Urgent - Charger making high pitched noise

[lok3sh]

Hey guys,

I am about to sell my laptop tomorrow, and I just plugged it in tonight to charge it and I noticed the charger making a high pitch noise from inside the box thing when its charging the battery! It does not make this noise when the battery is not in the laptop and I plug in the charger. My battery notification on Win 7 keeps saying that my battery needs to be replaced. I know my battery is weak now, and it does not hold charge for very long. But that aside, is this a charger problem or a battery problem? Will it harm the laptop to continue charging and using everything as it is?

I would really appreciate any answers asap since I need to let the guy know when I go to see him to sell him the laptop tomorrow morning.

Thanks!

 

[hang-the-9]

So even if the laptop is on and drawing power, the charger does not make noise when the battery is out? Or did you only check it with the laptop off and the battery out?

 

[lok3sh]

Thats right. When I pull the battery out and plug in the charger no noise. Even when the laptop is on and working normally. Also, when I plug it in, it makes a high pitch noise, but I can only hear it when I put my ear to the charger box thing. After a few minutes, it gets audible from a few feet away.

Another thing I just noticed is that if I put my ear to the charger when the battery is in and the laptop is actually ON, then it makes a different noise. Not audible unless I put my ear to the charger box thing. Its a little similar to the noise a hard drive makes when its reading kinda... I don't know if this has been happening for a while or not because I have never really paid attention!

 

[hang-the-9]

So it does make noise when just plugged in? Should probably replace it anyway, it should not be making that sound. Something is not right in it.

 

[lok3sh]

So it does make noise when just plugged in? Should probably replace it anyway, it should not be making that sound. Something is not right in it.

When just plugged in charging with battery, yes (I don't know about when the battery is fully charged. Have not had time to test that yet). When plugged in with no battery, no sound.
Could it be that the weak battery is making the charger act strange? Or is the charger probably just spoilt?

 

[nordlead]

Cheap electronics often make a high pitch whining sound when running. Can't say I've ever had a problem with mine that whine (typically <12V <2A power converters), but I really don't know what it means in terms of reliable power output.

Either way, is there a fan in your power brick making noise under heavy load? It is possible that the fan bearings are starting to go bad.

 

[gnuman]

Sounds like you have an HP laptop. The noise is just fine. I've dealt with HP many occasions and said there's nothing to worry about.