-law use 2 or 3 prong receptacles? Shocks can indicate a bad or missing ground. He may have also used a short cut by connecting the ground (bare) wire to the neutral or white wire busbar in the main service panel.

Elljay said:

Now after finding this thread a few days ago, I now think it was my HP Laptop cord... although the cord isn't melted?? I had 4 things plugged in the bar.
My lamp, my HP Laptop, my Net Book and my cell phone charger.

There might be a slim chance, but the cord isn't melted, had you checked to see if the HP cord got hot? Even if your sister bought you a power strip like the one above it should be rated around 10 to 15amps and you were only pulling 2.55.

Elljay said:

So today I had coffee with my sister and apologized to her for calling her husband a lousy electrician.
I told her what I read here @ the Forum and I have a new cord coming.
She said that she had shown the power bar to Ben and he said... Holy Sh** !!
What does she have plugged in there? It takes a lot of heat to do that... My sister said... just her Laptop...
The end.

It's was noble of you to apologize. I don't want to sound harsh, but Ben's being penny wise and pound foolish and I don't think I would have apologized until he fixes the problem.

Hopefully this will cause him to look elsewhere for the problem and quickly, your sister may have grown accustom to his wiring, but it is an accident waiting to happen, and if the insurance company investigates and finds it was due to faulty wiring, they may not pay the claim.

[QUOTE=Anak;2875894]

Elljay said:

Was it one like this?

That's not a laughing matter. Using or working with electricity can be deadly.
Your in-law either from lack of experience or frugality found out the hard way that he didn't re-wire the suite properly whether using undersized wire, undersized fuses or breakers, crossing circuits, not adding extra circuits or all four.

Yes Anak, it is like that one.
It was a 125V 15A 60Hz. The new one is too.
The receptacles are 3 prong.
No I never thought to check my cord at the time.
I didn't know that about silicon. Good to know.
I will remember this tip about using the back of your hand, Anak.
Thank you for all the info.
I am going to show my sister this thread.


I had those 4 items plugged into the bar but usually it is only my HP Laptop and my lamp.
I only plug my Net Book in to transfer photos. I use it for storage and the charger is usually in a different outlet.

Yes I know it is not a laughing matter. The LOL is sarcasm.
I am afraid of electricity, so to speak.

... and yes my brother-in-law is very frugal, except when it comes to his boats.
He is supposed to be an engineer. He can build things, take things apart and put anything back together again and on and on. He does many things for other people but when it comes to his own place, it's like oh well. He is talented...but he leaves things unfinished (for years) and cuts corners.
The way my sister explained it to me...he will do the 'large' work but he hates doing the little details...
Yes my sister has learned to live with it, but she gets ticked. Seems he will only finish something when she threatens to hire someone. He's afraid it will cost more money then he will do it or say he will do it...and she waits. Me, I'd just hire someone and teach him a lesson. I am not as patient as she is. He's really strange that way.

This is what I mean by unfinished. Looked like that for years.
I have an electric scooter.
Shortly after I moved in, I plugged it in there and when I unplugged it I saw sparks. So I never plugged my bike in there again.
The second image is above my entrance way.
It's not that it is an ugly house because actually they have a nice house.
It's just that he won't finish or fix things to make it nicer...

One piece of advice,
get Fire Insurance
Second,
Keep pictures of obvious issues like these as evidence in another location other than the fire trap your referring to