I think my Vaio blew up??

[missrobot]

Hey there, I was really hoping someone could help me.

I had plugged my laptop (VGN-FW21L) into a different room/ plug socket yesterday, and as I did so, the plug caused a blue spark (but didn't turn the laptop off).

I guessed the fuse had blown, so changed it (in the meantime I had turned the laptop off, to conserve the battery). Now I don't think this was the problem as the green light lights up on the charger and I now cannot get the laptop to charge at all 😞

edit: it still had a tiny bit of battery and was turning on, it just won't charge, so I guess when it runs out it will just go dead

Please can somebody help? Thank you so much in advance x

[jumpsuit]

Hi there and welcome to the Community

First thing to ask - have you tried removing the battery and connecting the power lead to see if you

can power on and boot etc? (This just helps identify whether the lead or battery may be the trouble.)

[missrobot]

Hey there, first of all, thank you so much for replying and sorry for this late reply - long day at work!

I have just tried it without the battery and yes, it does power up! Does this mean the battery is probably shot then?

Also, can I use my laptop - without the battery - until I can get it fixed? Or is this a bad idea?

Thank you so much for your help, I am truly grateful! x

[Challis1991]

Hi there,

It shouldn't affect your laptop using it without the battery, in fact I believe it used to be advised to remove your battery once fully charged if plugged in to prevent overcharging.

Try removing the battery and putting it back into the laptop, it may be picked up again. If not the battery most probably needs replacing but if it works without the battery just the battery isn't charging it sounds like the spike in electricity has damaged the charging components inside of the laptop...

[jumpsuit]

Yes - fingers crossed its just the battery

Also (as Challis1991 said) its fine to use it from the mains without the battery.

I used mine like that after I had a laptop whose battery died after just a year.

Is it still the original battery in? (I'm guessing your laptop is around 3-4years old)

Batteries can and do expire more quickly than you would expect sometimes.