My toshiba sattelite charger suddenly stopped working?

[sleepycoon]

I got the PC new from the manufacturer mid November 2011. I don't use it 24/7 but it's on for at least 4 hours a day and most of the time it's plugged in. I never put any stress on the cord. I keep the adapter in the open as to not make it overheat. And I've never had issues with overheating before.

Today after using it unplugged for most of the day it was about dead so I plugged it in to charge and left it on (something was downloading). When I came back a while later it was off and the charging lights were not on. I tried booting it but it was totally dead so naturally I checked the connection from the wall to the first cord, the first cord to the adapter, the adapter to the PC, and the battery to the PC. Everything was hooked up tightly. I unplugged it all, cleaned it even though it wasn't dirty, checked the wire for any breaks, and checked the socket to see if it was messed up. Nothing was out of place so I plugged it all back in tightly. It still didn't work so I tried multiple other outlets and it's still not working. At no point did it feel hot like it had overheated and it doesn't smell like anything burned out in the adapter.

I'm going to try to get a hold of a voltmeter and see how far the power is getting before it quits. If push comes to shove I can just buy a new one. But I'd still like to know if anyone else has had this happen, if anyone knows what might have caused it, what exactly happened, and if there's been issues with them overheating or burning out in the past.

It's a Toshiba AC/DC adapter with a 100-140V input and a 19V output. Part number PA3715U-1ACA.
I got the voltmeter and the adapter checks out fine. which now makes me ask what is wrong with my computer?

 

[IBMGuy]

Adapters are cheaply made (mostly in china these days) and do fail prematurely, its quite common.
By all means check the output of the adapter with a volt meter. You can get a replacement (19.2 volt toshiba type) quite cheaply on ebay. A genuineToshiba one will be very expensive.
Make sure the inner and outer pin size matches your original.
They usually come in two power ratings, 65w and 90w. make sure you get the correct one for your laptop, do not get one with a lesser (W) power rating but higher is OK

 

[SmokiesHiker]

Since you computer is only about 7 months old, it should still be covered under a manufacturers warranty. Most warranties are for a 12 month period, so you may be covered if this was a normal purchase ( not a "refurbished" computer ). Call the Toshiba customer service department and explain what happened to them. If it's a covered problem, they'll give you instructions for returning the computer for replacement or repairs.