I have a brand laptop that had its own charger. As those things usually do, it went kaput after a year and instead of getting a highly priced brand name replacement - I bought a universal charger for about a fifth of the cost. This has served me for 2 or so years. Of late it has been making a hissing noise. Its out of warranty so I can't take the universal charger back to the store. Is my battery about to go kaput or what's the deal?

If it's served you for 2 or so years and it fairly cheap compared to other products you could get, why not just get a new one and see if it goes away? If not you've still got a battery that you could use for 2 years.

So what is hissing the charger or the battery?

I hiss and my battery is okay

If you have isolated the noise to the battery, then "yes" there is a problem. A laptop battery can get warm (especially when charging) but should not make any noise.

Plug the Laptop to house current. Remove the battery. If the noise persists it can be one of the following:


1. Fan on the CPU
2. Fan on the Motherboard bridge (if it has one installed)
3. Possiblly fan on the GPU (intergrated graphics on motherboard) if a fan is installed.
4. A whine or hiss can come from the "spinning" of the laptop hard drive platters
5. A spinning or whine can come from a CD/DVD drive spinning up or down.
6. Lap top general cooling fan

Some possibilities without having it right here in front of me.



Chillen

I never knew you were such a computer geek

I dont say it very much but this is my education:

1 A BS in Computer Science
2. A MS in Computer Science
3. A BS in Psychology and a minor in Philosophy. (explains partially why I am the way I am.....LOL...... )

Over 230 college credit hours.



Been around the block just a tad.

Best wishes to everyone!

Chillen

Sorry my bad. Its the charger that's hissing not the battery.

The AC adapter should not be making any noises. It should get warm to the touch, but not any noise.

1. Discharge your battery to a low point, plug the adapter back in the wall and laptop. See if it recharges. If it does, at this point its working properly on this function.

2. Pull the battery out, and plug the adapter in. If Laptop runs its functioning on this side of things.

An adapter making noise usually indicates a problem and its going bad.

I would invest in one fairly quickly before time runs out and it goes out without any warning.



Chillen

I've noticed that when the universal ac adapter runs from runs from cold it is fine but after several hours "on the go" it begins the hissing. The best thing is I'll get another cheap replacement. Brand chargers/batteries etc cost an arm and a leg when others can do the same job for less.